News of the Weird: Earthbound eagle too fat to fly

A bald eagle that was “rescued” near Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield in Missouri because it couldn’t seem to fly wasn’t injured at all, Fox News reported on Aug. 25. Instead, wildlife officials at the Missouri Department of Conservation determined that it was “too fat to fly.” “The bird was ... engorged with raccoon,” officials said. X-rays taken at a zoo showed a raccoon paw inside the eagle’s distended stomach. The bird was released near where it was found.

The U.S. Navy has run out of pants, the New York Post reported on Aug. 21. The official “Navy Working Uniform,” or NWU, is out of stock because of “Defense Logistics Agency vendor issues,” officials said. Only new recruits will get new pants until at least October. In the meantime, sailors will be allowed to wear coveralls or the “2-piece Organizational Clothing,” which features flame-resistant tops and bottoms.

The Hong Kong Education Bureau has produced a sex education manual for kids between ages 12 and 14, advising them to avoid premarital sex and other “intimate behaviors” by playing badminton, the New York Times reported on Aug. 26. The game supposedly will “draw attention away from undesirable activities.” The Education Bureau is undeterred by criticism and ridicule; it said the advice will help kids “cope with the various physiological and psychological consequences of premarital sex.” Meanwhile, teenagers are incorporating it into their slang, with phrases such as “friends with badminton.”

Rolando Ramos, quarterback coach for the Cigarroa Toros football program in Laredo, Texas, called police to report that a prostitute had stolen money from him, the Laredo Morning Times reported. When Ramos tried to pay her, she allegedly grabbed $100 and ran away. It turned out that the $100 was the least of his problems. Ramos, who is also a health and physical education teacher at Cigarroa High School, was arrested, charged with soliciting prostitution and had to post a $2,500 bond. He also was placed on administrative leave by the district.

Police in Bridgeton, N.J., charged Zyair J. Dennis, 24, on Aug. 23 with one count of defiant trespassing after an incident on Aug. 18, the Cherry Hill Courier Post reported. Dennis, of Millville, N.J., was recorded at the Cohanzick Zoo taunting a tiger after climbing a barrier into the animal’s enclosure. Police said she tried to “entice” one of the Bengal tigers through a second, inside fence. Dennis also was caught on camera at the zoo’s bear exhibit, demonstrating the same kind of behavior, said Bridgeton Police Chief Michael Gaimari.

In January, a 33-year-old man underwent emergency surgery at Graz University Hospital in Austria, Sky News reported. It wasn’t until July, however, that the patient learned that the unnamed surgeon allowed his 13-year-old daughter to drill a hole in the patient’s head. “There was no contact, no explanation or apology, nothing,” said the patient’s attorney, Peter Freiberger. The operation was successful, but the surgeon and another specialist who was present during the operation were let go by the hospital. Investigations by the public prosecutor’s office are underway.

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