NEWS OF THE WEIRD

Don’t See That Every Day

Motorists on Interstate 59 in Tennessee on Jan. 12 got a closeup look at the world’s largest castiron skillet as it made its way on a flatbed truck to the future Lodge Cast Iron Museum in South Pittsburg, Tennessee. The big fry pan measures 18 feet from handle to handle and weighs more than 14,000 pounds, United Press International reported. It will be used outside the museum, which is set to open in late summer. Get your selfie stick ready!

When in Doubt, Use the Pork

A Jack Russell terrier named Millie, who slipped out of her leash and became stranded on mudflats near Hampshire, England, was lured to safety with the most reliable of baits: a sausage.

Officials began a rescue mission when it seemed Millie might be swept out to sea, but their efforts failed for four days, the Guardian reported on Jan. 20. But one of the rescuers thought of dangling a sausage from a drone and flying it over her. “It was a crazy idea,” said Chris Taylor, chair of the Denmead Drone Search and Rescue team. “If we hadn’t got her away from that area the tide would have come in and she would have been at risk of drowning. The sausages were the last resort.” Millie’s owner, Emma Oakes, confirmed that Millie “really likes food and she’ll eat anything you give her ... but she much prefers sausages.”

Nay-chur

In the wee hours of Jan. 19, residents along Hastings Drive in Belmont, California, were awakened by growling and roaring in their front yard, KTVU-TV reported. Two mountain lions were captured by doorbell camera as they fought to the death. The prevailing lion then dragged the dead one across the street to a neighbor’s front porch. “Just keep your head on a swivel,” suggested Kevin Stanford, who is part of the neighborhood’s watch team. Tiffany Yap, an expert at the Center for Biological Diversity, said the attack was just “mountain lions being mountain lions. It’s a common occurrence for mountain lions to kill each other over territory.” Still, Belmont Police urged area residents to be extra cautious, keeping pets and small children inside.

My Kingdom for an Editor

Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee is celebrated this year, and the souvenir producers are hard at work creating tchotchkes to commemorate it — but apparently not hard enough at work to proofread their copy. People magazine reported that because of a translating error, Karl Baxter, CEO of Wholesale Clearance U.K., is trying to sell more than 10,000 pieces that trumpet the queen’s “platinum jubbly” — mugs, tea sets and plates featuring an illustration of Elizabeth and her coat of arms. Baxter hopes to salvage $44,000 from the lot and says the buyer could make a “potential profit” of $400,000. The website suggests using the items for a plate-smashing contest or a “dangerous game of Frisbee.”

Least Competent Criminals

First rule of being a criminal? Keep up with car maintenance. On Jan. 27, police in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, pulled over a Chevy Trax because its license plate light was burned out, TribLive reported. The driver, Ise Lamont Woods, 31, had an outstanding warrant from Jan. 5 for criminal mischief and disorderly conduct, among other charges. One of the passengers, Raphael Angel Geiger, 30, was wanted for a parole violation. And Don Lamont Carter, 26, allegedly tossed a bag with 29 grams of crack cocaine in it to a female passenger, asking her to “tuck it”; he was already wanted on a previous warrant. When police searched the vehicle, the bag of cocaine fell out of the woman’s sweatshirt; she also had a crack pipe hidden in her bra. Geiger and Woods were taken into custody; Carter was released on his own recognizance.

Reefer Madness

A 23-year-old Thai man’s harrowing ordeal was documented in late January in the Journal of Medical Case Reports, Gizmodo reported. Doctors at Chiang Mai University wrote that the young man, who had been a regular user of cannabis but had stopped for three months, had resumed his habit, with devastating effects. Two hours after hitting the bong, the man suffered a bout of psychosis and an “unwanted” erection, which prompted him to use scissors to “trim the penile skin several times.” However, he went too far, eventually ending up with just an inch-long stump. At the hospital, doctors stopped his bleeding and created a new opening for his urethra, but his penis was too damaged to be reattached. He was diagnosed with substance-induced psychotic disorder; after two weeks of hospitalization and anti-psychotic drugs, he reported no more symptoms.

The Passing Parade

Maybe it was just the prospect of one more day of notoriety followed by 364 of boredom, but for Milltown Mel, it was curtains on Jan. 30, the New York Daily News reported. Mel, no relation to the better-known Punxsutawney Phil, was New Jersey’s prognosticator of spring, and his untimely passing just three days before Groundhog Day left the Milltown Wranglers without a replacement for their event, which was strangely scheduled for Feb. 1 rather than Feb. 2. The Wranglers did not report a cause of death for Mel.