ODDLY ENOugh

ODDLY ENOugh

Texan gave up beer for Lent, wins case hauled by Clydesdales

HARLINGEN, Texas

A South Texas woman who says she gave up beer for Lent won a case of Budweiser delivered to her home by a team of Clydesdales.

The Valley Morning Star reports Leandra Ruiz received the beer last week in a special drop-off, via the huge horses, at her neighborhood in Harlingen.

The 35-year-old Ruiz says that several weeks ago she entered an online contest for a chance at home delivery of some beer. Ruiz, who says she was surprised to learn she won, was on hand with family and friends to watch the Clydesdales pull up to her home.

The Budweiser carriage drivers also took Ruiz for a ride around the block.

Surgeons remove 915 coins swallowed by Thai sea turtle

BANGKOK

Veterinarians in Bangkok operated Monday on a 25-year-old female green sea turtle nicknamed Bank, whose indigestible diet was a result of many tourists seeking good fortune tossing coins into her pool over many years in the eastern town of Sri Racha.

Typically, a green sea turtle has a lifespan of around 80 years, said Roongroje Thanawongnuwech, dean of Chulalongkorn University’s veterinary faculty.

It is listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The loose change eventually formed a heavy ball in her stomach weighing 11 pounds. The weight cracked the turtle’s ventral shell, causing a life-threatening infection.

Five surgeons patiently removed the coins over four hours while Bank was under general anesthesia. The stash was too big to take out through the 4-inch incision they had made, so it had to be removed a few coins at a time. Many of them had corroded or partially dissolved.

It was only after a detailed 3D scan that veterinarians pinpointed the weighty and unexpected problem. As well as the coins they also found 2 fish hooks, which were also removed today.

The surgery team leader said when she discovered the cause of the turtle’s agony she was furious.

“I felt angry that humans, whether or not they meant to do it or if they did it without thinking, had caused harm to this turtle,” said Nantarika Chansue, head of Chulalongkorn University’s veterinary medical aquatic animal research center.

Associated Press