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Driver ticketed for duckling rescue


Why did the ducklings cross the road? A New Hampshire woman didn’t ask questions when she had to slam on her brakes Friday to avoid hitting some downy baby ducks. Another car had already hit and killed the mother duck and other babies. The woman, 33-year-old Hallie Bibeau, pulled over in the median, called 911, and captured the two surviving ducklings. A state trooper issued Bibeau a ticket for stopping in the median, an action officials say should be reserved for emergencies—duckling rescues don’t qualify. The ducklings were taken to a wildlife rescue in Maine, where one of them died. Bibeau plans to fight the $44 ticket.

Toddler crashes Jeep into house, runs home to watch cartoons

An Oregon toddler wearing nothing but a diaper climbed into a Jeep Tuesday, knocked it out of gear, crashed into a house, and then ran back home to watch cartoons. An officer had seen the 3-year-old boy sitting alone in the Jeep Wrangler earlier in the day and alerted his mother, 22-year-old Brennan Pennington. She apparently didn’t heed the warning. Later that night, police returned to the neighborhood after receiving reports that a Jeep had crashed into a house, causing minor damage.

According to Fox 12 KPTV, an officer arrived at the child's home after the crash and said the boy was on the couch watching cartoons “as if nothing had ever happened.” Amy Mayberry, the boy’s aunt and owner of the Jeep, told Fox 12 the child never had the keys because they were out of his reach. She says the incident was a big accident: the Jeep was parked on an incline and the boy knocked the manual transmission into neutral, causing the vehicle to coast down the road.

Naked hamburglars

Two naked men and one man clad only his underwear broke into a beach-side burger joint Sunday, stealing 60 hamburgers. Police say the men, after breaking into Doc’s Beach House in Bonita Beach, Fla., left a trail of red peppers on the beach. Waitress Nancy Sansevieri called the thieves “dumb, dumber, and dumbest.” General manager Lou Bangert told the News-Press of Fort Myers that he’s never witnessed a crime like this in the restaurant’s 27-year history. The men never tried to get in the cash register and steal money. Instead, they opened up coolers and stole hamburgers, three pounds of bacon, three red peppers, and a paddleboard, according to the News-Press. Kevin Nobis, manager of nearby partner business Bonita Jetski & Parasail, posted security camera photos of the men on his company’s Facebook page in hopes of finding the hamburglars: “I laughed a bit when I saw the pictures. I’m glad they didn’t do more. … I just think it was college-age kids who may have been drinking.”

Bats and local politics in Vermont

Bats make their homes in caves, abandoned attics and creepy old mansions. But in Montpelier, Vt., some bats have an unlikely place to call home: the gold-domed State House. Workers there say it’s not uncommon to see bats flying around the hallways. The bats come out of a cavernous attic in the capitol building that officials haven’t tried to seal up, according to Vermont State Curator David Schutz: “I am very pro-bat because, of course, we’re losing them.”

Bats have been dying of white nose syndrome, a disease caused by a fungus. Officials say the syndrome has killed more than 5.5 million bats across the Northeast and Canada. Right before a recent ceremony in the State House, a bat swooped around the Cedar Creek Room before heading for the Senate chamber. Capitol police say they will keep dealing with the bats on a case-by-case basis, instead of driving them out of their unusual, stately home. “People come here and say how open the building is,” said Capitol Police Officer Dale Manning. “Bats flying around while you’re doing business is just kind of a rural, fun thing.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.


Allie Hulcher Allie is a World Journalism Institute graduate and former WORLD intern.


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