When a certain intern started her summer job at Sidley Austin in New York City, she made her mark by biting another employee -- for which she was not immediately fired, Inc. magazine reported on July 28. Nope, the law firm tolerated the behavior through five victims, presumably because the biter was "otherwise personable and there was some reluctance to elevate the matter." However, employment attorney Dan Schwartz said that even if she has a disability that compels her to bite other people, "The ADA does not protect an employee at the expense of another employee." Vampire lawyers, indeed. [Inc., 7/28/2025]

Wait, What?

As Albert Cutler was driving home from church on July 27, he noticed a bald eagle flying over the highway in Okauchee Lake, Wisconsin. The eagle was carrying a fish -- until it wasn't, and as Cutler watched the fish fall, he wondered if he had hit it with his car, Fox6-TV reported. Upon arriving home, Cutler's daughter located the fish, stuck in the grill of his truck. The largemouth bass went into the family's fridge, and Cutler said it's the "biggest bass" he's ever caught. [Fox6, 7/27/2025]

Repeat Offender

In August 2023, News of the Weird reported the arrest of Calese Carron Crowder of Glendale, California, for the unusual fetish of butt-sniffing. Now he's back in the news: According to KTLA-TV, Crowder was arrested on July 22 at a Walmart in Burbank after he crouched behind a woman at Nordstrom Rack and "inappropriately sniff(ed) her buttocks." Crowder, who's a frequent flyer with Los Angeles County, was on active parole for his previous offenses and had his bail set at $100,000. "He needs to be put away for good," said one alleged victim. [KTLA, 7/25/2025]

Irony

The U.S. Coast Guard's newest recruiting office is open -- in Omaha, Nebraska. KETV reported on July 19 that the USCG's goal is to increase its workforce by 15,000 over the next few years, so they're heading inland. The Omaha office will serve a landlocked region including parts of Iowa, South Dakota and Kansas. "If we're not here, then (people) have to travel hundreds of miles, sometimes get on a plane to go to a recruiting office," said Gregory Watson, recruiter in charge. [KETV, 7/19/2025]

Animal Antics

-- Visitors to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming responded in a surprising way to a wily fox nicknamed the Sneaker Snatcher, The New York Times reported on July 17. The National Park Service posted "wanted" signs to warn campers that a fox was stealing shoes from campsites, but as the total number of shoes ballooned to 32, park staff realized people were intentionally leaving their footwear accessible to the four-legged Jesse James -- "just in case he visits." A video posted to Instagram pleads with visitors: "Don't bait wildlife with belongings. Feeding or encouraging wildlife can put animals at risk," the park advised. [NY Times, 7/17/2025]

-- Early on July 26, as Katherine Vanbuskirk let her dogs out on her deck in Somerville, Massachusetts, a raccoon jumped at her, clawing her face and scratching her arms as she tried to fight it off, WFXT-TV reported. Vanbuskirk was able to get away from the raccoon and close her deck door, and she called 911. "I just encountered a monster," she said. "All I could do was scream, 'Help me! Help me!'" She was treated with antibiotics and rabies shots at the hospital. [WFXT, 7/28/2025]

Bright Idea

In an unlikely brand extension, Coors Brewing Co. is pitching Dura Chill, an underarm deodorant that should be refrigerated before application, KDVR-TV reported on July 29. The limited-edition hygiene product is said to smell like the breezes of the Rocky Mountains. "Coors Light is all about helping people 'Choose Chill,'" said Marcelo Pascoa, vice president of marketing for the brand. "Dura Chill is like giving your underarms their own ice-cold beer." The deodorant, available on the company's website, sells for $14.99 and is limited to two per household. [KDVR, 7/29/2025]

Please Remain Calm

At the Savannah River Site nuclear facility in Aiken, South Carolina, a team found a nest of wasps near a tank on July 3, WCVB-TV reported on July 30. The nest was sprayed, then checked for radioactivity, reading at 100,000 dpm -- about 10 times the level of radiation allowed by federal regulations. The nest was bagged as radiological waste, and officials said the surrounding area was uncontaminated. The Savannah River Site became an EPA Superfund site in 1989 and no longer has functioning reactors. [WCVB, 7/30/2025]

The Tech Revolution

CBS News reported on July 25 that an unnamed man in Argentina won a court appeal against Google for "harm to his dignity" after the company's Street View camera captured him walking around his yard naked. The dispute began in 2017, when the man and his house, with the house number clearly visible, were posted to Google's system. He said the images exposed him to ridicule at work and among his neighbors. A lower court ruled against him, saying he was "walking around in inappropriate conditions in the garden of his home," but appeals judges disagreed and awarded him about $12,500. "The invasion of privacy is blatant," they wrote. [CBS News, 7/25/2025]

Only You Can Prevent Stupidity

When an unnamed man got caught after stealing Smokey Bear signs from state forests in Florida, Smokey himself was on hand to aid in the arrest, WTSP-TV reported on July 31. Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson said the suspect had traveled from Pensacola to Orlando, lifting the signs and posting them on Facebook Marketplace for $1,900 each. Smokey held the door open for the perp as he entered the patrol truck and was seen in the driver's seat after the arrest. [WTSP, 7/31/2025]

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

After the large earthquake on July 29 in western Russia, tsunami warnings were communicated all the way to the U.S. West Coast. A Norwegian Cruise Lines ship docked at Hilo, Hawaii, took heed and left the port for the safety of its guests. But a group of passengers who were still on shore got the warning of the ship's departure too late, KHON-TV reported. Eric Anderson and his father were separated from their family, who had gone back to the ship. Anderson said the ship had texted that it would leave at 4 p.m., but it departed closer to 3:30. Fortunately, local residents transported the stranded passengers to Waiakea High School, where they spent the night. They were reunited with their families on July 30 after the warnings were canceled. [KHON, 7/30/2025]

Police Report

Boy, Chuck E. Cheese is a hotbed of weird behavior these days. This week's installment involves a brawl that took place on July 26 at a location in Mobile, Alabama. WKRG-TV reported that witnesses said about 20 people were fighting because a teenage boy "got upset about something." "They started fighting as I was walking by," said a girl who was hit in the face, "and then they punched me on accident." The Mobile Police Department is investigating by watching surveillance video and reaching out to those involved. Public Information Officer Roderick Miles advised that people in such circumstances "try to do something that's going to result in better decisions than fighting at a freaking Chuck E. Cheese." [WKRG, 7/30/2025]

Neil Hopper, 49, a vascular surgeon from Truro, England, has been the subject of a 2 1/2-year investigation after he allegedly tried to defraud two insurance companies, The Guardian reported on July 23. Devon and Cornwall police said that in 2019 he "made a false representation to insurers, namely the injuries to his legs were the result of sepsis and were not self-inflicted." Hopper is accused of amputating his own legs in the scheme, hoping to gain $320,000 from one company and $314,000 from the other. Before his legal problems, he was shortlisted in the European Space Agency's search for an astronaut with a disability. He was scheduled to reappear in court on Aug. 26. [Guardian, 7/23/2025]

Saw That Coming

Or not. Several victims reported on July 19 that they had been subjected to an involuntary "golden shower" at The Landing in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Smoking Gun reported that 30-year-old Matthew Day "entered the rooftop bar ... and urinated from the balcony onto the sidewalk," according to police, with urine striking people on the ground. Security officers saw the incident and showed Day the door; he was charged with disorderly conduct and released on $500 bond. [The Smoking Gun, 7/21/2025]

The Tech Revolution

The South Florida Water Management District is working with the University of Florida to develop a new strategy for managing invasive pythons in the Everglades, WFLA-TV reported on July 23. Solar-powered toy bunnies that emit heat and are equipped with cameras are alerting staff to python activity, which sends them out to capture and euthanize the snakes. The district said it is "committed to protecting this delicate ecosystem." [WFLA, 7/23/2025]

Clothing Optional

A couple in Oklahoma City were startled by a "big, fat, naked, crazy guy" entering their home around 6 p.m. on July 21, KFOR-TV reported. Homeowner Blake Overstreet said the perp, Korey Sisco, was 6-feet-2 and 400 pounds. When Overstreet and his wife pointed a gun at him, Sisco exited through the back door and skipped to the neighborhood pond, where he jumped in. "It was very strange," Overstreet said. He noted the pond is full of snakes and snapping turtles. Sisco lingered in the pond for about an hour until police coaxed him out. [KFOR, 7/23/2025]

Fashion Faux Paw

For more than a year, Natasha Lavoie of British Columbia has been receiving phone calls about her missing cat, Torbo, United Press International reported. Problem is, her cat's name is Mauser and is very much not missing. The mix-up mystery was finally traced to a T-shirt sold by Wisdumb NY, which features a lost cat poster that includes Lavoie's phone number. Wisdumb NY said the shirt is no longer available and the "use of a real number within the art created was not intentional." But Lavoie doesn't want to change her number. "I've had my number for 20 years," she said. "I'll just keep not answering." [UPI, 7/18/2025]

News You Can Use

-- For five days every summer, a flotilla of rowboats is unleashed on the River Thames in London, where carefully selected, scarlet-coated oarsmen are tasked with Swan Upping -- a census of the swans, the Associated Press reported. These swans belong to the Lord of the Swans, otherwise known as King Charles III, and they must be marked and checked for disease or injury. Veteran King's Swan Marker David Barber sees the ritual as more than tradition: "I think it's serving a very useful purpose. It gives us an indication of what's going on throughout the country." The census dates back to the 12th century, when swans were important food sources for royal banquets. [AP, 7/14/2025]

-- The National Police Agency in Japan is urgently warning parents and others about a "Real Gimmick Mini Revolver" found among the prizes in claw machines around the country, Oddity Central reported. The plastic toy, which comes with eight plastic bullets, reportedly can also fire real bullets. Sixteen thousand of the toys have been imported from China since December; the added danger is that shooting a live bullet could cause the plastic firearm to blow up in the shooter's hand. [Oddity Central, 7/23/2025]

Truth Is Stranger Than Netflix

On July 19, 36-year-old Stephen Blasetti allegedly stole a boat and took it for a joyride on the Hudson River in New York, WABC-TV reported. Blasetti, notably, wasn't wearing any clothes when he committed the theft, for which he was charged with grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and reckless endangerment. He was admitted to New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia in New York for a psychiatric evaluation, but early on July 23, Blasetti slipped out of his handcuffs as the police officer guarding him slept, borrowed a doctor's lab coat and left the hospital. He was last seen on surveillance video walking down a sidewalk, barefooted. [WABC, 7/23/2025]

It's Come to This

At the Ryde Hotel in California, Fox5 Atlanta reported, peacocks and peahens are part of the appeal as they wander about the property. But on July 20, after a guest reported seeing two men loading one of the birds into a cage in a pickup truck bed, the hotel's general manager, David Nielsen, initiated a count of the flock, realizing that only four of about 15 remained. "We're not sure why anyone would do anything like this," he said -- but the male birds are valued at about $2,000 and the females at $1,000. The colorful birds have become tame and like pets to the staff of the hotel. Police are depending on tips from the public to locate the animals. [Fox5 Atlanta, 7/23/2025]

Ewwwww!

Leanna Coy, a flight attendant based in Connecticut, couldn't help but share the yuck factor after she made a discovery on the floor of a plane, the New York Post reported on July 24. "Those are toenails," she captioned a TikTok post. "The passenger clipped their toenails mid-flight and left them." Commenters had no empathy for the long-in-the-toenail flyer: "No-fly list!" said one. "What dirtbag did this?" asked another. [NY Post, 7/24/2025]

Great Art

People magazine reported on July 24 that 33-year-old Jane Labowitch of Maryland is making a living, and a name for herself, with her Etch-a-Sketch art. Labowitch's subjects include Russia's St. Basil's Cathedral and Grant Wood's "American Gothic." She said when she was little, her grandmother wouldn't let her watch TV as much as she wanted, so with her Etch-a-Sketch, she just "started from staircases." She hopes the classic toy "isn't going anywhere. I think that it's got a lot left to give the world." [People, 7/24/2025]

Suspicions Confirmed

On July 23 in Tallahassee, Florida, police took a famous mouse into custody: Chuck E. Cheese. The Tallahassee Democrat reported that Mr. Cheese, aka Jermell Jones, had been fingered as the person who stole a patron's credit card in June and made fraudulent purchases with it. When police arrived at the famous restaurant, Jones, wearing his giant costume mouse head, was handcuffed and escorted out the front door in front of patrons young and old. Officers found the stolen credit card in his possession. [Tallahassee Democrat, 7/24/2025]

Former Texan Derek Huffman, along with his wife, DeAnna, and three children, moved to Russia earlier this year looking for "traditional values," the Kyiv Post reported on July 15. Derek was hoping for a job with the Russian military as a welder, but with no prior military experience and after just a few weeks of training, he's being sent to the front lines in Russia's war with Ukraine. The Huffmans don't speak or understand Russian, either. "I don't want anyone here in Russia to say that we don't belong here, so if I go put my body on the line for Russia ... I've earned our place here," Derek said on the family's YouTube channel. "Now we are just believing in God that everything is going to work out as it is supposed to," DeAnna added. She also said Derek had to "donate" 10,000 rubles for his supplies and that he hasn't received any pay or bonuses after one month. [Kyiv Post, 7/15/2025]

The Continuing Crisis

Carlos Abundez, 35, of San Ysidro, California, couldn't really explain to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent on June 25 how 14 keel-billed toucans got into the dashboard of his Volkswagen Passat, The New York Times reported. Customs and Border Protection officers were alerted to the strange cargo when one of their dogs picked up a scent; the threatened birds appeared to be sedated, and some of them were injured. Abundez said he had left his temporary home in Tijuana, Mexico, to get McDonald's in the U.S. He claimed his car had been parked and locked in his driveway overnight. On July 7, he was charged with smuggling and illegal importation and was released on $10,000 bond. [NY Times, 7/11/2025]

No Good Deed

A 21-year-old man suffered non-life-threatening injuries on July 6 when he tried to direct a shark back into the sea in Nantucket, Massachusetts. According to the Nantucket Current, the man had been fishing and caught the sandbar shark, which he and others were trying to pull by its tail back into deeper waters. But when he released the animal, it turned and bit him on the leg before swimming away. Beachgoers watched and recorded video as the incident unfolded. A friend took the injured man to the hospital, and he was later transported by helicopter to a mainland hospital. [Nantucket Current, 7/6/2025]

The Weirdo-American Community

Big Country News reported on July 15 that the Ada County (Idaho) Sheriff's Office is asking for the public's help in identifying a rogue booty-slapper in and around south Boise. The perp, who rides an electric dirt bike, typically approaches women and slaps or grabs their buttocks as he rides by. He's described as a white male wearing dark clothing, a ski mask and gloves. [Big Country News, 7/15/2025]

Is That Wrong?

Soccer player Lamine Yamal, forward for Barcelona, hosted a party to celebrate his 18th birthday on July 13 at a rented country house in Olivella, Spain, The Athletic reported. Media gathered outside caught glimpses not only of celebrity guests, but also of a group of people with dwarfism who were seen entering the house, which sparked an investigation by Spain's Ministry of Social Rights and condemnation from the Association of People With Achondroplasia and Other Skeletal Dysplasias (ADEE). But on July 14, Catalan radio station RAC1 aired an interview with one of the people from the party, who downplayed the controversy. "We are only asking they let us work," they said. "We are normal people, self-employed and do everything legally. ... In the show that we offer, we go to the place and dance with the people, we deliver shots and drinks ... we do magic tricks. ... I've never experienced a lack of respect ... while working so far. With all this criticism what (the ADEE is) doing is screwing with our jobs." [The Athletic, 7/14/2025]

Police Report

On July 12, Los Angeles County Sheriff's officers were responding to a call when an assault rifle and 150 rounds of ammunition apparently fell out of their car's trunk, KTLA-TV reported. Officers searched and retraced the car's route but were unable to locate the weapon and ammo. But on July 14, a resident of Lennox, California, returned the items to the South Los Angeles Station after having found them the same evening. "Their actions are a powerful reminder of the vital role our residents play in helping keep our neighborhoods safe," said Capt. Nicole Palomino. [KTLA, 7/14/2025]

That Bugs Me

Restoration workers at the 1,000-year-old Pannonhalma Archabbey in Hungary are busy removing 100,000 books from the abbey's library in an effort to save them from beetles, the Associated Press reported. The drugstore or bread beetle feasts on the gelatin and starch-based adhesives found in books. "This is an advanced infestation," said Zsofia Edit Hajdu, chief restorer on the project. "We've never encountered such a degree of infection before." [AP, 7/13/2025]

Awesome!

Workers digging a 2-inch-wide, 750-foot-deep hole in a parking lot at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science hit a "hole in one from the moon," said James Hagadorn, the curator of geology. The Associated Press reported on July 10 that the bore was intended to help them study geothermal heating potential for the museum, but what the core revealed was a dinosaur bone fossil -- probably from an ornithopod, which lived in the Cretaceous period. "I would love to dig a 763-foot hole in the parking lot to excavate that dinosaur, the rest of it," said Hagadorn. "But I don't think that's going to fly because we really need parking." [AP, 7/10/2025]

Bright Ideas

-- Client Services in Japan provides many conveniences, Oddity Central reported on July 15, but one of the most popular is "OK Grandma." Through this service, people can "rent" a woman between the ages of 60 and 94 for 3,300 yen per hour. Some of the grannies cook for their clients, while others babysit or employ their beautiful handwriting skills. "I want to break up with my boyfriend," said one client, "but I can't tell him clearly, so I want my grandmother to come with me." Another client hired a grandmother to fill out their family's side of a wedding. [Oddity Central, 7/15/2025]

-- The poor Brits, sizzling in summer heat and desperately looking for solutions. The BBC reported on July 12 that two scientists from Loughborough University in England had tested a hypothesis: Will yogurt smeared on the windows of a home help it stay cooler? "We've started to look at shading solutions, stopping sun getting into your house during the day," said Ben Roberts. Evidently they've not heard of blinds and shades, but it turns out their experiment was successful: The indoor temperature of the house with yogurt spread on the windows was up to 3.5 degrees Celsius cooler than the control home. Roberts said the yogurt stinks for "30 minutes while drying" but the smell dissipates. He said the results surprised him. "It shows the importance of treating windows and heat shielding solutions for windows to reduce overheating," he said. [BBC, 7/12/2025]