strange stuff

From strange crimes to strange celebrity deaths, read all of the latest weird and strange stuff news stories on Newser.com

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Woman Throws Shoe at Gator; Gator Scores Woman's Shoe

At least she didn't try to scare it off with something valuable

(Newser) - Today's edition of how not to interact with wildlife comes to us courtesy of, why yes, Florida. As Fox35 reports, it seems an alligator was hanging out by the side of a lake in Kissimmee, with some deer grazing undisturbed nearby. Tourist Sarah Louise Martin, on vacation from the...

Geoffrey Epstein Is Causing Some Confusion

Massachusetts man is running for mayor, causing some consternation with his famous name

(Newser) - Sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein continues to dominate headlines some six years after his death—which is rather inconvenient for a man of the same-ish name running for office in Massachusetts. Geoffrey Epstein, an Australian-born mayoral candidate in Framingham, says most locals know him as a former theoretical physics professor and...

In Forests Around the World, a 'Trail of a Thousand Trolls'

Trash sculptures by Dutch recycle artist Thomas Dambo are meant to connect us to environment

(Newser) - Nestled in forests around the world, a gentle army of giant wooden trolls wants to show humans how to live better without destroying the planet. The Danish recycle artist Thomas Dambo and his team have created 170 troll sculptures from discarded materials such as wooden pallets, old furniture, and wine...

Meet Leonardo da Pinchy, the Thieving Cat

Feline with sticky paws swipes laundry from all over his New Zealand neighborhood

(Newser) - Most cat owners dread their pets bringing home mice or birds. But for the owners of one felonious feline in New Zealand, there's a worse shame—being the unwitting accomplice to an unstoppable one-cat crime wave. His prolific laundry-pinching from clotheslines and bedrooms in the beachside neighborhood of Mairangi...

At Prague Zoo, Staff Puppeteers Become Vulture Parents

Mama and papa lesser yellow-headed vulture weren't ready to take care of their chick

(Newser) - Zookeepers in Prague sometimes have to become puppeteers to save newborn birds rejected by their parents. This was the case for a lesser yellow-headed vulture chick hatched three weeks ago. Bird keeper Antonin Vaidl said Thursday that when a dummy egg disappeared from the nest, it signaled to keepers that...

Hotel Staff 'Heartbroken' After Dozens of Peacocks Vanish

Workers believe they were stolen from California hotel

(Newser) - Dozens of peacocks and peahens known for wandering the grounds of a historic Art Deco hotel south of Sacramento, California, are missing, and the hotel staff said Tuesday they believe the birds were stolen. After a customer at the Ryde Hotel mentioned Sunday seeing two men grabbing one of the...

That $6.2M Banana? Someone Just Ate It. Again.

And nobody seems too upset

(Newser) - Well, when you duct-tape a perishable fruit to a wall, call it art, and sell it for $6.2 million, there is just bound to be a hungry museum-goer around. When last we checked in on the previous iteration of the banana known as The Comedian by Italian artist and...

Beetles Are Chowing Down in Hungary's Oldest Library

About 100K books are pulled from shelves at Pannonhalma Archabbey due to beetle infestation

(Newser) - Tens of thousands of centuries-old books are being pulled from the shelves of Hungary's 1,000-year-old Pannonhalma Archabbey—a sprawling Benedictine monastery that's one of Hungary's oldest centers of learning and a UNESCO World Heritage Site—in an effort to save them from a beetle infestation that...

On an Empty TP Roll, a Long-Lost Message
On an Empty TP Roll,
a Long-Lost Message
in case you missed it
Jul 19, 2025 6:00 AM CDT

On an Empty TP Roll, a Long-Lost Message

British homeowners find 35-year-old note from little girl (now 43) scrawled on cardboard tube

(Newser) - From bowling ball graveyards to human remains , homeowners sometimes find the most unexpected things while exploring or renovating their new digs. For one British couple, their discovery was of the "heartwarming" kind, and one decades in the making, per SWNS . The outlet reports that Charlotte England-Black, 30, and her...

Science Finds People Want to Date Their Pets (Kind of)

New study reveals nearly a third of pet owners would go out with the AI version of their cats, dogs

(Newser) - Man's best friend = man's artificial-intelligence-created lover? That's the gist of a new study that shows a significant number of pet owners wouldn't mind dating their pets if an AI version of them could be created, reports the New York Post . According to the MetLife survey...

Paranormal Investigator Dies on Tour With Annabelle Doll

Allegedly haunted doll wasn't in the hotel room where Dan Rivera died, coroner says

(Newser) - The New England Society for Psychic Research says it's "heartbroken" by the sudden death of Dan Rivera, a paranormal investigator who was on tour with the allegedly haunted Annabelle doll made famous by the Conjuring movies. The 54-year-old Army veteran was the society's lead investigator. Adams County...

To Help With Hunting, Some Dolphins Use a Sponge
Strange Dolphin
Hunting Aid: a Sponge
Jul 16, 2025 10:30 AM CDT

Strange Dolphin Hunting Aid: a Sponge

They wear them to scrounge up prey, but it's harder than it looks

(Newser) - Some dolphins in Australia have a special technique to flush fish from the seafloor: They hunt with a sponge on their beak, like a clown nose. Using the sponge to protect from sharp rocks, the dolphins swim with their beaks covered, shoveling through rubble at the bottom of sandy channels...

Man Arrested After Creepy Teddy Bear Left at Bus Stop

The bear appeared to be made out of human flesh, but was not

(Newser) - A man has been arrested for allegedly leaving a very creepy teddy bear at a Southern California bus stop, ABC 7 reports. Per the San Bernadino Sheriff's Department, Hector Corona Villanueva, 23, faces charges of reporting an emergency knowing it to be false and intentionally and wrongfully planting evidence...

It's Time for King Charles to Count All His Swans

Actually the 'Seigneur of the Swans' has people to carry out the medieval tradition for him

(Newser) - Scarlet uniforms flashed against the riverbank. Wooden skiffs glided in formation. A young swan, gently lifted from the water, was measured, inspected, and released. The annual five-day census of swans belonging to King Charles III—known as Swan Upping—began Monday on the River Thames to assess their health. One...

Italy's Risotto Crops Face Long-Legged Marauders

Flamingos are stirring up trouble and ravaging rice in Italy's northeast

(Newser) - An unusual pest is ravaging crops and irking farmers in northeastern Italy: the flamingo. Flocks of these relatively recent immigrants have set their hungry sights on the flooded fields that produce rice for risotto in Ferrara province, between Venice and Ravenna. The long-legged birds aren't interested in the seedlings;...

Buyer Plans to Eat 77-Year-Old Piece of Royal Wedding Cake

Gerry Layton says he'll flambé the 1947 fruit cake from the wedding of Queen Elizabeth II

(Newser) - A 77-year-old slice of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip's wedding cake has fetched nearly $3,700 at auction—soon to be flambéed and eaten by a determined royal fan. The fruit cake, originally served at the couple's 1947 Buckingham Palace reception, had been stored in a...

Peter Jackson Funds Plan to 'De-Extinct' Giant Bird

Company is aiming to bring back the moa bird, with director's help

(Newser) - Filmmaker Peter Jackson owns one of the largest private collections of bones of an extinct New Zealand bird called the moa. His fascination with the flightless ostrich-like bird has led to an unusual partnership with a biotech company known for its grand and controversial plans to "de-extinct" lost species...

Slippery Stowaway Sets Aussie Flight Back 2 Hours

Tree snake was harmless, but it still caused a bit of commotion on Virgin plane

(Newser) - An Australian domestic flight was delayed for two hours after a stowaway snake was discovered in the plane's cargo hold, officials said on Wednesday. The snake was found on Tuesday as passengers were boarding Virgin Australia Flight VA337 at Melbourne Airport bound for Brisbane, according to snake catcher Mark...

Maryland Traffic Snarled by an Unlikely Suspect

Traffic was delayed for hours after tractor-trailer overturns on Interstate 70, dumps giant windmill blade

(Newser) - Maryland drivers got quite the surprise during their Monday morning commute: a giant windmill blade, sprawled across a local highway. A rep for the state's Department of Transportation tells WTOP that a tractor-trailer transporting the wind turbine piece hit a guardrail and overturned shortly after 5am local time on...

South Koreans' Pesky Problem: Swarms of 'Lovebugs'

Insects relatively new to the nation have surged this year

(Newser) - Swarms of "lovebugs" are back in South Korea, blanketing a mountain peak, entering houses, and sticking to car windows. Flying attached to one another while mating, the insects, known to scientists as Plecia nearctica, are also called united bugs, double-headed bugs, or honeymoon flies, per the AP . Lovebugs were...

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