Odds and Ends – Friday September 29 – October 5, 2017

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Guinness records include long-tailed cat, old bodybuilder

(Kevin Scott Ramos/Guinness World Records 2018 via AP)
(Kevin Scott Ramos/Guinness World Records 2018 via AP)

New York (AP) – A long-tailed cat, an octogenarian bodybuilder and a 5-inch-long eyelash are included in the latest edition of Guinness World Records. The 2018 version of the chronicle of extraordinary feats and features was released Thursday. The honorees include a Silver Maine Coon cat from Ferndale, Michigan, named Cygnus that boasts a tail that stretches more than 17 inches (46 centimeters). It set the world record for longest tail on a domestic cat. A Chinese woman has set the record for world’s longest eyelash, at nearly 5 inches (12 centimeters). An 83-year-old great-grandfather from Los Angeles has been named the world’s oldest bodybuilder. This is the 63rd edition of the Guinness book.

Koala survives 10-mile Australia trip in wheel arch

(Metropolitan Fire Service via AP)
(Metropolitan Fire Service via AP)

Adelaide, Australia (AP) – For a stowaway who made a 16-kilometer (10-mile) journey squeezed in a wheel arch, a koala was lucky to escape with just scratches. The driver of the four-wheel vehicle was unaware of the extra passenger until they arrived at their destination in the outskirts of Adelaide, Australia, and he heard some unusual cries. After seeing the koala in the wheel arch, he immediately called animal rescuers, who removed the wheel and eventually extricated the frightened but very lucky animal. “You think you’ve seen it all. No, I’ve never seen anything like that and it’s absolutely incredible,” said Fauna Rescue worker, Jane Brister. The koala suffered superficial injuries and was covered in grease from under the car. “She was crying a little bit, she was a little bit shaken, she was certainly in shock but I rushed her straight to the vet,” Brister said. The koala was dubbed Kelli, after one of the firefighters who rescued her. “Kelli’s one of our fine station officers and she led the rescue crew that day and she was quite excited to have such a good outcome,” said Dave Juniper of the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service. After being cleaned up and monitored for a week, it was released back into the bush on Saturday. “After everything she’s been through, she’s had so much stress and trauma, to see her just toddle off and up the tree, and currently she’s found the biggest fork in the tree, she’s snuggled up, she’s fast asleep,” Brister said. Rescue workers say it’s not unusual for koalas to seek shelter in unusual places.

Pathologist suspected of drunken driving toted human organs

Indianapolis (AP) – Authorities in central Indiana say a pathologist arrested on suspicion of drunken driving had human organs and tissues in his pickup truck when he was pulled over along a rural highway. Seventy-five-year-old Elmo Griggs was arrested Tuesday in the Morgan County town of Brooklyn after another motorist reported a truck driving erratically along Indiana 67 about 10 miles (16 kilometers) southwest of Indianapolis. Griggs was released from jail after posting bail. Online court records don’t list an attorney for him. Morgan County Coroner Annette Rohlman says Griggs had several totes inside the truck and in its bed that contained brain and liver samples and internal organs for his private autopsy practice. She says it’s not surprising that a pathologist would be transporting such samples.