The Odd Truth, Oct. 2, 2002
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.
Gator Raider
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A tourist who captured a live alligator at a putt-putt golf course was himself nabbed in a hotel parking lot, clutching the alligator and holding its mouth closed.
Derrick Dale Cooper, 22, of North Carolina, was charged with animal poaching and petty theft after using a noose to catch a 3-foot alligator Monday at the Congo River golf park, police said.
The putt-putt course was the scene of a similar incident last year when a pair of tourists were arrested for taking a gator to their hotel pool. Wildlife officials caught the pair as they were watching the animal swim.
Cooper was released Tuesday from the Volusia County Branch Jail after posting $1,000 bail. It was unclear if he had a lawyer.
The golf park has a permit to keep the alligators, which were raised in captivity. (AP)
Real Skull Mistakenly Sold As Replica
YORK, England - A British museum has lost its head.
The York Dungeon Museum of Horrors accidentally sold a human skull that was being used as a prop.
The skull had been put on a bookshelf while an exhibit was being refurbished. It was presumably mistaken for one of the replica skulls sold to visitors.
The museum knows who bought the skull and is trying to track the woman down. Officials think she bought the skull for her son as a Christmas present.
No one is sure where the skull came from. Another human skull owned by York Dungeon is believed to have come from a pit where victims of the medieval plague were buried. (AP)
Goat On The Lam
MONACA, Pa. — A 20-pound goat on the lam for more than two weeks was captured during a weekend roundup.
"We had all the neighbors going 'Baaaa' in the woods last night, if you can imagine that," said Center Township Police Chief Barry Kramer. "I was finally able to get close enough to get the net over it."
The animal — believed to be a domestic pygmy goat — was being put up temporarily at Kramer's house until the chief locates the owner or finds it a new home.
Kramer was trying to track down the owner of the gray and white goat through a metal Ohio Department of Agriculture tag in its ear. (AP)
The Perfect Woman Contest
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Bar owner Stu Burt is hunting for the perfect woman. But his quest has nothing to do with how she looks in a bikini.
Burt's idea of a "10" is a woman who can mend a fence, change a tire and stack hay bales.
Those are just three of the tests for entrants in the "Perfect Woman" contest Burt is organizing later this month at his bar in the southern New Zealand town of Wanaka, he said Tuesday.
So far, 14 women have signed up for the contest at Burt's Bullock Bar, which features a $420 prize.
Among other tests for the women: backing up a car towing a trailer full of hay bales and then stacking the bails, changing a car tire and darning a sock.
"Publicans (bar owners) throughout New Zealand have been ringing in to see about entering a competitor," Burt said. (AP)
Bagels vs. Oranges
NEW YORK — It's bagels vs. oranges in the baseball playoffs.
The five-game American League series began Tuesday, and so did the friendly wagers between city officials.
If the New York Yankees win the American League playoffs, Mayor Tom Daly of Anaheim, Calif., will send New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg a crate of Anaheim oranges and chilies.
If the Anaheim Angels win, Bloomberg will send Nathan's hot dogs and H&H bagels.
Daly said he's looking forward to chowing down on fresh-delivered New York hot dogs and bagels. But Bloomberg sounded confident about the Yankees' prospects.
"The chilies will help keep our lineup hot as we move on to the pennant," he said. (AP)
Barbie's New Dream House
ROCHESTER, New York - Barbie is moving. So is Mister Potato Head, and Raggedy Ann, too. The toys are getting new homes, at the Strong Museum in Rochester, New York. The museum will now house the National Toy Hall of Fame. The hall outgrew its old home in Salem, Oregon. Officials of the Strong museum say they'll put the 26 toy "honorees" in a new wing. The Toy Hall of Fame will join the museum's extensive collection of toys, dolls and the history of toys in America. In case you're wondering, toys in the Hall of Fame include Legos, Silly Putty, Etch-a-Sketch, Frisbee, Slinky and Play-Doh. (AP)