Community Corner
Dozens Of Wild Monkeys Cannonball Into River With Kayaking Couple: Weird News & Oddities
Sea otters are stealing surfboards again; AI picks winning Powerball numbers; pastor on prayer tour accused of setting church shed on fire.
A couple kayaking along a river in Silver Springs State Park near Ocala, Florida, caught a spectacular display of dozens of rhesus macaque monkeys diving from trees into the river.
“It’s raining monkeys,” Trenda Kitchen can be heard saying on a video that has delighted legions of internet users.
It seems a monkey on the shore became aggressive. “I think that’s what got them all fired up, and then they started jumping into the river,” Kitchen said.
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The moneys were introduced in 1938 by a tour boat operator by the name of Colonel Tooey released six of them on a small island that was later converted to the state park. Tooey didn’t know they were such excellent swimmers, and they quickly escaped, denying him of a dream of a Tarzan-like attraction and setting up a big problem for Florida officials.
The troop is now estimated at about 300 monkeys. It was previously culled by 1,000, but animal welfare concerns arose when it was reported they would be used for biomedical research. Locals seem to love the monkeys, and officials say they’re doing their best to manage the population by sterilizing about half of the females.
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But, “no matter how cute and calm they appear,” the monkeys “can ambush you out of nowhere and might even pass on Herpes to you,” park officials warn.
Sea Otters Steal Surfboards — Again
If it’s not macaque monkeys cannonballing into a leisurely float down the river, it’s sea otters stealing surfboards.
Could it be that Otter 841, the mischievous female sea otter who made international headlines with her surfboard-stealing antics off the coast of Santa Cruz, California, in 2023, is at it again? Or has the sea otter infamous for her unmitigated moxie schooled other otters in the art of hijacking boards?
Isabella Orduna, a 21-year-old college student, was surfing at the popular Steamer Lane break when she suddenly felt a small nip on her foot. Startled, she rolled offer board into the water, only to resurface and find her board occupied by what she described as a “big, fuzzy, chunky bear of an otter.”
The otter boldly stayed on the board, ignoring Orduna’s attempts to shoo it away. She was taken to shore my marine safety officials, who went back on the water to retrieve Orduna’s board. After a brief struggle, the otter let go of the surfboard.
Another surfer reported the same thing happened in what locals say felt like déjà vu.
AI Picks Lottery Winner
The ChatGPT app couldn’t beat the long odds of winning the Powerball jackpot, but it came close enough for a $100,000 payout to a suburban Detroit woman.
Tammy Carvey, 45, matched four while balls and the Powerball in a recent drawing for a $50,000 prize. She had played the Powerplay option, which doubled her winnings.
Carvey told Michigan lottery officials she asked ChatGPT for a set of numbers. She said she and her husband “were in total disbelief” after learning of the $100,000 win.
Coyote Bites Man; Rabies Test Returns
A coyote that bit a Saddle River, New Jersey, man on Tuesday as he was doing yard work has tested positive for rabies, police said.
The man drove himself to the hospital for treatment, and local police hunted and killed the coyote, which they said “was showing obvious sings of illness.” Rabies is always fatal to humans and animals if not immediately treated.
Residents of the borough were already on high alert. Rabies is relatively rare in coyotes, but a different coyote tested positive for the virus in Bergen County last month after two people were attacked while walking their dogs. In another recent incident, a coyote bit a housekeeper and a golden retriever while they were in Woodcliff Lake yard.
Police said all sightings of aggressive animals should be immediately reported, and that anyone who is bitten or scratched by an aggressive animal should get immediate treatment.
Pastor Accused Of Setting Church Shed Fire
A California pastor was arrested and held on arson and other charges after authorities say she set a church shed on fire to warm her hands during a prayer vigil stop in Concord, New Hampshire, on Oct. 20.
According to an arrest affidavit, witnesses observed the pastor “stuffing paper underneath the siding” of the Wesley United Methodist Church shed and lighting it on fire. Flames licked 18 inches in the air and she “stomped out the fire,” according to the account of a witness.
The pastor fled in a rental car after a brief scuffle to prevent a witness from calling police, according to the affidavit. Police arrested the suspect after tracking the vehicle to a rental car company at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, where she was trying to rent another car.
The woman, whose business affiliations include Jesus Supernatural School and Repent Sackcloth Church, both general corporations, told police that God had told her to travel the country to pray. She cited Bible passages describing “an ‘army of locusts’ descending upon Earth in a day of darkness and fire” and explained she was cold and needed to stop and pray, the affidavit said.
After using the paper to set a fire to warm her hands, she planned to rub the ashes on her head during prayer, the detective said. She reportedly said she didn’t think the fire would be a problem because it was raining.
Is This Place Haunted?
Nearly 80 years after a Western movie star opened up a mountain top tavern in Big Bear, California, known as a gambling den and Hollywood haunt, it’s no longer the John Wayne and Roy Rogers sightings that have everyone talking.
Operating today as Captain's Anchorage Restaurant and Bar, it is as famous for its storied history as for the “hauntings” that keep the stories alive. Patrons and employees alike swear the hair-raising experiences they have had are true.
The restaurant opened in 1947 as the Sportsman’s Tavern by Andy Devine, the actor famous for his roles in “Stagecoach” and “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” and as the sidekick “Cookie” in several Roy Rogers films. His movie star friends joined him, and so did a slew of gamblers throughout the 40s and 50s. The booming business had a bookkeeper named George, who met his end by violent means in the upstairs office now known as the Captain’s Quarters.
As the story goes, George had been accused of embezzling, and it was never known if he died by suicide or murder. Employees say George remains to this day, haunting the Captain’s Anchorage with an unknown woman, bedeviling bartenders and unsettling the employees and patrons alike.
“Lorraine, our bartender of 46 years, has seen the most, from feeling her ponytail being pulled, or hearing footsteps upstairs when no one is in the building,” General Manager Carlos Yanez said. “Some, including myself, have seen apparitions. Mine was walking up the stairs.”
- Read more: Is An Old Haunt For Movie Stars Haunted?
Taylor Swift Is Nothing But Bones
Huge skeletons have a starring role in extreme Halloween displays this year. In Hoboken, New Jersey, where homeowners are known for creating elaborate displays, mega pop star Taylor Swift is looming just as large.
Depictions of Swift were big in Halloween displays a couple of years ago when she began dating Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Now that they’re engaged, she’s ba-ack!
In one biting display, the couple are shown at the top of the steps, with several of the “Life of a Showgirl” singer's famous exes below. They include John Mayer, Harry Styles, and Matt Healey.
And although he’s not an ex, Scooter Braun, with whom Swift had an infamous battle over rights for her recordings, has a special place, a jail cell. Full-fledged Swifties can add their bracelets to a space on the fence.
- Read the Patch exclusive, see more photos: Taylor Swift And Travis Kelce: The Spooky Era
Kristin Bell’s Fans Are Weirded Out
Nothing says love like “I would never kill you.”
Emmy-nominated “Nobody Wants This” actress Kristen Bell upset many of her fans with her 12th anniversary message to her husband, Dax Shepard, who conveyed that very sentiment in a love note to the star.
“Happy 12th wedding anniversary to the man who once said to me: ‘I would never kill you. A lot of men have killed their wives at a certain point. Even though I’m heavily incentivized to kill you, I never would,’” Bell, a Huntington Woods, Michigan, native, wrote on an Instagram photo.
The backlash was swift, with some fans calling it “tone-deaf” and questioning whether it was supposed to be funny.
“I’ve been a fan for a while. I just wanted to say that please don’t joke about domestic violence,” one person wrote. “Please keep in mind that this is something real that lots of people suffer on a daily basis. And the text could be triggering for victims.”
Parting Shot …
An enormous roughtail stingray with a long, venomous tail has been captured on video by an underwater camera system off the coast of New England that uses bait to attract ocean creatures.
The roughtail stingray was spotted off Rhode Island by the Atlantic Shark Institute’s Baited Remote Underwater Video system. These stingrays inhabit New England waters in summer before migrating south in colder weather.
Jon Dodd, the executive director of the institute, told WBZ-TV the sting ray “was a really cool thing to see” and also “a little bit of a surprise based on its size and location.”
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