News of the Weird: Attacking bear fended off with cookies

As Kristen Savage was walking her dog near her home in Sanford, Fla., on April 25, the pair were beset upon by a black bear, WKMG News 6 reported. While the bear tried to snatch Ringo, a Chihuahua, Savage used the only weapon she had at hand: a bag of cookies. “I whacked the bear across the face with it, and then I threw it,” said Savage. The bear paused to sniff the cookies, and Savage and Ringo ran to their house. Both owner and pet — as well as the bear — were safe after the run-in.

Staff at the Museum of Natural History in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, recently noticed that Root, a wood turtle who has been in captivity for 20 years, was beginning to show signs of wear on his bottom shell after years of walking on a front leg that is missing a foot. So, CBC/Radio-Canada reported, naturalist interpreter Tessa Biesterfeld, inspired by a recent Lego exhibit at the museum, crafted a wheeled platform made of Legos to fit under the turtle and enable it to tootle around while saving wear and tear on his underside. “We know that we can replace the parts as we need, and should his shell change or grow, we can change the shape and size of that,” Biesterfeld said.

Carletta Andrews was just about to take a sip from her margarita at Patron Mexican Restaurant and Cantina in Sandston, Va., on April 16 when something struck her on the forehead, reported WRIC 8News. “I looked at my husband like what was that,” Andrews said. “When I turned around, I saw the snake in my margarita.” The baby snake, which had fallen from the ceiling, wriggled in the glass and wrapped itself around the straw. Another customer was able to grab the snake and set it free outside. The owner of the restaurant suspects the snake entered through the AC unit. But Andrews was left to wonder: “If that was the baby ... is the mom there?”

Ewan Valentine, 36, of Solihull, England, was devastated to discover on the morning of Feb. 28 that his beloved black 2016 Honda Civic Type-R had been stolen overnight. Determined to replace it with an identical ride, Valentine told the BBC that he searched until he found a perfect match — same color and year, even the same custom exhaust system, but a different VIN number — for sale from a Honda garage. He shelled out $26,000 for it. Valentine later found that the car’s GPS had logged stops at his home and those of his partner, his parents and his partner’s parents. Technicians at a Honda dealership were able to confirm that the VIN was fake and that Valentine had, in fact, purchased his own stolen car. Police are investigating.

On April 28, James Farthing, 50, of Kentucky, was presented with an oversized check for winning the $167.3 million Powerball jackpot. The next day, Farthing was arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges after an incident at a bar. Police told the Smoking Gun that he got into a drunken argument with another patron and punched that man in the face, then kicked the officer trying to break up the fight. After arresting him, police discovered that Farthing is an ex-con whose record includes convictions for theft, drug trafficking and engaging in an organized criminal syndicate. The newly minted millionaire’s bond was set at only $10,000, but he remains behind bars for violating his parole.