A mother-of-two in England was left stunned when a duck fell down her chimney onto a roaring fire – and miraculously escaped unharmed.
The clumsy mallard appeared from a cloud of soot as Helen Marsh was watching TV in her home in Solihull, West Midlands.
The duck had been roosting on the family’s chimney stack – and somehow lost his balance and fell straight down the narrow chimney.
Incredibly, he escaped with only singed tail feathers – despite landing on a burning fire.
However, Ms Marsh has been forced to completely redecorate her home after the duck got into such a flap he covered her sofas and carpet in the soot.
The 47-year-old sales accountant said: ‘I’ve never seen anything so bizarre in my life. We tried to catch the duck and get it out of the living room, but our dog, was going crazy – and the duck was flapping more and more soot all over the place.
‘My children were thrilled that we had a duck in the house – but I tried to keep them out of the room so the duck didn’t get more stressed out.’
Ms Marsh eventually managed to get the duck into the porch – where she left him with a bucket of water while she called RSPCA officers – who promptly took the confused bird to be checked over.
She added: ‘I put the duck in the porch with a bucket of water, thinking it would calm down.
‘It must have got a small cut when it came down the chimney, because when I went back into the porch, it looked like a murder scene. The duck was flying around trying to escape through the glass, and there was soot and blood everywhere. Fortunately, the RSPCA turned up very quickly, and were very nice.’
The duck – which officers nicknamed Sooty – has been taken to the Wychbold Swan rescue centre while his singed feathers grow back.
He will then be released back into the wild.
The Manitoba provincial government doesn’t want its citizens building moats.
In the latest updates to the Fortified Buildings Act, the focus has been on removing traps, barricades and other obstacles that could risk the safety of emergency crews or cops.
Under the proposed changes, it would be a provincial offence to set any trap that is likely to harm someone — or even leave a trap in place, if you know it’s there.
“Police officers put themselves at risk of bodily harm or death each and every day, especially those who deal with people involved in drug production, who may set traps to protect their illegal enterprise,” Winnipeg police chief Keith McCaskill said.
“This legislation will be another valuable tool to assist the police in our province deal with these deadly threats.”
The legislation would let either the province’s Public Safety Investigations Unit or police apply for a warrant to inspect a property and dismantle any traps they find.
Legitimate uses of traps and trap-like devices would still be allowed.
A landlord is suing former tenants who fled the New Jersey home in the middle of the night after only one week, claiming the residence is haunted.
Richard Lopez, an orthodontist and landlord, filed a state Superior Court lawsuit against Josue Chinchilla and Michele Callan, who left the Toms River home March 10 after living there a week with Callan’s teenage daughter and 6-year-old son.
Lopez’s lawsuit alleges that the couple diminished his ability to rent or sell the house when they told the Asbury Park Press about their experiences in the home.
The couple said doors would creak and slam in unoccupied parts of the house and clothing and other items would be found in places other than where they were left.
They said they finally fled the home after Chinchilla felt an invisible hand on his arm and Callan saw a dark apparition in their bedroom.
Lopez is seeking $15,000 in damages.
Chinchilla and Callan previously filed a lawsuit against Lopez, alleging the landlord initially agreed to return their $2,250 security deposit and let them out of their one-year lease before changing his mind.
A girl nicknamed Rapunzel has cut her hair for the first time to give her family the fairytale home they’ve always dreamed of.
Natasha Moraes de Andrade, 12, wept as her 5ft 2in locks were trimmed for the first time.
Natasha, who lives in a shanty town in Rio de Janeiro, previously slept in a tiny, windowless room.
But her family plan to use the £3000 she earned from selling her thick, chestnut mane to build a new house – with a room for her that will be fit for a princess.
The Brazilian girl used to spend four hours a week washing her hair and an hour-and-a-half brushing it every day.
But now she has had it cut into a simple bob, washing it only takes five minutes.
Natasha said: “I cried at first when I was at the hairdresser’s to get it cut. I was afraid I wouldn’t like it, and I was also scared I might not get the money I wanted for it. Getting it cut has given me a new life. I used to be afraid every time I went out that someone would grab my hair or try to cut it off, but now I can do a lot of things which I couldn’t do before.
“I’m having cycling lessons and I’ve been able to go to the beach and swim without being afraid of getting my hair wet.”
Her mother Catarina said: “I never put her under pressure to get it cut but she was like a prisoner and wanted to do the things other girls her age do.”
The family are also finally able to switch on the fan in their house without fear that Natasha’s locks will get caught in it.
A kitten is up for adoption after a dramatic rescue from the walls of a South Florida couple’s home.
Heather Dopp heard the small cries of a kitten for about two days at her Miami Beach home.
Heather thought the meows were coming from the roof top, but soon after discovered the cries were closer than she thought.
“I’ve heard the mother up on the roof, so I knew she had kittens up there,” she said. “So I’m almost one hundred percent positive that what happened was she was maybe digging in the corner to create a little nest and fell down through the ceiling.”
As it turns out, the tiny kitten was actually inside the wall. On Thursday, Heather’s friend Joseph Paz cut a hole in the sheet rock and pulled the little cat out to safety.
The kitten, fittingly named “Wally”, was taken to Miami Beach Animal Hospital to be checked out.
“We’re concerned with how old the kitty is and that he can survive on his on and that he is a he,” said Heather.
After his check up, Wally received a clean bill of health by Dr. John Barr of Miami Beach Animal Hospital.
“He actually looks pretty good, he looks like a very lucky kitty cat. He’s got some good lungs on him, you can hear that,” said Dr. Barr.
“So fifteen ounces, so almost a pound, so that means he’s probably just about four weeks old. He’s a little fighter and maybe a little bit he’s a lion at heart,” said Heather.
Heather is unable to adopt Wally because her boyfriend is allergic to cats.
A schoolboy had a shock when he returned from the playground to find a fox asleep in his bed.
Alexander West, nine, was stunned to see the baby fox snuggled in his duvet in his bedroom on the second floor of his home.
The youngster had left the back door of the townhouse open when he ran outside to play and the female fox had crept inside and made herself at home.
“Alexander shouted down saying there was a fox in his bed, but I didn’t believe him,” said mother Dina Luminati-West. “I thought it must be our cat asleep on his bed, but then I saw the long pointed nose and realised it was indeed a fox. I was absolutely shocked, but Alexander was quite excited and pleased she had chosen his room. I said it was because it was so messy.”
The small fox is believed to have been in the house for up to four hours on Monday afternoon.
Traces show she crept in through the back door then up to the second floor, where she tried the main bedroom before settling on Alexander’s bed for a nap.
“His bed wasn’t made and she must have liked the look of his warm duvet,” said Dina, from Hemel Hempstead, Herts.
“We’ve seen foxes in a den at the back of our house since moving here 12 years ago but we’ve never heard of them going in any of the houses here. She was in a bit of a poor state and was probably looking for somewhere nice to stay for a few hours. Alexander loves animals, but a bedroom’s not the best place for a fox. We’ll be keeping our door firmly shut from now on.”
Dina closed the bedroom door on the fox and called the RSPCA, who took her away.
