The Aliens Are Already Here
But fear not, the ducks will save us all!
CORDELIA, Calif. - The International Bird Rescue Research Center in Cordelia plans to raise funds with an unusual duck X-ray. The bird came in with a broken wing, but when Marie Travers, assistant manager of the center, radiographed the duck, she was stunned to see a very clear image of what appeared to be the face, or head, of an extraterrestrial alien in the bird's stomach.
"Marie looked at it and all she could say was 'unbelievable,'" said Karen Benzel, public affairs director for the rescue center, which has been rescuing sick and injured birds for more than three decades.
Unfortunately, the duck died quickly and quietly of its injuries.
We're guessing aliens aren't good eating.
Meanwhile, in a weirdly related story, goslings and baby chickens invaded a school in Fort Kent, Maine. Well, strictly speaking the minor fowl had no choice in the matter as it was really the fault of some foul minors. Or the minor fowl produced major fouling. Or something like that.
The six boys ordered 10 goslings and 45 chicks from an Indiana company and then set them loose in Community High School early Thursday morning, school officials said.
The pranksters put the birds in the school gym, in classrooms, in lockers, in offices and into a drawer of a teacher's desk, said Principal Tim Doak. But the animals left their mark on floors, chairs and tables, forcing administrators to cancel school Thursday and Friday to clean up the mess.
The school will expect full restitution for cleanup costs, which are expected to run into the thousands of dollars, said Sandra Bernstein, superintendent of School Administrative District 27. The canceled days will be added to the end of the school year.
"It's comical when you start thinking of chickens in your school, but it's just another chapter in the book of school administration," Doak said.
A teacher discovered the intruders before 6 a.m. after entering the building and hearing the birds running around the hallways, Bernstein said. When students arrived, they were taken to the school gym, which had been sterilized, before being sent home.
A crew of about 10 was enlisted to clean and disinfect all surfaces where the birds left a mess — about 70 percent of the school. The birds pose a public safety hazard because of salmonella bacteria, Bernstein said.
It's been a busy day in the wonderful world of birds, hasn't it?
Weird Stuff | Gaius Friday, 2 June , 2006
By Hurricane Shirley, Friday, 2 June , 2006 @ 11:28 am
Not such a wonderful world for birds in Larkspur, California. I did a senior prank news roundup a couple days ago, including a story about a school stunt in which eight chickens lost their lives in the school hallways. Now that was a bad day for birds.
What surprised me when I did the research for the posting was how many kids are being arrested for their senior pranks these days. Has it always been so?
By Gaius, Friday, 2 June , 2006 @ 11:32 am
No, I think that’s a new phenomenon.