Watercooler Stories

Turtle shell 'marked by devil'

MICHIGANTOWN, Ind., March 21 (UPI) -- The sole survivor of a deadly pet store fire, a red-eared slider turtle, bears the mark of Satan on his shell, a Michigantown, Ind., couple claim.

Bryan and Marsha Dora said their pet turtle is not possessed, but was marked in a supernatural fashion when the couple's pet store burned down last October, the Frankfurt (Ind.) Times reported.

The Doras claim lips, eyes, a goatee, shoulders and a pair of horns can be clearly seen on the back of the turtle's shell.

"The marking on the shell was like the devil wanted us to know he was down there," Bryan Dora said. "To me, it's too coincidental that the only thing to come out unscathed would have this image on it."

The couple said the intense heat from the fire may have caused the shell's coloring to change, highlighting the devil-like face.

They plan to sell the turtle to help raise start-up money for a new pet store.

Sleepy senior wakes up in morgue

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 21 (UPI) -- An 87-year-old British Columbia woman who woke up to find herself in a morgue was safely back in her nursing home bed Monday, the Vancouver Sun reports.

The unidentified woman was sleeping Saturday afternoon when her roommate died.

Staff then contacted a private company that transports bodies from the facility to a Vancouver hospital morgue, Fraser Health Authority spokesperson Helen Carkner said.

The driver, who had only recently been hired, was shown the room and told the dead woman's name.

However, he neglected to check the identification wristband and carted the sleeping woman away and left her covered on a gurney in the morgue hallway.

A startled porter noticed her move, and an ambulance was dispatched to return her to her nursing home, where she was "doing fine," Carkner said, adding the woman's family was "understanding" about the mix-up.

The morgue disposal driver was immediately fired, the newspaper said.

Rhesus monkeys can plot to steal

NEW HAVEN, Conn., March 21 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers said they have found rhesus monkeys consider whether they can or cannot be seen when trying to steal food.

The finding, by Yale University researchers, suggests the monkeys possess the ability to reason about the mental states of others.

In a series of six experiments, the researchers placed two people in front of a platform, on which a grape had been attached. The people then competed with the monkeys for the grapes.

Of the 115 semi-wild monkeys tested -- on the island of Cayo Santiago in Puerto Rico -- all took the grape only when they could tell the person was not looking at them.

The researchers said the finding might help shed light on the causes of autism, because autistic children do not look at the eyes of others in the course of social interactions. So, future studies that track the monkey's brain processes might assist the search for autism treatments.