ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Crows in Washington blamed for ‘suspicious powder’ scare

EDMONDS, Wash.

A fire spokeswoman says blame the crows for a “suspicious powder” scare at a Washington state intersection that detoured traffic for more than an hour.

Snohomish County Fire District 1 spokeswoman Leslie Hynes told The Daily Herald that a hazardous materials team responded last week to a report about an unknown white powder in the roadway in the town of Edmonds.

A witness finally told the crew that a couple of crows were to blame. Hynes says a woman was going jogging when she noticed the birds dragging a bag of white flour.

Hynes says the woman took the bag away from the birds, put it in a garbage can and kept running. It took firefighters about an hour to clear the scene.

Turtles slowly escape captivity

SUMMERVILLE, Ga.

More than 1,000 turtles made a slow-speed escape from their turtle farm in northwest Georgia.

Turtle farmer David Driver tells sheriff’s officials he suspects vandals might be to blame for tearing down fences around his turtle ponds in Summerville.

Authorities say that allowed the turtles — including snappers, Eastern paints and yellow-bellied sliders — to leave the farm and make a beeline to nearby ponds and creeks.

Driver told The Chattanooga Times Free Press that about 1,600 of the 2,200 turtles escaped. He says his business involves selling some turtles to pet-growing operations and others to China.

Sheriff’s officials are continuing to search for the turtles.

Summerville, known more as the home of folk artist Howard Finster than it is for turtles, is about 90 miles northwest of Atlanta.

Wandering emu returned to northwestern Pa. owner

BRADFORD, Pa.

A wandering Australian emu has been returned to its northwestern Pennsylvania owner. The Bradford Era reports the bird was captured by Foster Township police and a former McKean County humane officer last week.

The bird’s owner, Ken Hardy, of Corydon Township, says the bird is one of six he still owns after investing in the birds so he could raise them about 20 years ago.

It was unclear how the bird got free from Hardy’s property, but it had been spotted in various portions of the county since July 13, including Marilla Reservoir, Glendorn, and several locations in and around Bradford in McKean County. That’s about 130 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

Officials say they were able to subdue the bird because they chased it into some woods where it became disoriented.

Associated Press