Odd Stories

More on this LARKSPUR, Colo. — A man is facing theft and assault charges after authorities say he crashed a jousting performance at the Colorado Renaissance Festival in Larkspur and tried to make off with a sword. A witness told The Denver Post (http://dpo.st/1CA028q ) the man was chased down by a woman dressed as a wench. Steve Chapman said …

SALEM, Ore. — An Oregon school district has rushed to soothe parents at a Salem elementary school who received a letter warning that children not picked up promptly might be turned over to the state. The Salem Statesman Journal reports (http://is.gd/rTTiDo ) that a Salem-Keizer School District spokesman confirmed the letter about the upcoming school year was sent recently to …

FORT WORTH, Texas — A blind alligator stretching more than 10 feet has been removed from the Trinity River in a park near downtown Fort Worth and taken to a refuge. Game wardens and a reptile hunter, Chris Stevens, used a noose to capture the male gator Thursday night at Riverside Park. Stevens said the animal needed to be moved …

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A small, “very spirited” monkey that escaped its enclosure at the Memphis Zoo has been captured. Multiple media reports say that zoo workers spotted Zimm the 3-year-old macaque inside a drainage system on the eastern side of the zoo Saturday morning. Memphis Zoo Director of Animal Programs Matt Thompson says the monkey is now safe and secure …

BIG PINE KEY, Fla. — Hundreds of music-loving snorkelers and divers, joined by distance swimmer Diana Nyad, ducked beneath the waves Saturday as a radio station broadcast a concert underwater at the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Such songs as the theme from “The Little Mermaid,” the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” and Jimmy Buffett’s “Fins” entertained listeners during the four-hour music …

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Residents of a Colorado Springs community are upset after a bear was found shot to death in the front yard of a home. Residents in Cheyenne Mountain Estates say the bear roamed the area and was part of their lives. The 400-pound bear was found dead Friday. Colorado Parks and Wildlife says the person who shot …

More on this EAST DUNDEE, Ill. — The owner of a suburban Chicago pub that has held an annual Turkey Testicle Festival for 32 years isn’t testy at all that a nearby community plans to host its own celebration of the unusual dish this November. J.R. Westberg, who owns the Parkside Pub in Huntley, told The Daily Herald (http://bit.ly/1K0Ppv4 ) …

More on this DELAND, Fla. — A Florida woman says she was shot in the leg while sitting at a café on Independence Day, but she didn’t realize it until doctors found the bullet five days later. Heather Charlebois told The Daytona Beach News-Journal (http://goo.gl/PkMRto ) that after days of pain from what she initially thought was a firecracker, she …

More on this MARS, Pa. — This hungry Labrador has some unusual taste buds. A Pennsylvania veterinarian retrieved 62 hair bands, eight pairs of underwear and a bandage from the dog’s stomach during exploratory surgery. The head technician at Good Shepherd’s Veterinary Hospital in Mars tells WTAE-TV (http://bit.ly/1HkK2Th) that the black Lab named Tiki wasn’t responding to medicine for vomiting, …

More on this BOSTON — A Boston science museum that praised a teenager for catching a mistake in the golden ratio at a decades-old exhibit now says it wasn’t an error after all. The Museum of Science released a statement Tuesday afternoon saying the equation in the 34-year-old “Mathematica exhibit” with minus signs instead of plus signs is actually the …