The Odd Truth, Sept. 11, 2003

(CBS/AP)  The Odd Truth is a collection of strange but factual news stories from around the world compiled by CBSNews.com's Brian Bernbaum. A new collection of stories is published each weekday. On weekends, you can read a week's worth of The Odd Truth.

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Caveman Gets Heave-Ho

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — A man who has lived in an Arizona cave for 11 years has gotten his walking papers.

Thomas Crawford was evicted from the cave after pleading guilty to using a national forest for residential purposes.

He was arrested last week after a Flagstaff resident reported a suspicious camp.

Crawford had a bed, books and clothes arranged on hangers, along with pots and cutlery for cooking in his cave in the Coconino National Forest in northern Arizona.

He's been sentenced to one year of probation and banned from the forest.

Barbie: Worse Than You Thought

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Barbie may be a harmless doll to kids in the U.S., but she's a "threat to morality" to Saudi Arabia's religious police.

The kingdom's Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice had already banned the dolls for their revealing clothes. And it now says Barbie is offensive to Islam.

The Saudi police Web site says Barbie's "shameful postures, accessories and tools are a symbol of decadence to the perverted West." It calls on Saudis to beware of her dangers."

The dolls have been banned for 10 years — but are still available on the black market. Religious authorities say they're afraid Barbie's clothes will be "imprinted" in the minds of young Saudi girls — who will later refuse to wear traditional Muslim clothes.

Don't Smoke This

GULFPORT, Miss. — Narcotics officers thought they had made a big bust when they seized 500 suspicious plants from Marion Waltman.

Authorities say the plants looked like marijuana, but they turned out to be protein plants used to bulk up deer.

Waltman says the kenaf plant does look like marijuana.

"But it has seven leaves at the top and okra-looking leaves at the bottom," he said. "Marijuana only has five leaves. Any drug officer should have been able to figure it out."

Now Waltman's angry and he wants authorities to compensate him for his loss.

Harrison County Sheriff George H. Payne Jr. says he never reported the plants were marijuana, only that they appeared to be the illegal weed.

Dumb Bank Robber

ROME, Ga. — Getting caught robbing a bank was a drag for this suspect, police say.

Authorities nabbed the alleged bank thief who was donning a floral dress and a floppy hat — and a moustache.

Donald Craig Pollard walked into Regions Bank Tuesday dressed in drag, and handed a teller a note threatening to shoot if he were not given money, police said.

Pollard left the bank with an unspecified amount of money, police said, then stripped off the dress and hat to reveal men's clothing underneath. Floyd County police Officer Jesse Adams arrested him in a parking lot across the street moments later, recovering all the cash.

Move Over Lassie

A Binghamton, N.Y., family got their dog, Zoey, from an animal rescue group. Zoey has now returned the favor by rescuing the family.

When a fire broke out in their home before dawn Aug. 30, Zoey's barking woke up Barbara Woolfolk, her daughter and the daughter's two children.

The dog then went into the daughter's upstairs bedroom and pulled at the covers. The daughter — who can't walk — hooked her hand in the dog's collar and was pulled down the stairs while Woolfolk got the children out of the house.

The dog then pulled the daughter out the front door.

For now, Zoey has to stay in an animal shelter while the family lives in a hotel during the search for a new place to live. And Barbara Woolfolk says that breaks her heart.

You've Come A Long Way…

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Yikes, mice! They're everywhere, thanks to the PC. Logitech International of California says it has now shipped a total of 500 million mice.

The computer mouse has come a long way since Doug Engelbart invented it in 1964. But it was just a lab curiosity until 1984, when the mouse found a home on the desktop thanks to the Apple Macintosh.

Today, the mouse doesn't even have to have a tail. There are cordless models, mini-mouse versions for laptops — and even luxury varieties covered in leather.