SIDELINES...
PARCEL SURPRISE
An unopened parcel found during a house clearance in Rolleston-onDove, Staffordshire, turned out to date from the 1940s and contained a wartime RAF dress uniform in pristine condition. The uniform, with the insignia for a senior aircraftsman, was expected to fetch several hundred pounds at auction. Yorkshire Post, 14 Aug 2021.
SNAIL SUCCESS
Scientist Dr Angus Davison from Nottingham University has finally managed to raise another snail with a left-hand coil to its shell to mate with one his lab had previously produced. He had hatched more than 10,000 snails before he found a second anticlockwise one. Left-hand coil snails have difficulty mating with right-hand ones because their genitals are on the wrong side. 7 April 2021.
GOAT AFLOAT
Police in Georgia in the US are investigating a spate of headless goat carcasses floating down the Chattahoochee River. Environmentalist Jason Ulseth said: “Over the past couple of years, I’ve seen a couple hundred, but never more than 20 to 30 at one given time like we’ve started to see here lately.” Police have failed to find any leads, despite sightings of goat carcasses being dumped from bridges in broad daylight, and they haven’t been able to pinpoint anyone who might be supplying the goats. They believe, however, that the animals are being sacrificed by local Santeria cultists as they are believed to include goat sacrifice in their rituals. D.Star, 31 Aug 2021.
URBAN FARM
Police in New Jersey raided Emilio Otero’s three-bedroom apartment after a tip off from neighbours that Otero, a doctor, was keeping animals there and sacrificing them in Santeria rituals. Environmental health officers found 22 animals on the property, including “seven to nine” goats, chickens, and a dead pigeon nailed above a door. Five chickens were also found in a pile with their throats cut. Otero denied sacrificing animals and maintained he kills them legally for food, but an environmental health spokesperson pointed out that “Jersey City… prohibits residents from keeping farm animals, livestock, in the city limits.” D.Star, 21 Aug 2021.