An American cyclist suffered a road rage attack from a rather unusual source recently. The cyclist went to retrieve his bicycle and was intrigued to see that a squirrel was sitting on the saddle and sizing up the handlebars. The cyclist was amused but when he got too close, the squirrel sprang at him and the man retreated accordingly. Bicycle-riding animals are rare although chimpanzees and even dogs have been trained to do so. Quite how the squirrel intended to ride the bicycle away is unclear.
Traffic in the UK’s second city Birmingham faced an unusual hazard when a sheep escaped. The perturbed animal, more used to country areas than a busy city, ran headlong into traffic in the city. A cyclist, a policeman, a motorcyclist and a number of pedestrians joined in the pursuit. The sheep ran across roads without waiting for traffic to pass by, resulting in several close calls. Eventually the terrified animal ran into a park, where it was cornered and captured by its curiously mixed posse of pursuers.
In the Chinese city of Wenling in Zhejiang Province, a new highway linking with the main railway station featured an unusual obstruction, an apartment block. When the authorities planned the highway they offered compensation to property owners living in its path. But one elderly couple decided the compensation was not sufficient and refused to budge. New planning laws in China meant the couple were allowed to stay put. The couple later realised that accessing the property would be difficult at peak periods
Emergency services in the US state of Oregon recently faced a rather unusual challenge when they were called out to deal with the aftermath of a crash. A truck had overturned, spilling its load into the roadway and onto a number of other vehicles. Unfortunately the truck’s load happened to comprise several tonnes of live hagfish, which were being transported to Korea, where they are eaten as a delicacy.
