A roundup of bizarre news stories, some of which are not from Florida

[AvHdB]

She is ill... G-d forbid   

The problem is they reproduce. 

[Volshe]

She is ill... G-d forbid   

The problem is they reproduce. 

Yes, but ... *sigh*

[Larry]

Another incident from Florida:

Police Arrest Couple For Autoerotic Romp

Cops: Duo had sex on vehicle at closed Florida dealership

JANUARY 7--A Florida couple was arrested early yesterday after they were spotted having sex atop a 2004 Kia Sedona at a West Palm Beach auto dealership, police report.

Officers responding to Mike’s Auto Sales discovered Erin Byrd, 18, and Ramon Mitchell, 29, “inside of a dealership vehicle which did not belong to either subject,” according to a police report.

Cops were summoned to the closed business shortly before midnight by a witness who “advised officers he just witnessed both suspects having sex on top of the vehicle in plain sight.” The 39-year-old man added that he heard the trysting duo moaning.

Upon exiting the van, Byrd and Mitchell were arrested. As the 300-pound Mitchell was being handcuffed, he spit in the face of a female officer, police reported.

Owner Michael Melendez arrived at the dealership and told police that he “did not authorize anyone to be in his property after the business was closed,” the report states.

Pictured above, Byrd and Mitchell were each charged with auto burglary, trespass, and lewd and lascivious behavior. Mitchell, who told cops he works at the Improv comedy club in West Palm Beach, was also hit with a felony charge of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer for allegedly spitting on Officer Sarah Burgoon.

Byrd was freed today from the Palm Beach County jail, where Mitchell remains locked up in lieu of $11,000 bail.

The police report does not indicate whether a markdown may be in store for the used four-door (seen above), which has been priced to move at $3995.

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/sex/sex-on-a-kia-sedona-654903

There are photos of the couple at the link above.

[Larry]

Edward Archbold, Roach-Eating Contest Winner, Dies After Eating 'Dozens' Of Insects At Ben Siegel Reptile Store (VIDEO)

A South Florida man collapsed and died Friday night after winning a snake in a roach-eating contest.

32-year-old Edward Archbold had signed up to eat a variety of insects and worms at Ben Siegel Reptile Store in Deerfield Beach, where staff promised a female ivory ball python to the "Eat Bugs For Balls" winner.

But after taking the contest by eating "dozens" of worms and roaches, Archbold fell ill and threw up before collapsing in front of the store, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office. He was later pronounced dead at hospital.

None of the other contestants became sick, according to investigators, and autopsy reports to determine Archbold's cause of death are pending.

"None of us in that competition thought this would happen," wrote Robert Farthing on the store's Facebook page, admiring Archbold for sporting a headband for the contest "like a true athlete."

Ben Siegel Reptile Store's attorney, Luke Lirot, said the bugs in the contest were "taken from an inventory of insects that are safely and domestically raised in a controlled environment as food for reptiles" and offered condolences to Archbold's family.

In a statement posted over the weekend, store staff said "although we just met Eddie the night of the sale, we all liked him right away."

Staff said the prize python belongs now to Archbold's estate.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/08/edward-archbold-roach-eating-contest_n_1949589.html

[GuppyCaptain]

Darwin strikes again 

[Barnes]

Disturbing factors aside, that's kind of weird since both of them are basically free. Sure the snakes take a little more effort I've heard, but they're out there. +Plus the American cockroach is a local.

[Larry]

Disturbing factors aside, that's kind of weird since both of them are basically free. Sure the snakes take a little more effort I've heard, but they're out there. +Plus the American cockroach is a local.

There's no way I would go out into the Everglades to try to capture a snake. There are snakes out there big enough to eat me.  Gators too.

Snake Bursts after Eating Alligator. A 13 foot python has exploded after swallowing an alligator whole. 

[sashathecat]

Snake Bursts after Eating Alligator. A 13 foot python has exploded after swallowing an alligator whole. 

They have been growing at rapid rates here in Florida. Largest caught is now at 18ft.

http://www.livescience.com/43123-burmese-python-18-feet-long-florida.html

[Donhollio]

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/other/white-clergy-offer-photos-of-themselves-for-target-practice-after-miami-police-caught-using-mug-shots-of-black-teens/ar-AA8BZkG?ocid=BDT5DHP




 
 

White clergy offer photos of themselves for target practice after Miami police caught using mug shots of black teens



     
 





Lutheran clergy in Florida have offered their photos as targets for North Miami Beach police officers after it was discovered that police snipers were practising their marksmanship with mug shots of young black men.

In a Twitter campaign with the hashtag #UseMeInstead, the clergy have begun tweeting photos of themselves in clerical collars to substitute for the pictures of black male teens.

Meanwhile, North Miami Beach city council voted last week to ban its police from using the mug shots for target practice.

Woody-Deant© Torstar News Service Woody-Deant   
“We have made a mistake,” city manager Ana Garcia said. “This is an apology from the bottom of our hearts.”

The police department has denied any racial profiling, with the chief saying that officers used photos of all races.

A call to the police department was not immediately returned.

The story took off earlier this month when National Guard Sgt. Valerie Deant saw a bullet-riddled photo of her brother, Woody, in a trash can at a gun range, along with mug shots of five other black men.

Woody Deant told NBC 6 that he was shocked to hear that police had used a 15-year-old mug shot for target practices. The photo was from when he was 18.

“The picture actually has, like, bullet holes,” Deant told NBC 6. “One in my forehead and one in my eye. I was speechless.”

The six photos with bullet holes in them were targets for a sniping training program for police.

On Facebook, a Lutheran clergy group came up with the idea of submitting their own photos in clerical collars for target practice.

Many of those faces are white.

They include Jason Chesnut of Baltimore who tweeted a photo of himself in a clerical collar and wearing a cross, with his hands up and the message, “Police officers, as a white man, I’ve been taught that I have nothing to fear from you. #UseMeInstead. Please.”

There’s also the white face of Andrew Chavanak of Nebraska in his clerical collar, with the message: “We all have the capacity for evil, but I get the benefit of the doubt. Why doesn’t everyone else? #usemeinstead.”

Midwest Minister Sean Ferrell submitted a photo of himself in full clerical robes and the message: “You have a difficult job. Just like clergy, you are not above reproach. #usemeinstead.”

[Volshe]

White clergy offer photos of themselves for target practice after Miami police caught using mug shots of black teens

It is awkward, but what shall they do? Practice on United Colors of Benetton poster? 

[Larry]

Florida Animals Are As Crazy As Florida

The state now has a bear problem to go along with its snake problem… to go along with all the other ones.

If you were going to make an empirical list of states based on the sheer batshit craziness of its population, Florida would sit squarely, magnificently upon the top as the American crown jewel of inexplicable weirdness. There’s even a wildly entertaining Twitter account dedicated to the state’s what-did-they-do-now exploits, whose lead examples as of this writing include:

Florida Man Fighting to Keep Ownership of “Zombie Cat” | http://t.co/rtAsxOIVfD pic.twitter.com/lLfY4qenPN

— Florida Man (@_FloridaMan) January 31, 2015
and

Florida Man Says Dolphin "Seduced" Him Into Having Sex | http://t.co/Mw9KdhBAvh

— Florida Man (@_FloridaMan) February 2, 2015
Clearly, Florida is as much a state of mind as it is a United State.

Today the wild and wacky denizens of the Sunshine State, half-mad with vitamin D overload, are mobilizing, banding together to defend themselves against a new and persistent threat.

No, not crazed, face-eating cannibals (although they’ve had troubles there, too), but something greater and far more dangerous than any single man can be.

Mother Nature herself.

Much to the chagrin of the Humane Society’s local chapter, Floridians are posse-ing up to hunt down the latest in a long lineage of predatory animals who have, for one reason or another, chosen to make hapless civilians their targets.

This time, it’s the black bear.

Four people have been injured by bear attacks in the state since 2012, prompting the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission to weigh re-imposing a bear hunting season after a 20-year ban. Animal rights activists counter that instead of shooting the animals, people should simply get bear-proof trash barrels and not leave food out where the curious predators could get their claw-tipped paws on it.

... This latest call to action nips at the heels of another, in which the state sought to form civilian groups to do battle with a rampant infestation of Burmese pythons. An invasive species in the state, the snake has squirmed and squeezed its way to the top of the food chain in the fragile Everglades eco system, where they grow large enough to swallow whole crocodiles.

Or, in a more threatening move, someone’s 60 pound husky.

Or a small child.

Pythons and bears aren’t the only worries for the surfers, snowbirds, and vagabonds of our southernmost peninsula. It’s a region fraught with potential death or dismemberment from even ordinarily innocuous members of the animal kingdom. It’s as though Nature herself, aghast and appalled, pointed imperiously at the whole damn place and ordered her minions to attack.

There are the obvious offenders, like sharks, who harbor such an appetite for our dangling appendages that they’ve earned Florida the dubious honor of “shark bite capital of the world.” But you’d have to expect that from a near-tropical land mass surrounded on three sides by water.

So how’s about the herpes monkeys?

Yep, they’re a thing.

Legend has it a Florida tour guide brought Rhesus monkeys into the state decades ago, after people got excited about the movie Tarzan, and they’ve since escaped—going on to breed themselves into the hundreds, many of which are now somehow infected with herpes-B and considered a health hazard by authorities.

Down in Orlando, the city almost had to cancel their Halloween festivities last year because of an onslaught of feral hogs that poop all over the streets, tear up yards, and terrorize the populace. No attacks have been reported yet, but they can reportedly become aggressive when confronted.

"I've had four of my ribs broken. I've had my finger re-attached," veteran hog tracker James Dean told the Associated Press. "My buddy, he had his cap muscles torn out. He had to have surgery."

South Daytona has an ominous animal tiding all their own, one that could be explained by the volume of retirees in the state: constantly circling, roosting, and rooting vultures are lurking in their suburban neighborhoods, scaring the old and causing property damage.

And that’s just the tip of the animal iceberg. All across the state, this trend of animal-on-human violence is propagated.

Squirrels, who maim children and injure police in parks.

Coyotes running wild, having to be tracked and killed after attacking middle aged women.

Elderly ladies set upon and gored by seemingly gentle deer.

Alligator assaults abound, and not all of them end with humans beating them back, like this lucky young man. Crocodiles, which usually avoid humans, are now known to get mouthy as well.

Hawks? Yep. Look out below.

Here’s a random one: A tarpon latches on to a man’s hand and attempts to drag him into the deep in a case of reverse angling.

None of these include the bounteous biomass of common critters, like poisonous snakes, of which Florida boasts many, spiders, and other insects, such as  bloodsucking ticks, or the ubiquitous clouds of mosquitos who can impart horrifying diseases.

And men? If you find yourself visiting, make sure you wear some baggy shorts in the water, so as not to tempt the testicle-enticed pacu fish.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/04/florida-animals-are-as-crazy-as-florida.html

You will see links to the stories if you go to the linked article.

[sashathecat]

Funny article on the animals. We have a troupe of monkeys locally (different species) that escaped and live in a park. They also have the monkey herpes which most people do not realize is actually deadly for us humans. Thankfully most of that group has died off over the years so there are not as many.  Poisonous lionfish are a big one these days, killing off local reef fish after being introduced into the wild from home aquariums.

[Donhollio]

 Sasha I have watched a few nature shows on the invasive species that have made Florida their new home.  With abandoned pets and plants the state is in a lot of trouble.  At least here in Manitoba if my iguanas had escaped, they would never of made it past the month of October. Same goes for many plants and insects.

 I remember years ago watching a program on this plant that they use in aquariums, somehow it got into the Mediterranean sea and spread. At the time of the TV show it covered a very small area, and they may have been able to eliminate it, but they didn't. Now it probably will never be killed off.

 A few years ago it was discovered off the California coast, I'm not sure what they have done to kill it.

http://2001-2009.state.gov/g/oes/ocns/inv/cs/2326.htm


Case Study: Caulerpa Taxifolia


CaulerpaA decorative aquarium plant, Caulerpa taxifolia, escaped into the Mediterranean in 1984 and is now decorating much of the sea floor along the French, Monaco, and Italian Rivieras from Nice to Imperia. Calerpa taxifolia is a green alga, native to the Caribbean and the Indian and Pacific Oceans, that is present, but normally uncommon, in warm waters. The strain now spreading throughout the Mediterranean was cultivated during the 1970s in the Stuttgart Zoo aquarium and is believed to have been accidentally discharged into the sea by the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. By 1992, it had spread to cover 1,000 acres of seabed; it now covers more than 10,000 acres.

Caulerpa taxifolia competes with, and often outcompetes, native Mediterranean species. It produces high levels of toxic metabolites, which make it distasteful to herbivores and allow it to supplant native communities. Caulerpa taxifolia monopolizes the water’s oxygen, smothering marine plants such as sea grass and kelp, and its toxins can destroy the eggs of many animal species. It destroys clam beds and fisheries, overcomes corals and sponges, and prevents animals from grazing on invertebrates in bottom muds. Long lived native algae are particularly threatened by this strain, but available data show that invertebrate and fish abundance and diversity are also affected.

Caulerpa taxifolia has now spread to the United States. Discovered June 12, the alga has established a half-acre patch of sea bottom in the Agua Hedionda Lagoon, off Carlsbad, California. Control of Caulerpa taxifolia is difficult. It cannot be dug up because the algae spread through fragmentation and each small piece of the plant can regenerate an entirely new plant. Plant stems can grow to over nine feet long and can survive for up to ten days out of water. Given the regenerative capability of Caulerpa taxifolia, fishing equipment or boat anchors could potentially spread the invasive throughout the coastal waters of the United States. Chemical control is most effective, but requires saturation with chlorine or copper sulfate, which kills everything in the water.

[sashathecat]

Sasha I have watched a few nature shows on the invasive species that have made Florida their new home.  With abandoned pets and plants the state is in a lot of trouble.  At least here in Manitoba if my iguanas had escaped, they would never of made it past the month of October. Same goes for many plants and insects.

Yes, that is the main issue we have here. Almost any plant or animal can not only survive but also flourish down here. At this point it will be very hard to do anything about it.

[AvHdB]

The article omitted the pretty but highly toxic Lion fish, which while native to Australia and the Indian Ocean is now common to the Florida coast.

[2tallbill]

Indian woman has twins despite discovery she is mostly male
NOTE: There is no evidence that I could find proving that she was related to Hillary Clinton. 

read the story about the mostly male baby maker here
http://news.yahoo.com/indian-woman-twins-despite-discovery-she-mostly-male-082055299.html

[2tallbill]

82 year old Georgia (US) woman,  Arrested For Theft Of "Sexiest Fantasies" Body Spray.





read all about it here

http://thesmokinggun.com/buster/body-spray/82-year-old-in-body-spray-bust-896520

[2tallbill]

Old people auctioned off to care homes on the internet: Anger over 'cattle markets for grannies' as councils accept lowest bids to save cash

Read all about it here : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2945079/Old-people-auctioned-care-homes-internet-Anger-cattle-markets-grannies-councils-accept-lowest-bids-save-cash.html#ixzz3RHQLlE8M

[sashathecat]

Tonight in South Florida we are expecting iguanas to start falling from the skies. When the weather dips below about 40F (very unusual) the reptiles freeze and fall from the trees. Video below from a previous year.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/video/frozen-iguanas-falling-trees-9502814

[Larry]

Tonight in South Florida we are expecting iguanas to start falling from the skies. When the weather dips below about 40F (very unusual) the reptiles freeze and fall from the trees. Video below from a previous year.

Are iguanas good eating?

[Donhollio]

Tonight in South Florida we are expecting iguanas to start falling from the skies. When the weather dips below about 40F (very unusual) the reptiles freeze and fall from the trees. Video below from a previous year.

Are iguanas good eating?

 I once had a guy from El Salvador in my house and he noticed my little Iggy. I asked him if he ever ate them back home and he replied, ''yes delicious, I like the tail.''  They call them 'chicken of the trees' down there.

[sashathecat]

Tonight in South Florida we are expecting iguanas to start falling from the skies. When the weather dips below about 40F (very unusual) the reptiles freeze and fall from the trees. Video below from a previous year.

Are iguanas good eating?

 I once had a guy from El Salvador in my house and he noticed my little Iggy. I asked him if he ever ate them back home and he replied, ''yes delicious, I like the tail.''  They call them 'chicken of the trees' down there.

Yes, in Panama they are called "gallinas de campo". The meat is supposedly very tender.

[WestCoast]

Tonight in South Florida we are expecting iguanas to start falling from the skies. When the weather dips below about 40F (very unusual) the reptiles freeze and fall from the trees. Video below from a previous year.

Are iguanas good eating?

 I once had a guy from El Salvador in my house and he noticed my little Iggy. I asked him if he ever ate them back home and he replied, ''yes delicious, I like the tail.''  They call them 'chicken of the trees' down there.

Yes, in Panama they are called "gallinas de campo". The meat is supposedly very tender.

You'd think with all the legal and illegal aliens from Central America in south Florida the iguanas would become cheap meals and go extinct?

[sashathecat]

Tonight in South Florida we are expecting iguanas to start falling from the skies. When the weather dips below about 40F (very unusual) the reptiles freeze and fall from the trees. Video below from a previous year.

Are iguanas good eating?

 I once had a guy from El Salvador in my house and he noticed my little Iggy. I asked him if he ever ate them back home and he replied, ''yes delicious, I like the tail.''  They call them 'chicken of the trees' down there.

Yes, in Panama they are called "gallinas de campo". The meat is supposedly very tender.

You'd think with all the legal and illegal aliens from Central America in south Florida the iguanas would become cheap meals and go extinct?

When I lived in Panama it became illegal to hunt iguanas because the population was rapidly declining. Once here in the US people get lazy and prefer a trip to Walmart with their foodstamps. A local entrepreneur could probably open an exotic species eatery ala Andrew Zimmern and do quite well though...

[Donhollio]

 Sash, are you allowed to kill invasive species in Florida? Lot's of plants and animals to be had.


 I had watched a TV doc where they said that in 1990 (approx.) the US banned the importation of live parrots. They then began to gather up iguanas and ship them to CA and US. Wonder if this had something to do with it?