ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Willie Nelson’s armadillo is back

HENDERSON, Nev.

A stuffed armadillo that serves as an on-stage mascot for country music legend Willie Nelson has been returned after being kidnapped from a Las Vegas-area show.

Officials at the Westin Lake Las Vegas resort in Henderson say the critter, named Ol’ Dillo, vanished while fans were greeting Nelson after a Monday night concert.

Westin marketing director Matt Boland says Nelson’s crew called in the middle of the night from the road, asking the resort to scour surveillance footage after the mascot went missing.

Boland says he was outside the hotel Tuesday when an apologetic man drove up and handed him a shoebox and instructions to return it to Nelson. Boland says the armadillo was inside and has been sent to the singer in California.

Man does C-section on dead porcupine, saves its baby

LISBON, Maine

A Maine man in search of a valuable mineral cut open a dead porcupine on the side of the road and unexpectedly pulled out its baby.

Jared Buzzell, of Lisbon, says he was searching for wild mushrooms last week when he saw a porcupine get hit by a car in Minot. Buzzell says he’d heard that a valuable mineral deposit used in Chinese medicine formed in the stomachs of porcupines.

He then cut open the dead porcupine to search for the mineral and instead found the baby. He told WMTW-TV that he cut the umbilical cord and thought the baby porcupine was dead until he started massaging it and it began breathing.

Buzzell is caring for the baby at home and will give it to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.

Associated Press