Raccoons steal prized baked goods and other weird news from the past week – Hanford Sentinel
From odd animal news and creepy clown updates, here’s a weekly roundup of some of the strangest headlines across the country from the past week.
A captured raccoon peers through the bars of a trap in Grand Isle, Vt., Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)
BURTON, Ohio (AP) — Authorities have identified a suspect in an Ohio county fair burglary who took a bite out of best-of-show baked goods during the heist.
The Plain Dealer reports that officials say whoever broke into an exhibit at the Geauga County Fair in northeast Ohio last week has a masked face, soft fur and walks on four legs.
Wanted posters are now on display for a raccoon or raccoons that left paw prints on baked goods judged to be the best in show among the more than 1,000 entries submitted at the 195-year-old fair.
Fair Board Director Paul Harris says the raccoon took “a little sample here and a little sample there” from seven of the 11 best-of-show entries, including breads, muffins, scones, pies and a chocolate cake.
LITITZ, Pa. (AP) — Police officers in a small Pennsylvania town are evidently afraid of a certain homicidal clown.
The Lititz police department on Tuesday posted photos of red balloons a prankster tied to a pair of sewer grates.
A red balloon is the calling card of Pennywise, the sewer-dwelling, child-eating clown in Stephen King’s horror novel “It.” The hotly anticipated movie version opened in theaters Friday.
In a playful Facebook post, police wrote they admire the prankster’s creativity but were “completely terrified” while removing the balloons and “respectfully request they do not do that again.”
Police also suggested people watch previews of the movie with the lights turned on and the volume turned low. The post ends with a famous line from the book: “You’ll float too.”
Seventeen-year-old Peyton Reiff later told PennLive.com that she and some friends were behind the prank and were trying to scare their friends in Lititz after seeing a trailer for “It.”
Reiff said the teens were surprised at how much attention the prank got and that the girls will meet with the police department for a “funny follow up,” but added that they are not being punished.
This Monday, Sept. 4, 2017, image made from a video provided by WLBZ shows a group that gathered to see Passey Pete the Lobster predict six more weeks of summer in a ceremony in Belfast, Maine. (Zach Blanchard/WLBZ via AP)
BELFAST, Maine (AP) — A group of Mainers says Passy Pete the Lobster has predicted six more weeks of summer at an annual ceremony.
The crustacean has been fished out of the Passagassawakeag River for the past three years in a tradition modeled after famed groundhog Punxsutawney Phil’s winter prediction in Pennsylvania.
David Crabiel and his business partner, David Brassbridge, thought up the eccentric ceremony as a way to have some fun. Each year, a group of barons flank Passy Pete as he picks a scroll to determine whether Maine will see an extended summer or be greeted by winter. This year’s ceremony took place Monday.
Crabiel tells WLBZ-TV Pete’s been right the past two years. Brassbridge says they hope to carry on the tradition.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A Dutch judge has called fowl play on a man who abducted and damaged a giant rubber duck.
Prosecutors say in a statement that the 45-year-old was sentenced Wednesday to eight weeks in prison for stealing the one-meter (three-foot) high bright yellow plastic duck from outside the Goudse Eend (Gouda Duck) cafe in the central Dutch city of Gouda on June 23.
The duck toy was later found badly damaged elsewhere in the city, prosecutors say.
The prosecution statement says the man will only have to serve two weeks if he undergoes “lifestyle training.” A judge also ordered him to pay 740 euros ($880) compensation to the owner of the cafe.
This image provided by the Massachusetts State Police shows a kitten was spotted walking along the side of the road as cars drive by in the Ted Williams Tunnel in Boston, and was rescued by state police troopers who shut down traffic for it. (Massachusetts State Police via AP)
BOSTON (AP) — A kitten found walking in a busy Massachusetts highway tunnel has been rescued with the help of state police troopers who shut down traffic for it.
Police said Sunday on Facebook the kitten decided to “play a little hide and seek” in the Ted Williams Tunnel in Boston.
Sgt. Bob Dateo shut traffic down. The Animal Rescue League of Boston quickly rescued the kitten.
A trooper posted a photo of the wayward kitten on social media. A video taken by police shows the kitten walking along the side of the road as cars drive by.
Police say they need ideas on what to name the kitten.
The kitten will be put up for adoption when it’s medically cleared.
In this Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017 photo, wild tom turkeys stand in a yard off of Northwest Elder Street in Pilot Rock, Ore. Pilot Rock City Council has asked the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife for recommendations on how it should handle a flock of wild turkeys that have been ruining residents’ gardens and leaving behind droppings. (E.J. Harris/The East Oregonian via AP)
PILOT ROCK, Ore. (AP) — A small Oregon city is asking the state for advice on how to handle a flock of wild turkeys that are ruining gardens and leaving droppings just about everywhere.
Officials in Pilot Rock, a city of 1,500 people about 230 miles (370 kilometers) east of Portland, say there are dozens of turkeys roaming the area, the East Oregonian reported (http://bit.ly/2f7HLHp).
City Councilor Bob Deno complained he has 15 birds frequenting a tree on his property.
Resident Mary Ann Low told a city council meeting Tuesday that she once counted 68 turkeys in her mother’s yard.
“I love wildlife, but this is getting to the point where it’s just ridiculous,” Low said. “They dust bathe in the soil. They eat whatever is there.”
City officials considered several options, including a spay-and-neuter program, but they decided to ask the state for advice.
Greg Rimbach, a wildlife biologist with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, had six recommendations, ranging from a ban on feeding the birds to killing them and donating the meat to a food bank.
The whole community will need to work together on any effort, he said.
“No matter what we do, we’re never going to get rid of all of them,” Rimbach said. “We’ll always have a few turkeys.”
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Information from: East Oregonian, http://www.eastoregonian.com
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