News of the Weird: Zoo's job is definitely for the birds

The Blackpool Zoo in England is hiring. The help-wanted ad announces that the zoo is looking for "a team of people to join our Visitor Services team as 'Seagull Deterrents."' Applicants lucky(?) enough to get the job will dress up in a large bird costumes and scare away pesky seagulls, which steal food from both the visitors and animals. Candidates must be "outgoing, as you need to be comfortable wearing a bird costume."

For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, a ritual event took place at the Sensoji Temple in Tokyo on April 22, the Guardian reported. The traditional "crying sumo" event features pairs of infants, held up by the parents facing each other, who are frightened into crying by staff wearing "oni" demon masks. The first baby to cry wins the match.

Participants argue that despite how it might sound, it's not cruel. "We can tell a baby's health condition by listening to the way they cry," said Hisae Watanabe, mother of an 8-month-old. "I want to hear her healthy crying." Crying sumo events are held throughout the country. "In Japan, we believe babies who cry powerfully also grow up healthily," explained Shigemi Fuji, chairman of the Asakusa Tourism Federation, which organized the event.

Shivdayal Sharma, 82, died in a freak accident in the Alwar region of India on April 19, LBC reported. Sharma was near a train track when an express train struck a cow, launching it 100 feet into the air before it landed on him. Sharma was killed instantly, and another man narrowly escaped being hit. Ironically, Sharma worked at Indian Railways before retiring 23 years ago. Officials are calling for metal fencing to keep cows away from the tracks, along with the removal of garbage and vegetation.

The Coniston Tavern in Nuneaton, England, supposedly is haunted by the ghost of a former drinker there, according to the landlord, Andy Gadsby. Fox News reported that on April 24, closed circuit video cameras captured an incident in which a beer glass suddenly exploded, showering three pals with shards of glass. Earlier, at the same table, a different customer's glass inexplicably slid to the floor.

Gadsby said the ghost is Dave, who used to live in an apartment above the pub. "One night he drank a bottle of brandy and had a heart attack and died," Gadsby said. "Maybe his spirit is around the pub and he's desperately trying to pinch people's drinks. The two incidents have spooked people out."

For King Charles III's coronation on Saturday, the royal family is traveling in gold-clad carriages drawn by white horses. Not so the average Londoner. Or ... they can hire a horse-and-carriage Uber. Metro News reported on April 27 that during this week leading up to the coronation, the Coronation Carriage has been offering transportation in a carriage fashioned after the royal vehicle, including a plush interior with embroidered cushions and throws. Uber is donating money from the rides to Spana, a charity that supports the welfare of working animals.

Send your weird news items with subject line Weird News to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.