Watercooler Stories

England's baby reindeer first in centuries

CROWNTOWN, England, May 11 (UPI) -- Staff at a British estate said a herd of free roaming reindeer was joined by the first wild reindeer born in England in 800 years.

Workers at the Trevarno estate in Cornwall, England, said Blue, a baby reindeer born to parents Rudolph and Prancer May 1, is the first reindeer to be born in the wild in England for 800 years and possibly the first of the animals born in the country's far southwest for thousands of years, The Guardian reported Tuesday.

"We're obviously delighted," Trevarno General Manager Richard Cox said. "He really is a gorgeous little fellow and everyone here has fallen in love with him."

The workers said a second calf was born shortly after Blue and two more are expected to be born this week.

The reindeer herd was imported from Scandinavia and allowed to roam free on the estate. Experts said reindeer haven't been indigenous to England for more than 2,000 years.

Kittens freed from under car hood

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., May 11 (UPI) -- Firefighters in California said they spent about 30 minutes freeing two kittens from the engine compartment of a parked car.

The Beverly Hills fire crew said they were called about 4 p.m. Monday by the vehicle's owner who reported hearing the sounds of crying felines from beneath the vehicle's hood, KTLA-TV, Los Angeles, reported Tuesday.

Firefighters said they used a jack to raise the car and removed a few pieces of the engine to reach the kittens, which were covered in oil but unharmed.

The firefighters said the kittens were taken by two young women who pledged to take care of them.

Bomb squad blows up box of cash

LAKE MARY, Fla., May 11 (UPI) -- Authorities in Florida said a suspicious package found outside a church and detonated by a bomb squad turned out to contain more than $2,500 in cash.

The Seminole County Sheriff's Office bomb squad said a member of Master's Touch International Church, near Lake Mary, found a 40-pound cardboard box outside of the facility at 11 a.m. Saturday and brought it to a nearby fire station, the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel reported.

The bomb squad was called in and was unable to determine the contents of the box, labeled "For Pastor Nick," with the use of an X-ray.

"It didn't look normal," sheriff's spokeswoman Kim Cannaday said. "That's all we knew."

The box was detonated by the bomb squad and they then discovered it had contained $2,500 to $2,700 in paper money and several rolls of silver dollars.

Cannaday said the U.S. Treasury will replace the damaged money.

Suit claims adopted cat was feral

NEW YORK, May 11 (UPI) -- A New York woman's lawsuit against Petco claims a cat she bought at the store's fair was advertised as friendly but was actually feral.

Karen Costa, 27, said she adopted a long-haired female tabby, put up for adoption by rescue service KittyKind, at a Petco fair and was told by rescue workers the cat was a package deal with her brother, a short-haired tabby, the New York Daily News reported Tuesday.

She said she was told the male cat was friendly and housebroken, but the animal spent weeks hiding under her bed before emerging and biting a chunk out of her middle finger.

Costa said she was hospitalized for three nights and was out of work for six months due to the injury.

"No more kitties for me," she said Monday. "It really should never have been a kitty made available for adoption."

The city Supreme Court lawsuit accuses Petco and KittyKind of negligence for mislabeling feral cats as domesticated.

Petco officials could not be reached for comment and KittyKind officials declined to be interviewed, the Daily News said.