The Odd Truth, June 17, 2004

The Odd Truth is a collection of strange but factual news stories from around the world compiled by CBSNews.com's Brian Bernbaum.

Boyfriend's Tongue Bitten Off

ST. PAUL. Minn. - A goodnight kiss turned into a man's nightmare when his girlfriend bit off part of his tongue.

The 43-year-old woman told police she became frightened Wednesday morning when her boyfriend squeezed her too tightly while they kissed - and her reflex was to bite down.

"I guess I bit down too hard," the woman told officers, adding that she has been victimized by men in the past.

The woman was arrested and could be charged Thursday in Ramsey County, investigators said.

Her 47-year-old boyfriend walked with the woman from her home to a restaurant, where they called police around 3:10 a.m. He was treated at a hospital.

Officers went to the woman's home to look for the tongue, but they couldn't find it.

The woman, who had been drinking with her boyfriend, told police she doesn't remember what happened to the end of his tongue. Police estimate that it measured about 1.5 inches.

She might have swallowed it, the woman said.

Woman Shoots Herself Trying To Kill Squirrel

LAPORTE, Ind. - A 78-year-old woman tired of squirrels raiding her bird feeder got out her shotgun to kill the critter, but instead accidentally shot and injured herself.

Alberta Jones loaded her 16-gauge shotgun Sunday and carried it with the barrel pointed down to the back door to take aim, police said. The gun accidentally discharged, police said, and shotgun pellets ricocheted off the floor.

Both of her legs were struck by the pellets, and one in her knee required surgery Tuesday to remove.

Her hospital condition was not available Tuesday evening.

"I've tried everything to shag them away, and they keep coming back," Jones said of the squirrels after the incident.

Conservation officer Jerry Shepherd with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources said it is not squirrel season, and that hunting game out of season is a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum 60 days in jail and up to a $500 fine. Authorities are not pressing charges.

Jones vowed to keep shooting at squirrels and using firecrackers - as she has done several times before - to discourage them from getting into her bird feeder. She also shoots groundhogs and other animals she considers a nuisance.

"My neighbors call me Annie Oakley," she said.

Man Throws Rattlesnake Into Crowded Bar

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho - An Idaho man has been charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly throwing a rattlesnake into a crowded bar. Witnesses say minutes after the man walked into the bar, he pulled a three-and-a-half-foot snake from his pocket, threw it into the crowd and ran out of the tavern. Bar patrons used a crutch to sweep the angry snake to a cleared area, and then wrapped a T-shirt around its head before picking it up and dropping it into a bucket. No one was hurt. A brother of one of the patrons took the snake home as a pet and named him Jack.

Aggressive Buzzard Dies After Dive-Bombing Van

LONDON - A buzzard that attacked more than 20 cyclists on a country road has died after dive-bombing a van, officials said Thursday.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said the aggressive buzzard died Wednesday when it swooped on the vehicle near Holsworthy in southwest England.

In recent weeks the bird clawed cyclists' heads and gouged holes in their helmets; experts believe the bird was protecting its nest nearby.

"It was just being a good parent, although it was probably rather too enthusiastic," said RSPB spokeswoman Emma Parkin.

It was unusual for buzzards to attack humans, she added, and the activities of this individual suggested it had once been in captivity.

Retired toolmaker Paul Dixon, 71, North Devon secretary of the Cyclists Touring Club, was among those attacked.

He was not wearing a cycle helmet when the angry bird swooped, leaving him with three large bleeding scratches. Many of the 22 competitors in two long-distance cycle races in the area two weeks ago were also attacked.

Elderly Man Robs Elderly Woman

HONG KONG - An elderly robber walking with a cane stole a gold bracelet from a 90-year-old woman who mistook him as a friendly neighbor, a newspaper and police said Thursday.

The victim, identified by police only by her surname, Cheuk, was walking down a staircase from her home Wednesday when she met the man in his 60s, Chinese language newspaper Ming Pao reported.

"He looked familiar, as if he was one of my neighbors living in the same apartment block," Ming Pao quoted Cheuk as saying. "But he suddenly grabbed me by the neck, hit me with his cane and pulled the bracelet from my wrist."

The woman suffered minor injuries to her wrist but refused to go to the hospital, said police spokeswoman Carrie So.

The elderly outlaw remains at large, she said.

This Lobster Won't Be Late

LONDON - Lobsters have long been known as solitary and territorial crustaceans - but timely and fashion conscious?

Divers in northeast England were recently surprised to come across a giant lobster standing guard over a barnacle-encrusted watch at the bottom of a harbor.

Maybe the lobster just knew a bargain when it saw one: the watch was still ticking after three years, even though it wasn't sold as waterproof.

The watch and its 2-foot-long guardian were found by divers doing routine maintenance work in Blyth harbor, officials said Thursday.

"We're all highly experienced divers, and none of us has seen anything like this before," said Graham McDonnar, a member of the Lady Francis Dive Team.

"Not only is this the biggest lobster any of us have ever come across underwater, but it's also the first sea creature we've encountered that can tell the time," he added.

The lobster, estimated to be about 30 years old, was taken to the Blue Reef Aquarium in Tynemouth, where it is settling in well in the harbor tank display.

"Lobsters are well known for being extremely territorial," especially regarding their habitats, said one Blue Reef official, Zahra d'Aronville. "Perhaps it identified the watch as part of its territory and has been standing guard over it ever since."

Whatever the motive, the lobster has nothing to worry about.

If the aquarium isn't allowed to keep the watch, it will buy the lobster a waterproof replacement, "as he's clearly very keen on being on time," d'Aronville said.