Odd News At A Glance
See this? Doctors find 27 contact lenses in woman’s eye
LONDON — Doctors intending to perform cataract surgery on a 67-year-old woman in Britain found something rather unexpected: 17 contact lenses mashed together in her right eye.
In a case report published Monday in the journal BMJ, the doctors said that the woman had worn monthly disposable contact lenses for 35 years; she had “deep set eyes” and poorer vision in that eye, which they said might have contributed to a failure to remove some of the lenses.
The doctors said the 17 lenses were bound together by mucus. A further 10 were found by the surgeon using a microscope. Rupal Morjaria, a specialist trainee in ophthalmology, said the “large mass” would have caused quite a lot of irritation.
The patient had chalked it up to old age and dry eye, Morjaria said.
Timber rattlesnake caught lingering near Massachusetts home
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Timber rattlesnakes are known to thrive in some rural areas of Massachusetts, but finding them in urban areas is almost unheard of.
That’s why state environmental police and animal control personnel were surprised to receive a report Sunday of a large rattler hanging around a Springfield home.
Animal Control Officer Daniel Simpson tells the Boston Herald the man was going to kill it with a shovel, but called authorities instead. The venomous snakes are protected in Massachusetts.
Simpson and state Environmental Police used a pillowcase and net to capture and relocate it about 14 miles way to Mount Tom in Holyoke.
He doubts the snake slithered its way to Springfield. He thinks it was a pet that either escaped or was released, or was dropped by a bird of prey.
6 cars stolen from driveways on same night in same town
GREENWICH, Conn. — Police say six cars were stolen from people’s driveways on the same night in the Connecticut town of Greenwich.
Police tell the Greenwich Time all six cars were unlocked with the keys inside when they were taken from homes Saturday night.
Lt. Louis Pannone says “people need to be responsible.”
He says police are looking into whether Saturday’s thefts relate to other cars reported stolen across the state.
Forever’s gonna start tonight: Wedding set for total eclipse
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An astronomy buff and her fiance want to make sure nothing eclipses their Missouri wedding ceremony.
Samantha Adams tells The Kansas City Star that her longtime fascination with the stars prompted her to schedule the ceremony for 12:30 p.m. on Aug. 21 — during an extremely rare total solar eclipse.
“I couldn’t think of a more dreamlike wedding for myself,” said Adams, 28, who has a tattoo of the space probe Voyager on her left arm.
The couple’s entire ceremony in St. Joseph, Missouri, will have an eclipse theme and every guest will be provided with a pair of solar glasses. During the wedding, the couple plans to watch the eclipse with their guests before taking their vows.
Adams’ fiancé, Cameron Kuhn, 27, said he’s happy to go along with the eclipse wedding because it makes his bride happy.
Adams once dreamed of becoming an astronaut, but multiple knee surgeries forced her to take a different path. She lives in Overland Park, Kansas and has a master’s degree in industrial education.
The couple grew up in Platte City, Missouri, a grade apart in school before they started dating while attending the University of Western Missouri.
Illinois school dorm director teaches dog to bark in whisper
GREENVILLE, Ill. — A resident director who lives in a dorm at a college in southern Illinois has taught his dog to bark in a whisper.
Brian Gertler lives in an apartment with his wife and 1-year-old dog Dudley inside a freshman dorm at Greenville University, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of St. Louis. WGNTV reports that Gertler found that Dudley’s excited barking when they played together was waking up students at night.
Gertler says he noticed that Dudley didn’t bark out loud during a game of fetch because he was winded from running back and forth. The 24-year-old says he slowly trained the dog to bark in a whisper. That means the pair can play in a much quieter way.