Thief on Motorcycle Tripped Up by Toad
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Stop that thief. Ribbit.
Australian police say a motorcyclist they were chasing north of Brisbane went flying after he struck a cane toad and lost control of the bike, according to the Australian Associated Press.
Cops said they spotted the 25-year-old suspect doing a "mono" wheelstand as he tore down a street in Caboolture around 7:10 p.m. on Nov. 12.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Queensland police officers moved to apprehend the motorcyclist but he allegedly failed to stop for them — burning rubber in the other direction, running stop signs and at times even driving on the wrong side of the road.
The suspect's rear wheel then suddenly locked up after he braked heavily, a police spokeswoman said.
"It is believed he then hit a cane toad and lost control of the bike," she told the AAP.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The man is set to appear in Caboolture Magistrates Court on Dec. 12 on charges of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, obstructing police and other traffic offences.
— Thanks to Out There reader Alex K.
Car Problems Drive U.K. Couple Nuts
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Mechanics trying to fix a car belonging to a couple in Scotland found a treasure trove of peanuts hidden by squirrels under the hood.
David and Elaine Marks, from Clydebank, took the car into the garage after it started making goofy noises and losing power when driving uphill, according to the BBC.
Stumped mechanics finally found that eight pounds of nuts hidden by squirrels in the air filter was to blame.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"They came through a quarter of an hour later with these eight pounds of nuts," David Marks told the BBC.
It seems the furry little foragers had been storing up nuts for the coming winter.
"The squirrels apparently had been going through the air pipe entrance, through the resonator box and into the air filter," Marks told the BBC.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Marks said several different initial tests by the mechanics failed to get to the bottom of the nutty little dilemma.
"Our technician Scott, who was working on it, came through and said, 'You've got to see this to believe it,'" Honda service manager David Newport told the BBC. "With the restrictions that were on the car it was just unbelievable that the car was still running."
— Thanks to Out There reader Peter C.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}I Know You're a Smoker, but I Don't Have a Parachute
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — A French woman who is terrified of flying admitted in an Australian court Monday that she drunkenly tried to open an airplane door mid-flight to smoke a cigarette.
Sadrine Helene Sellies, 34, was placed on a good behavior bond after pleading guilty in Brisbane Magistrates Court to endangering the safety of an aircraft.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sellies was traveling on a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to the east coast city of Brisbane on Saturday when the incident occurred at the start of a three-week Australian vacation with her husband, the court heard.
She walked toward one of the aircraft's emergency exits with an unlit cigarette and a lighter in her hand and began tampering with the door, prosecutors said. But a flight attendant intervened and took Sellies back to her seat.
Sellies was arrested and charged by police on arrival at Brisbane airport.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Defense lawyer Helen Shilton told the court Sellies was terrified of flying and had taken sleeping tablets with alcohol before takeoff. Shilton said Sellies has no memory of what happened on the flight and that she has a history of sleepwalking.
But Magistrate Gordon Dean sternly warned the woman: "You must understand, if you are on a plane you must behave yourself."
Sellies, who did not speak in court and was aided by a translator, was placed on a $734 bond — meaning she will have to pay that amount if she commits another offense in the next 12 months.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}— Thanks to Out There readers Richard H. and Julie B.
Let There Be Light
RATTENBERG, Austria (AP) — The sun has stopped shining in Rattenberg. But with the aid of a few mirrors, the winter darkness that grips this small town could soon be brightened up with pockets of sunshine.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}That's because sun is plentiful less than 10 minutes' walk from the town and from Rat Mountain, the 3,000-foot hill that blocks its sunlight between November and February each year.
The solution: 30 heliostats, essentially rotating mirrors, mounted on a hillside to grab sunshine off reflectors from the neighboring village of Kramsach.
Bartenbach Lichtlabor GmbH, the Austrian company behind the idea, has already used mirrors for lighting projects around the world — sunshine into European basements and railroad stations or nighttime illumination of a mosque in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It says the reflector technology is now advanced enough to justify the company's first attempt to bring sunshine into a village.
It's costly, however. The European Union is footing half the $2.4 million bill, and the company says it will pay the $600,000 cost of planning the project, gambling that success will attract more business.
"I am sure we will soon help other mountain villages see the light," says Markus Peskoller, Lichtlabor's director.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}— Thanks to Out There reader Joe J. and Aimee H.
Into the Woods, Into the Woods
PAINESVILLE, Ohio (AP) — An animal rescuer who abandoned 35 kittens in two parks has been sentenced to a night in the woods without food or shelter.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Painesville Municipal Court Judge Michael A. Cicconetti, known for handing out unusual punishments, sentenced Michelle M. Murray to the spend the cold night alone when she begins her 15-day jail sentence next week.
"How would you like to be dumped off at a Metropark late at night, spend the night listening to the coyotes coming upon you, listening to the raccoons around you in the dark night, and sit out there in the cold not knowing where you're going to get your next meal, not knowing when you are going to be rescued?" the judge asked. "That's what you're going to do."
Murray, 25, pleaded guilty last month to abandoning domestic animals, a second-degree misdemeanor. The kittens were recovered but many had upper respiratory infections and nine died.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She apologized and has previously said she was experiencing family problems when she dumped the kittens.
Murray must report to jail Wednesday where a park ranger will drop her off at a remote location.
Cicconetti previously sentenced a man who called an officer a pig to stand on a city sidewalk for two hours in a pen next to a 350-pound hog along with a sign reading, "This is not a police officer."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}— Thanks to Out There readers Gail P. and Aimee H.
Oh My, Isn't He a Charmer?
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A 17-foot poisonous king cobra hiding in the bushes at a juvenile delinquent center eluded firefighters for more than an hour, so officials called in an expert: a snake charmer.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Mohamad Shaiful Abdul Aziz, 21, caught the snake in just 10 minutes, using only his hands.
"I have never come across such a big king cobra," he told the Star newspaper.
The snake, which weighed 33 pounds, was handed over to the wildlife officials. A ranger at a Penang national park declined comment and would not reveal the snake's fate.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Dwindling habitat and deforestation in Malaysia can force wild animals to venture into areas populated by humans, environmentalists warn.
About two months ago, a 16-foot-long king cobra was discovered draped around a statue at a Hindu temple in a Kuala Lumpur suburb. Thousands who considered the spectacle sacred brought offerings of milk, eggs and cash.
The king cobra is depicted as powerful in Hindu scriptures. It is the longest venomous snake in the world, growing up to 18 feet in length, and can rear itself upright to about a third of its body length — about the height of a grown man.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Thong Panties 'Support' GOP Candidates
WASHINGTON (AP) — Want something a little more intimate than a campaign button?
How about expressing your political views with skivvies?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Supporters of some likely GOP presidential contenders can show the colors with their shorts. The Web site Cafepress has thong and boxer shorts in addition to the usual ball caps and T-shirts.
There are George Pataki thongs and boxers, along with similar items for Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, to name a few. If your tastes are not quite so racy, you can buy campaign T-shirts made especially for dogs.
— Thanks to Out There reader Shannon O.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Compiled by FOXNews.com's Andrew Hard.
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