Cat adopts rat



A pet cat in China has adopted a rat which she is nursing alongside her four kittens.

A cat has adopted a rat in China /China Quirky News

Sun Shujun, of Yantai City, says the rat has been living with her cat since the kittens were born four weeks ago.

Sun, 81, says that a neighbour came to see the kittens on the day they were born and was amazed to see a rat suckling alongside them.

"At the beginning, I thought I must have seen wrong. So I took a flashlight and had a clear look," said the neighbour.

The rat not only drinks cat's milk, but also plays with its kitten 'brothers and sisters', according to the Qilu Evening Post.

The cat reportedly treats the rat exactly the same as her natural kittens and it has become part of her family.

Sun reckons her maternal instincts must have overwhelmed her predatory instincts to allow her to adopt an animal she would normally see as prey.

Pensioner destroys flats to kill ants

A Polish pensioner destroyed an entire block of flats when he poured insecticide down a ventilation shaft after being driven potty by ants.

Marcin Bartosz, 74, used gallons of insecticide but when it seemed to have no effect on the insects he threw a burning towel after it.

The explosion left the block of flats in Lublin in eastern Poland in ruins and Bartosz in hospital with third degree burns.

Miraculously, none of his neighbours was injured in the accident.

Crook prefers jail to wife

An Italian crook begged to go back to jail after telling wardens life behind bars was better than living with his wife again.

Prison bosses had freed Luigi Folliero, 45, to serve the second year of his two-year sentence for theft under house arrest.

But after just two days at home he fled back to Ponte San Leonardo jail, near Naples, and pleaded to go back in his old cell because he could not stand being at home with his wife.

He told wardens: "She never stops moaning and nagging."

'Unicorn' born in captivity



An Italian nature reserve is claiming the world's first unicorn after a deer was born with a single horn in the centre of its head.

Deer born with single horn in Italy hailed as a 'unicorn' /PA

"This is fantasy becoming reality,'' said Gilberto Tozzi, director of the Centre of Natural Sciences in Prato, near Florence.

"The unicorn has always been a mythological animal.''

The roe deer was born in captivity in the research centre's park in the Tuscan town of Prato.

The condition is believed to have been caused by a genetic flaw, the deer's twin has two horns.

Mr Tozzi, who had never seen the condition before, said such anomalies may have inspired the myth of the unicorn.

The unicorn, a horse-like creature with magical healing powers, has appeared in legends and stories throughout history.

"This shows that even in past times, there could have been animals with this anomaly,'' he said. "It's not like they dreamed it up.''

Traffic warden reinstated - by popular demand

A Scottish traffic warden has been reinstated - after a campaign to save him by local residents and motorists.

James Dewar, 59, was the only traffic warden in the port of Stromness on Orkney until he was told his services were no longer required.

The local police force had increased its presence in the town and its constables were due to take over his duties, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Mr Dewar, who is employed during the summer when tourists double the population of the historic town, keeps the traffic moving in one of Britain's narrowest high streets.

He has done the job for 14 years and is regarded as a friend by many of the residents. He also helps children get home safely after school, and offers advice to tourists.

"To us he's a friend," said Sarah Taylor, who headed the campaign to keep Mr Dewar.

"Anywhere else people would be surprised that we want to keep our traffic warden, but he does an invaluable job in Stromness and he's a great asset to the town."

Mr Dewar, who runs a small croft outside Stromness with his wife Jenny, looking after sheep, goats and hens, said: "For a traffic warden to be wanted is unusual to say the least.

"I'm deeply honoured that the people of Stromness wanted to keep me as their traffic warden. I'm so grateful for their support."

Chief Insp David Miller, of Northern Constabulary, said he could remain in Stromness this summer and the force would consider expanding his duties next year.

Stilettos for babies

US designers have launched a range of high heeled shoes designed specifically for babies.

The tiny stilettos, called Heelarious, are intended for babies up to six months and come in hot pink, black and leopard print.

Creators Britta Bacon and Hayden Porter say the heels are only for show and will collapse if any pressure is put on them.

Miss Bacon said she hit upon the idea for the shoes while walking to her daughter Kayla's fourth birthday party.

She said: "It would have been hilarious if I could have brought Kayla to a party in high heels when she was a baby."

The £18 shoes, which come in six different styles named after the inventors' children, are on sale at over 50 stores in America, Canada and Switzerland. British parents can purchase them online.

Christopher Cloke, head of child protection awareness at the NSPCC, said: "This is part of a worrying trend of inappropriate clothing being marketed at young children."

Last year the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said children were being psychologically damaged by inappropriate "sexy" clothing and toys.

Thief picks wrong car

A Polish thief got more than he bargained for when he tried to steal a pensioner's car - and the owner turned out to be a karate black belt.

Wojciech Chomicki, 71, spotted him trying to make off with his car, ripped open the car door, flipped the 41-year-old thief out of the driver's seat and pinned him to the ground with a choke hold while a pal called police.

A spokesman for police in Plock, northern Poland, said: "He saw the man breaking into his car from his kitchen window, ran outside and had him completely disabled on the floor as quick as a flash.

"When officers got there he seemed quite relieved to be released from the man's grip. The thief picked the wrong car to steal."

Chomicki has been a qualified teacher in Shotokan karate for more than 30 years and has been studying it for more than 50.

He later asked police to apologise to the crook for using such potentially deadly techniques on him.

"That thief should count himself lucky that he didn't get on the wrong end of one of his kicks - he's like a mule," said a police source.

Students kicked off Facebook for eating a cat

A group of Danish students have been kicked off Facebook for cooking and eating a cat.

The students, from the Danish School of Journalism in Aarhus, posted 30 pictures of themselves cooking and eating the animal, reports the Copenhagen Post.

But their protest, aimed at drawing attention to the way pigs and cattle are raised for meat, was slammed by the animal rights lobby.

The students say the cat was feral and had been shot by a farmer trying to control the number of cats on his land. They say it was killed humanely and prepared by a professional chef.

They said they were surprised by people's reactions and were 'disappointed' their Facebook profile was no longer accessible.

"We wanted people to think about what it was they were putting in their mouths," said Laura Bøge Mortensen, group member and the editor of a student magazine that carried an article about the meal.

"It's hypocritical for us to spend thousands on our pets, yet buy the cheapest pork from Netto that comes from pigs that have lived a horrid life. And just why is it that it's worse to eat a cat than a pig?"

But she admitted the group struggled to overcome reservations about eating an animal normally treated as a pet.

"We had to count to three before we sat down to eat, and I wouldn't really say that we stuffed our face. Everyone did take a bite though," she said, before revealing the taste was "a little like chicken, with an aftertaste of fur".

But Ole Münster, director of Denmark's version of the RSPCA, said: "This is the worst way to draw people's attention to animal welfare. The choice of a cat was an especially bad one, since we get most of our calls about them."