The skulls of Pedro Marcos, left and Maria de Marcos adorned with garlands and cigarettes after being blessed by a catholic priest in Bolivia, in La Paz, Nov. 8. One week after Day of the Dead celebrations, the skulls of relatives are brought in to the church to be blessed and decorated. Believers say they can read the future in the cigarette ashes that fall on the floor.
A hen mallard, impaled with a dart behind its bill, eats bread crumbs at Boom Lake near Brainerd, Minn., Nov. 12. Department of Natural Resources workers suspect that someone with a dart blowgun shot the animal. The dart was removed and the duck was treated and released.
Jackie "The Snakeman" Bibby performs a world record stunt for the Guinness Book of World Records by holding nine live rattlesnakes in his mouth, Nov. 18 in Whiskey Flats, Texas. The previous record was eight.
Students from left, Austin Zimmerman, Ben Barcklay, and Cameron Verinsky, all 7, of Prospect Sierra Elementary School in El Cerrito, Calif., watch as 65-year-old Methuselah, an Australian lungfish swims by at the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco, Nov. 18. A ceremony was held to mark Methuselah's 65th birthday. The lungfish has lived at the aquarium since 1938, according to a spokesperson for the aquarium.
Japan's electronics giant Seiko Epson Corp.'s "Micro Flying Robot," believed to be the world's lightest and smallest robot helicopter, at the International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo, Nov. 20. Weighing only 8.9 grams, the four-legged mini-copter is equipped with four micro actuators to drive two rotors and stabilizing units that make it fly and balance in the air. Looking on is Seiko Epson's researcher Osamu Miyazawa.
Copito de Nieve or 'Snowflake', an extremely rare albino gorilla and the most popular resident of Barcelona zoo, died of skin cancer Nov. 24. Copito, thought to be between 38 and 40 years old, fathered 22 offspring with three different females during his 37 years at the zoo. None is albino.
U.S. Agricultural Quarantine inspector Charles Payne slices bologna that was seized Nov. 21 at the Paso del Norte bridge in El Paso, Texas. A man was arrested after authorities found 756 pounds of it arranged into the shape of a car seat and covered with blankets in his pickup.
Elizabeth Bell walks Popcorn, a five-legged dog, Oct. 29 in Raleigh, N.C. A veterinary surgeon removed the dog's back two left legs Nov. 24. The Maltese-and-terrier mix created quite a stir in the local dog-lover community when she was found near Umstead State Park, northwest of Raleigh. Experts said it was unheard of for such an animal to live long past birth. Popcorn is believed to be between 9 months and a year old.
President Bush pets Stars, the national Thanksgiving turkey, during the traditional pardoning ceremony in the White House Rose Garden, Nov. 24. The ceremony dates back over 50 years to Harry Truman and has been an executive custom ever since. Stars will be given to Kidwell Farm at Frying Pan Park, in Herndon, Virginia.
Turner Prize winner, transvestite potter Grayson Perry, left, dressed as his alter ego Claire, with his wife Phillipa and daughter Flo during the presentation ceremony at Tate Britain in London, Dec. 7. The decision to grant Perry the award marks a rare Turner victory for traditional arts, as the winner puts his own spin on an ancient decorative form.
A few dozen men dressed as Santa Clause ride their Harley Davidson motorcycles through downtown Zurich, Switzerland, Dec. 6, offering sweets to children.