But the woman sure did.  The 55-year-old woman from India went to the hospital because she had been experiencing a tickling sensation in her lower throat for about a week.

Finger Lickin’ Good

The lady had eaten some chicken and she assumed a bone had become lodged in her throat.  Boy, was she wrong!

Upon examination, the doctors found a centipede in the upper part of oesophagus, the passage between the pharynx and the stomach.  The most bizarre part is that the centipede was still alive!

No word on how the centipede survived living in the woman’s throat.   What would you do if you found a centipede in your throat?  Release it into the wild, or dispose of it by some other means?

Source: Indian Express

This isn’t a miniature sculpture by the talented Willard Wigan. This is an actual living dwarf chameleon!

Itty Bitty Teeny Tiny

As small as a match-tip, the Brookesia micra is the smallest of the four newly discovered miniature chameleons. The B. Micra is one of the tiniest reptiles in the world – measuring an average adult length of only 2.9 centimeters. Would you want one? They look pretty cute, but I have a feeling I might lose him!

But, how did they get to be so small?

Scientists think the new species may have shrunk in size because of limited resources on their home island of Madagascar. Pretty amazing!

At Ripley’s we have a long history of featuring what Robert Ripley used to affectionately call “Pranks of Nature.”  We have found two-head kittens, two-headed milk snakes, and two-headed tortoises.

However, I don’t think we have ever seen anything as unbelievable as this two-headed bull shark!

Catch of a lifetime

A fisherman from the Florida Keys caught a bull shark.  When he opened her up, he found a two-headed fetus!

He donated the two-headed shark to scientists who are now studying the creature.

The scientific term for the shark’s mutation is called “axial bifurcation,” which basically means the shark started as a twin and never finished separating.

These types of mutations are incredibly rare, but even more rare are these animals chances of survival.

The two-headed bull shark did not survive after the fisherman caught it, but scientists said its mutation put it at such a giant risk with predators, it’s chance of survival in the wild was very slim to begin with.

Turbo is one lucky Doberman.  He was stranded in a canal for over 15 hours before a pod of dolphins came to his rescue.

Turbo

Turbo’s mom, Cindy Burnett, said he slipped out an unlocked gate.  Cindy said she searched for him until 2am.  “We thought he was gone,” she said.

Meanwhile, a few streets away, a neighbor heard a loud commotion in the canal in her backyard.  She went to investigate and saw the dolphins were assisting the dog.

The neighbor jumped in a rescued the dog. She said without the dolphins, she wouldn’t have survived.

Best of Buds

Google “Dogs and Dolphins” and you will not find a shortage of material on the two species being buddies.

I think my favorite is this super sappy video of a dolphin saving a dog from shark that I posted at the top of the blog. (The video is kind of long, so fast-forward to about 4:00)

Even though the save scene isn’t real, the dog swimming on the dolphin sure is!

Source

Eddie is a black lab mix that ADORES his brother Milo.  Without Milo, Eddie wouldn’t be able to get around.  Eddie started having issues with his sight and went blind about a year ago.

Guide Dog

Milo and Eddie have a very strong bond.  Before Eddie went blind, he and Milo were the best of puppy friends, romping it up in the woods, playing fetch, chasing after toys….

When Eddie went blind, Milo stepped up to the task of guiding Eddie without any training.

Today, you can see Milo leading Eddie on a leash, and acting as his eyes when he plays in the lake (see video posted at the top of the blog).  Milo also wears a bell on his collar so Eddie can easily find him.

Lost and Found

The dogs’ owner, Ms Baker-Stedham, says Eddie would lost without Milo:

“Milo really cares for Eddie, he always licks his face, they sleep in the same room and spend all their time together. Without Milo, Eddie would be lost.”

Eddies’ reliance on Milo became very apparent when Milo had to stay overnight at the vet while undergoing treatment for anaemia.

Ms Baker-Stedham said Eddie he kept bumping into walls and couldn’t find his way around.  Luckily Milo is back home, safe and sound and caring for his brother.

 Source: Daily Mail

Scientists at Waseda University in Tokyo have developed a rat robot to basically bully real rats into depression!

Robot rat developed by scientists at Waseda University

Seriously…Why?

The scientists use the sad rats to test anti-depressant medication. After all, you can’t tell if  depression meds are working if you’re not depressed in the first place.

So how exactly do robots make rats sad?

Simple, the robot mimics rat attacks.  They are programmed with three different  “behavior generation algorithms,” which include chasing and different modes of attacking. (Watch the video posted at the top of the blog to see the robot in action)

Researchers have found that when the rat is constantly attacked, it becomes listless and withdrawn…similar to behavior exhibited by depressed adults.

I feel bad for these poor rats.  Just imagine where your whole life is one big bully attack!  I know it’s supposed to help humans, but come on!

What are your thoughts?  Are bullied, depressed rats a small price to pay for human happiness or should we start a “Save the Rats” campaign?

Source

Look closely to the picture to the right.  Can you spot the Amazing Balancing Ibex?

Ibex are a species of wild goat that live in the Alpines.  The Ibex are veg-heads that forage on moss, flowers, and leaves.  One of the Ibex’s favorite flavors is salt.

In fact, Ibex love salt soooo much, they can be seen scaling the 160-foot walls of the Diga del Cingino Dam in Italy just to get a lick!

Dinner time!

The sure-footed Ibex are balancing on a practically vertical wall to eat the moss and lichen off the stone, and  lick the salt off the dam wall.  Dozens of Ibex can be seen at a time happily licking away!

This is not a hoax

These pics have been circulating the internet for awhile, and many conspiracy theorists and debunkers alike have tried to prove these images are fake.  However, there has been extensive research into the subject, and every time the pictures have proven their authenticity!  In fact, we featured this story in our 2012 annual, Strikingly True!  

Everyone loves a good jailbreak story.  Shawshank Redemption is one of my favorite movies of all time.  I also love a good cat story.  Just this week on Facebook I posted pics of Venus the two-faced kitty and BatCat.

Cat strapped with contraband

A jailbreak story combined with a cat story seems almost too good to be true, but last week a prison in Brazil made my day.

A cat was spotted trying to sneak contraband into the prison.  Strapped to the cat’s tummy were saws, drills, and cell phones.

The cat was being raised in secret by some of the inmates, who turned it over to relatives during a visit.  The police’s best guess is the inmates trained the cat to return to their cell.  The inmates then turned the cat over to a relative who  strapped it with the equipment then released it in hopes the cat would  return to their owner’s cell.

Too Soon

As soon as the prison guards saw the contraband laden cat roaming the hallway, they snatched it up…perhaps a little too soon.  They should have let the kitty finish its trip.  As of now prison officials have no idea who the cat belongs to!

“It’s difficult to know who is responsible for this, since the cat won’t talk,” said one prison official.

Watch the video posted at the to of blog.  You can see the prison officials de-rigging the cat!

Let’s take a look back at 12 of the favorite posts from 2012! Starting with Last January and working our way to December, this year we had a number of amazing stories on our blog. Did your favorite make the list?

A NEW WAY TO LOSE YOUR WEDDING RING

After searching for her diamond wedding ring Swedish couple Lena and Ola Paahlsson gave up hope. It wash’t until 16 years later that she notice a carrot that had an unusual bit of luster sprouting from within its top. When she pulled the carrot out of the ground she found her white-gold band with seven small diamonds, it was her lost wedding ring! Read more Here

IT’S A BIRD… IT’S A PLANE… IT’S A SKYDIVING DOG!

Meet Otis, the ultimate skydiving dog. This 10 year old pug has joined his master on dozens of skydiving expeditions, of course they go tandem. Otis has been skydiving for 9 years and he, with his owner Will DeSilva, have had over 60 jumps together. Check out the video!

UNBELIEVABLE BACKFLIPS ON A WHEELCHAIR!

Aaron Fotheringham is a world-renowned extreme wheelchair athlete. Fortheringham has Spina Bifida and has used a wheelchair since he was three years old. But Aaron never let anything stop him. He has performed on a fifty-foot ramp-to-ramp jump, doing double backflips. In New Zealand he performed the world’s first wheelchair frontflip! We find his talents and passion pretty unbelievable! See More Here!

WORLD’S BIGGEST BUNNY

Darius is the world’s largest bunny. At only 2 years old he is 49 lbs and stretching to a length of 4 feet, 3 inches from nose to puffy tail! His owner, Annette Edwards, plans to bulk the bunny up another lbs! He has a pretty good diet with 12 carrots a day, and hay, cabbage, apples, and of course rabbit mix. Darius is now on tour all over the world, he is even bringing out a book for children! Check out more cute pictures.

VACCUUM-SEALED LOVE

“Flesh Love”. Tokyo artist Haruhiko Kawaguchi vacuum packs couples in a 100x150x74 cm plastic bag! The idea is to keep love fresh forever…. how, um… romantic? Kawaguchi has the couples get into the bag and after the air is sucked out of the bag by a vacuum cleaner, he has 10-20 seconds to take his pictures. Anything longer could be dangerous. So far 80 couples have participated and the photographs are quite amazing. Here are more unbelievable pictures!

FORE!

How’s your golf game? If you are anything like me, your ball manages to find it’s water to the water every time. This is normally fine, but at the Carbrook Golf Club in Brisbane, Australia it takes on a new meaning to the term “water hazard”. The water on their 15th hole is full of sharks! There are currently six 10-foot bull sharks that call this course home. You better master your land game before you play this course! But first, watch the video

KABANG, THE HERO DOG

Arguably the most heroic story from this year was about Kabang the dog who saved the lives of two girls. Dina, age 9, and Princess, age 3, were crossing a busy street in Zamboanga City, Phillipines their family dog saw a motorcycle barreling down toward them. Kabang leaped in front of the motorcycle and saved the girls! Kabang knocked the motorist off the bike, but her upper snout got caught in the wheel. Thankfully she survived and is currently being treated at UC Davis in California. If you would like to donate to Kabang you can here www.careforkabang.com, and follow her progress at the UC Davis Veterinary Hospital. You can also read more on our blog! Click Here.

FEARLESS SPACE JUMP

Felix Baumgartner successful completed what many would consider the most unbelievable stunt ever. Baumgartner AKA “Fearless Felix” became the world’s first super sonic skydiver. That’s right, He jumped from space! He had a 24 mile free fall, broke the sound barrier, reached 833.9 mph, was the first person to go faster than the speed of sound without the assistant of an aircraft, and had over 8 million people watch live on YouTube! Watch the clip now!

BODY BAKERY

Kittiwat Unarrom creates some pretty gruesome pieces. But don’t worry – these severed body parts are made out of bread! Unarrom is a Thai artist whose family runs a bakers. Even though they look scary, they are pretty tasty to eat! Think of the dinner talk if you served some of these at your next party. More pictures here.

FLOWER POWER

The first Sunday of September in Zundert, Netherlands is the annual Bloemencorso Flower Parade. This spectacular parade has been held every year since 1936. But these aren’t normal floats, these are amazing works of art! Only dahlia flowers are allowed in the parade, which decorate each giant float. It takes hundreds of workers and thousands of flowers to complete each one. More amazing floats here.

HUMAN MOTORCYCLES

Look closely, because this is not your average motorcycle picture. The woman on the motorcycle is body painted head to toe. But that bike she is sitting on, isn’t a bike, it is more people body painted! They used professional yoga instructors to contort into the motorcycles and with the help of Tina Merry, professional Bodypaint Artist, they created some spectacular pieces! Check out the video and more pictures!

THE AMAZING AMBIDEXTROUS SIYUAN

Talk about right brain, left brain! 24-year-old Siyuan Checn from China is not only able to write with both hands simultaneously, she cane write in TWO SEPARATE LANGUAGES AT THE SAME TIME! Wow! When Chen was learning English she found the only was to finish all of her homework in time was to double her efforts! Watch the video to see for yourself!

It might have to be if you lived on Christmas Island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, near Australia.

No, you do not need to change the color on your screen – that tree trunk is covered in red… red crabs that is! That’s right, it is estimated over 120 million crabs live on Christmas Island.

In December the millions of crabs come out of hiding and they make their way toward the ocean for their annual migration.

Holiday Travel

Not all crabs live near the ocean, which means millions have to travel through the town to get there. They cross roads, lawns, driveways, the jungle, down cliffs, and even cut through houses to get to the water! I’m not so sure I would ever get used to red crabs walking through my house every December, let alone millions of them!

And Then They Multiple

After the crabs mate the females lay about 100,000 eggs… EACH! A month later the eggs hatch in the ocean and the millions of baby crabs make the same journey their parents made and head back through town. Considering the babies have never been home, it’s pretty amazing they know where to go.

What Do the Locals Think?

If you had millions of crabs take over your streets and lawn, would you mind? I think I might, but the residents of Christmas Island do not want to see them go. They feel privileged to witness and assist these crabs each year! And in case you were wondering, this is not a crab you would catch for dinner, these red crabs are not edible.

So, whether or not you want to live there, it sounds like an interesting place to visit. But if you go, don’t forget to pack your boots!

Watch the UNBELIEVABLE video posted at the top of the blog to get an idea just how many there are!