Beserk at the wheel
BEARS in the Californian town of Truckee are causing havoc in parked cars. Passersby the other day noticed a car with lights flashing on and off and the horn honking furiously. On closer inspection, a bear was behind the wheel, headbutting the windscreen.
It was just the latest in a series of such incidents. The bears open the car doors looking for food, then get locked in and panic. They can cause a lot of damage before they are released to run off into the woods.
The police have now appealed to people to lock their cars and wind up the windows. Also, not to leave any food in the vehicles. The bears are hungry.
You have to watchee how you parkee your truckee.
More bears
WHICH recalls Christopher Isherwood's profound bit of verse:
The common cormorant or shag
Lays its eggs in a paper bag.
The reason, you will have no doubt,
Is to keep the lightning out.
But what these unobservant birds
Have never noticed is that herds
Of wandering bears may come with buns
And steal the bags to hold the crumbs.
Mystery solved
AN OLIVE thrush it is after all. Tour guide Jac du Toit supplies a photograph taken at Tzaneen, in Limpopo province, that clearly shows the curved tip of the bird's beak.
The curve is not obvious in the illustrations in Roberts and the Sasol book of birds, which is why this fellow in my garden had me puzzled.
Sigh! I liked the idea of the miniature albatross, but there you are.
Monkeybiz
REGULAR correspondent Granny Joan has good news. She's now Great-Granny Joan. But she's having a tough time with the vervet monkeys now she's moved into a penthouse flat near Mitchell Park.
She says the monkeys are forever in her kitchen, stealing bread and whatever else they can lay their hands on. She has to keep her bananas in the fridge, her bread in the oven and anything else, like scones, in the microwave.
"Do you know if there is anything I can put on the table on the patio that will frighten them away? I I love these creatures but get annoyed when I can't open my sliding door or windows in the bedroom in case they decide to visit."
I think Joan should get herself a red beret. Not even vervet monkeys would mess with the EFF.
Victorian fad
TAXIDERMY – the stuffing and mounting of dead animals – is making a comeback in London, a sudden throwback to the Victorian era.
Classes teaching the basics of taxidermy are proving popular, students signing up to learn how to prepare, stuff and even dress up dead mice.
A curiosity shop in the East End says sales of stuffed animals are soaring and it counts several celebrities among its customers.
The craze seems to be anthropomorphic taxidermy, the mounted animals depicting human activities. Some of the stuffed mice, for example, are rock stars playing miniature guitars.
Pass the sickbag, Alice!
Logo leaps?
HAD THE LOGO somehow jumped off a Qantas airliner parked on the tarmac? A kangaroo had them scurrying at Melbourne airport when he suddenly appeared in the terminal.
He hopped into a chemist's shop and caused havoc before wildlife officers were able to dart and tranquillise him before taking him away to be assessed by a vet.
Not that long ago a kangaroo led police on a wild chase through the airport's multi-storey car park.
I wonder where it is these roos are wanting to fly to? They're taking this Ashes thing very badly Down Under.
Last word If not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled.
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