Offbeat

Humans have made the world less hospitable for birds in many ways. One obvious and intentional example of this can be found in towns and cities worldwide: anti-bird spikes. The pointy wires you might see attached to roofs, ledges, and light poles are meant to deter urban species like pigeons from landing, pooping, and even nesting where people don’t want them to. But in an avian act of poetic justice, a handful of European birds have struck back.

Apparently Carrion Crows and Eurasian Magpies are stealing and repurposing the spikes as a nest-building material. Nests featuring the deterrent were documented in a study published Tuesday in the Dutch journal Deinsea, an online periodical from the Natural History Museum Rotterdam.

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Man who didn’t want to look after girlfriend’s pet sent bomb threat to cruise she was on (www.the-independent.com)

submitted 1 week ago by TheWaterGod to c/offbeat

13 comments fedilink

Archive/mirror: https://archive.ph/aZTku

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Auckland man fails to overturn bankruptcy after $34k fines defending $80 speeding ticket (www.nzherald.co.nz)

submitted 2 weeks ago by TheWaterGod to c/offbeat

2 comments fedilink

Archive/mirror: https://archive.ph/i9NUq

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Scottish boarding school to accept tuition fee payments in Bitcoin (www.bbc.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago by PhilipTheBucket@ponder.cat to c/offbeat

1 comments fedilink

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Stay indoors or risk being blown away, China warns light people (www.telegraph.co.uk)

submitted 2 weeks ago by TheWaterGod to c/offbeat

6 comments fedilink

Archive/mirror: https://archive.ph/LPrg2

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South Africa helicopter crash blamed on penguin in cardboard box that hit pilot's controls (www.cbsnews.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by otter to c/offbeat

7 comments fedilink

Everyone was ok:

The aircraft sustained substantial damage but the pilot and passengers were uninjured, according to the incident report. The penguin was also unharmed, the report noted.

How it happened:

The pilot and passengers were conducting an aerial survey flight of an island off South Africa's Eastern Cape on January 19, 2025. The helicopter safely landed on Bird Island. Before departing, one of the passengers, who the incident report referred to as a "specialist," asked that they transport one of the penguins on the island back with them. The pilot agreed, and the penguin was placed in a cardboard box.

When the helicopter was at an altitude of around 50 feet, the cardboard box slid off the passenger's lap -- onto the pilot's cyclic pitch control lever, the incident report said. The helicopter rolled to the right. The pilot could not recover, the incident report said. As the aircraft descended, the main rotor blades of the helicopter struck the ground, and the helicopter landed on its side, about 60 feet from where it had taken off.

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Oops, we accidentally drugged the world’s fish (www.vox.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago by misk@sopuli.xyz to c/offbeat

1 comments fedilink

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"Mysterious poop chucker" might be targeting Colorado woman for not picking up dog's waste (denvergazette.com)

submitted 2 weeks ago by TheWaterGod to c/offbeat

12 comments fedilink

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