Watercooler Stories

Muskrat hunter freed from pipe

INDIANAPOLIS, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- Emergency crews say they rescued an Indiana muskrat hunter stuck in waist-deep mud inside a culvert under an interstate.

Brownsburg Fire Territory Deputy Chief Administrator Patrick Carmean said it took about 45 minutes to free the man who got stuck in the pipe while trapping the animals under Interstate 74 between Lizton and Pittsboro, The Indianapolis Star reported Sunday.

After he was freed, the man was able to walk but was transported to a hospital for observation.

NYC store offers upscale Christmas trees

NEW YORK, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- Even residents of high-priced New York say they are aghast at the $900 Christmas trees being peddled in the city's upscale SoHo neighborhood.

Scott Lechner is offering trees direct from the Blue Mountains of North Carolina out of a store at Sixth Avenue and Spring Street for between $400 and $900, the New York Daily News said Sunday.

That contrasts with lots and hardware stores in other parts of New York that start at around $35.

"That's insane," said Matt Mazzone, owner of a Brooklyn hardware store. "We gotta open up a tree store in Manhattan."

Customer Wendy Woon added, "What are they, designer trees?"

Lechner says that his trees actually could be considered designer category. He told the Daily News the quality of his evergreens is unsurpassed.

"A regular tree is beautiful, but one of our jumbos is majestic," said Lechner, who had sold about 40 as of Saturday. "It's not just a tree, it's an experience."

Georgia residents report mysterious boom

DOUGLASVILLE, Ga., Nov. 28 (UPI) -- Residents of three counties in rural west Georgia heard a boom that rattled windows, but officials say they don't know what caused it.

Residents of Carroll, Haralson and Douglas counties heard the boom Friday, but investigators in all three counties said they couldn't determine the source, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

"There was no catastrophe, we know that," said Douglas County Communications Director Wes Tallon. He said the 911 calls "lit up" the switchboard about 9:45 p.m. Friday.

"People all over the city heard the boom, but we couldn't find anything," a Villa Rica Police Department receptionist said.

The National Weather Service had no natural explanation for the boom, and there were no obvious signs of damage in the area. An amateur astronomer said a meteorite probably didn't cause the boom.

"A really big meteor can make a sonic boom, but if it did it would make a big flash of light," said Michael Covington, who helps run a computer research program at the University of Georgia when he's not star-gazing.

Even a sonic boom seems unlikely, officials said.

A sonic boom only happens when an airplane breaks the sound barrier, but no civilian planes can fly that fast, and there were no military planes in the region when the boom was reported.

Snakes slither into Bangkok homes

BANGKOK, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- With housing developments going up in former rice paddies and forests in Thailand's capital, more calls are being made to report intrusive snakes.

Yutasak Romchatthong, head of the Bangkok Fire and Rescue Department, said there had been 2,935 calls by the end of October bout snakes in houses, the Bangkok Post reported. There were 1,582 in 2008 and 2,744 last year.

Because only calls where the fire department actually finds a snake are recorded, the actual number of calls is probably significantly higher, Yutasak said.

Most of the snakes are pythons or other non-venomous species. But some cobras turn up, especially in areas recently used for farming.

Firefighters are trained to catch the snakes using low-tech equipment, including a net, plastic bag and hook.

Banjong Proybamrung, a volunteer at the Bang Khen Fire Station, said he responds to about four calls a week.

"Most of them are pythons," he said. "But if we find a cobra, there is no choice but to kill them."

The fire department also has to deal with lizards, which are showing up in growing numbers, wasps and stray cats and dogs.