Watercooler Stories

Gator causes traffic delays

NORTH LAUDERDALE, Fla., April 1 (UPI) -- Authorities in North Lauderdale, Fla., said traffic delays on U.S. Highway 441 during the morning rush hour Tuesday were caused by an alligator.

Broward Sheriff's Office deputies limited southbound traffic to a single lane while they monitored the alligator and positioned their cars to block its route across the road, WPLG-TV, Miami, reported Tuesday.

A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer lassoed the gator and duct taped its jaws shut with the help of two deputies and another man. The men bound the animal's limbs before the officer took it into custody.

Students cover school in TP, shaving cream

NEWBURYPORT, Mass., April 1 (UPI) -- Administrators at a Newburyport, Mass., school said about 75 students covered the school in toilet paper and other objects to protest an April Fool's prank ban.

Newburyport High School Principal Michael Parent, senior class adviser Aileen Maconi and other staff who were present at the school Monday evening said more than 75 students gave the school a coat of toilet paper, shaving cream, soap and contraceptives Monday, the Newburyport Daily News reported Tuesday.

The incident followed a sit-in Friday attended by about 90 students to protest Parent's announcement that April Fool's Day pranks would not be allowed Tuesday.

Maconi said the students were allowed to vent their frustrations with hygiene products and profane chanting Monday, but she was forced to intercede when some students threw snowballs at windows.

"Most of this is innocent, but some kids go too far," she said.

Police responded to a vandalism complaint at the school at 7:30 Tuesday evening, but no arrests were made.

Truck driver blames GPS for bridge crash

BOSTON, April 1 (UPI) -- A truck driver whose vehicle became wedged under a Boston railroad bridge blamed his global positioning system device for giving bad directions.

The New York truck driver said his vehicle became stuck under the low bridge while he was following a path mapped out by his GPS, WCVB-TV, Boston, reported Tuesday.

"I use GPS but, you know, never get the truck route," the driver said.

Rick Sullivan, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, said motorists should take caution to ensure their GPS devices are set for the correct type of vehicle.

"When the GPS tells you the fastest way to get from one point to another, it may not necessarily be telling you low clearances for the trucks," he said.

Rare egg collector jailed

CLEETHORPES, England, April 1 (UPI) -- A British man who collected more than 7,700 eggs of legally protected birds has been sentenced to 23 weeks in jail.

Richard Pearson pleaded guilty to possessing 653 eggs classified Schedule One, a category representing the rarest birds with the strongest protections under Wildlife and Countryside Act, and possessing 6,477 other protected eggs, the Daily Mail reported Tuesday.

Pearson told the court many of the eggs were given to him by a fellow collector, but prosecutors said the defendant collected many of the rare eggs from their nests, the British newspaper said.

District Judge Richard Blake said during sentencing that Pearson had executed a "carefully organized, evil campaign against wildlife."

"The message must go out that the perverted activity of people like you, who seize eggs to satisfy their lust for them, will not be tolerated," the judge said. "People like you threaten the fragile heritage of this island, not just for now but for future generations, by preying on birds -- and the very rarest of birds."