4,000-Pound Rhinoceros Escapes From His Cage

Workers at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens spent about five hours trying to get a 4,000-pound rhinoceros back in his cage.

Archie was out of his overnight stall when employees showed up for work Thursday morning. He had escaped once before, years ago, and was lured back to his cage with food.

Craig Miller, the zoo’s curator of mammals, said the food didn’t work this time.

About 20 zoo workers corralled Archie in the elephant compound and sedated him. Then he was led down a service road back to his own area.

The 41-year-old white rhino never left zoo property, and there was a fence keeping him from public areas. It appeared the animal was able to escape because someone did not secure the gate.

Deer Run Amok in Ale House

The Milwaukee Bucks’ rallying cry — “fear the deer” — turned into a punchline when two deer burst through the glass doors of a Menomonie restaurant as patrons watched a Bucks playoff game.

The first deer apparently hurt itself, bloodying its snout and becoming dazed, said Jay Ouellette, general manager of the Stout Ale House. Two customers were able to safely wrestle it to the ground.

The other deer fled into a private room. Cornered deer can be dangerous because they kick and bite, but a restaurant worker managed to wrestle that animal down as well, Ouellette said.

“I could tell it was starting to get a little anxious,” he said. “There was definitely the possibility of injury.”

The incident happened about 12:20 p.m. — shortly after the Bucks started Game 7 of their playoff series against Atlanta. There were about 30 customers in the restaurant at the time, many watching the game.

Domestic Tabby Adopts Abandoned Bobcats

In just a few months, three baby bobcats found in South Carolina could be a danger to a gray tabby named Zoe. But these days, the fuzzy felines are just members of the family for the nursing mother.

The bobcats, orphaned after the abandoned house they were living under in Newberry County was demolished, are being nursed by Zoe at Carolina Wildlife Care near the Saluda River a few miles northwest of downtown Columbia.

The nursing is expected to last about four weeks and is intended to give the bobcats a feline on which to imprint, said Joanna Weitzel, executive director of the wildlife rescue group. “It’s important they get that nurturing and care from a species similar to their own.”

After five weeks, though, their razor-sharp teeth and claws could hurt Zoe and Zoe’s kittens — an orange tabby and a calico that now dwarf the three bobcats in their kennel. The bobcats are expected to grow over the coming months to the size of large dogs — about 22 inches tall and up to 70 pounds — while their adoptive siblings will likely max out around 10 pounds.

3,000-lb Steer Sold At Auction

A nearly 3,000 pound Hereford steer that kept the herd in line on a southwestern Montana cattle ranch for nearly a decade has been sold for $1,670 at auction.

Owner and breeder Bill McIntosh of Avon watched the bidding at the Montana Livestock Auction in Ramsay, saying he hates to see him go, but he’s got to be practical.

“The cattle market is about as high as we’re apt to see it, I think, and finally I can get a little bit of the feed bill back,” McIntosh said, noting that Cletus ate about 90 pounds of hay per day during the winter.

The 10-year-old steer, named Cletus, was sold to a Minnesota buyer and sent to slaughter.

Cletus was the largest steer McIntosh has ever seen and the heaviest to come through the auction yard in memory, said field representative Dick Perkins. When Cletus entered the auction ring, the crowd whistled and gasped.

Vomiting Dog Causes Auto Accident

A man has a pretty good excuse for why he crashed his car into a utility pole in Winona: his dog puked on him.

The Winona Daily News reported police found the car unattended last Thursday morning against an Xcel Energy pole. Witnesses told officers they saw a man leaving the area and walking a beagle.

The 18-year-old, who does not have insurance or a Minnesota driver’s license, called police about four hours later to confess.

The man told police he was driving when his dog started “throwing up all over him.” Deputy Police Chief Tom Williams said the story checked out — police found vomit in the car.

The pole had only minor damage. The man was cited for driving without insurance or a license.

Check Out The Tiny Horse

A diminutive horse born in New Hampshire could lay claim to the world record for lightweight foal.

The pinto stallion named Einstein weighed just 6 pounds and measured 14 inches tall when he was born Friday in Barnstead, N.H. Those proportions fit a human baby just about right but are downright tiny for horse, even a miniature breed like Einstein.

Dr. Rachel Wagner, Einstein’s co-owner, says the Guinness Book of Records lists the smallest newborn horse as weighing in at 9 pounds.

Breeders say that unlike the current record holder, Thumbelina, Einstein shows no signs of dwarfism. He’s just a tiny horse.

Police Wanted To Protect Loch Ness Monster

Scottish police in the 1930s believed the existence of the Loch Ness monster was “beyond doubt” and even sought to protect it from hunters.

A letter released by the National Archives of Scotland from Inverness County Police Chief Constable William Fraser in August 1938 shows police believed the only step they could usefully take to protect “Nessie” from hunters was to tell people that the monster’s preservation was “desirable.”

Fraser went on to say that a certain Peter Kent and Miss Marion Stirling of London were determined to catch the monster and that Kent had told local police he was having a special harpoon gun made to hunt the monster down.

“That there is some strange creature in Loch Ness seems now beyond doubt, but that the police have any power to protect it is very doubtful,” Fraser wrote in his letter to the Under Secretary of State, Scottish Office.

Fraser said he had had Kent warned of the desirability of having the creature left alone.

“…but whether my warning will have the desired affect or not remains to be seen,” he added.

Firefighters Rescue Dog From Recliner Chair

Three suburban Chicago firefighters rescued a small dog that became trapped inside a mechanized recliner chair by sawing the piece of furniture apart.

Eighty-seven-year-old owner Ken Makris says his terrier, Ebonyser, has nerve damage following his Thursday night ordeal but that he is “coming along fine.”

Firefighters who responded to an emergency call from the Sunrise of Naperville assisted living center Thursday arrived to find a nurse’s aide hanging onto the chair to relieve the pressure on the dog and allow it to breathe. Firefighter and paramedic Scott Bolda says the chair’s electrical controls stopped working when Ebonyser become wedged inside.

Makris says the 5-year-old pooch is on painkillers but that he was able to go out for a walk Monday.

Penguin Parents Adopt Another Zoo’s Chick

African penguins have adopted a chick that had trouble hatching, then wasn’t being cared for by its biological parents at another Colorado zoo.

Officials at the Denver Zoo, the chick’s new home, say it’s doing well.

The baby African penguin emerged from its shell at the Pueblo Zoo on March 20, but it was four days overdue and needed help from a staff worker to get out.

When the biological parents appeared unable to care for the hatchling, it was taken to Denver and placed with surrogate parents, who immediately began to feed it and keep it warm.

African penguins once came close to extinction and are listed as “vulnerable” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

Postal Workers Boycott House After Cat Attacks

Britain’s postal service says it has suspended deliveries to a woman following repeated attacks by her 19-year-old cat.

Royal Mail said Friday that it had halted deliveries because postal workers had already sustained “nasty injuries” at the address in the town of Farsley, near Leeds in northern England.

The woman was identified as a 43-year-old pharmacy worker. Media reports say she found it hard to believe that her cat, named “Tiger,” could be behind the attacks.

She told two newspapers the animal spent most of its day sleeping and didn’t have the energy to chase postal workers.