oddly enough

oddly enough

Cuban couple keeps rodents called hutias as pets

BAINOA, Cuba

Some people keep guinea pigs or hamsters as pets.

But in Cuba, where a larger, more exotic rodent runs wild, Ana Pedraza and her husband prefer the hutia.

With a ropelike tail and long front teeth, the hutia looks like a giant rat, only cuter, some would say. They live in Cuba and other Caribbean islands where they sometimes are hunted for food.

But Pedraza and her husband, Rafael Lopez, say they only want to protect and take care of the animals, which measure nearly a foot long, with the largest ones weighing in bigger than a small dog.

The couple began collecting hutias about five years ago when they found one languishing on a roadside and named her Congui. They found her a mate and now have more than a half-dozen hutias in their home about 25 miles east of the capital, Havana.

Congui and her brood like to drink sweetened coffee and munch on crackers and vegetables. Her son Pancho enjoys an occasional nip of rum.

4-year-old rescued after climbing 50 feet up tree

DOTHAN, Ala.

A 4-year-old Alabama boy who climbed 50 feet up a tree on a dare from his big brother had to be rescued after he got stuck for about two hours.

The Dothan Eagle reports that a tree crew used a bucket truck to rescue Parker Clark in Geneva County last week.

Grandmother Barbara Dawsey says the boy and his two brothers were playing outside when she went outside to see the preschooler about 50 feet up a tree. He’d climbed it on a dare.

One boy stayed on the ground, and Dawsey says she was able to coax another boy out of the tree. But Parker was stuck.

Dawsey called 911, but firefighters couldn’t reach him. She says a tree crew rescued the boy. The child wasn’t hurt.

Aggressive groundhog charges at New Hampshire man

HAMPTON, N.H.

A New Hampshire man says he was working in his garage when a groundhog he had seen in his backyard charged at him.

Gary McGrath of Hampton tells WMUR-TV the groundhog got close, so he pushed him back with his foot Tuesday. But the animal returned. McGrath said he gave him a harder kick and closed the garage door.

But the groundhog sneaked through another opening — and McGrath ended up running to the front door.

His wife called an animal-control officer, who got back into his truck for a short time when confronted by the groundhog. The animal later was put down in the yard. It will be tested for rabies.

McGrath said he didn’t know what the groundhog was thinking, “but it was not nice.”

Associated Press