Massive catfish rescued from swamp

Villagers in Thailand rescued a massive 450-pound catfish that became stranded in a swamp after flooding in the area. A video posted on the internet showed dozens of villagers trying to warp the gargantuan Mekong catfish in a large net. Local people view the Mekong giant catfish as sacred, and tradition dictates that eating the creature’s flesh can instil knowledge or longer life. But people prefer to see it alive and safe as it is a critically endangered species.

After getting the monster fish out of the shallow swamp waters, it was transport on a motorcycle sidecar to a more suitable water body and released in it. The rescue operation lasted for about six hours. The fish had been spotted days earlier, but it took time to gather enough volunteers to carry out the rescue.

Stolen chocolate bear found

A sweet tip led the police to recover a bear statue that was stolen from outside a candy factory in central Kansas, the US, a year ago.

The Russell Stover Candies sculpture, depicting a sitting teddy bear covered in chocolate, was found in a home following a tip from someone apparently unconnected to its theft. A suspect has been identified, but hasn’t been arrested.

The 150-pound, four-foot tall (70-kilogram, 1.2 meter tall) sculpture as a landmark of sorts for the locals and a popular backdrop for pictures.

Early leads in the November 2016 theft from the company’s Abilene factory didn’t solve the case and soon the bear investigation ‘become a running joke’.

Dog swallows 21 pacifiers

An Oklahoma mother and father couldn’t figure out what was happening to their child’s pacifiers until the baby’s grandmother saw the family dog swipe one off a counter.

A trip to their veterinarian’s office confirmed the couple’s hunch: Dovey had 21 pacifiers lodged in her stomach. The couple told the veterinarian Dovey had slowed her eating and was vomiting for a few days, but other than that, they thought she seemed fine.

At first, the veterinarian thought there were only seven to nine pacifiers in Dovey’s stomach, but the surgery proved otherwise. Dovey is recovering at home.

The veterinarian cautioned pet owners in a recent Facebook post that “dogs will eat anything, anytime and at any age.”

Longest noodle in the world

Chefs of a Chinese food company just accomplished a drool-worthy feat. Xiangnian Food Co. cooked up a single noodle strand measuring a whopping 10,119 feet, 1.92 inches and earned a place in Guinness World Records for it.

A video uploaded by Guinness World Records shows chefs creating the nearly two miles long single strand of traditional ramen noodle, made entirely by hand. The 66kg noodle required 40 kilogrammes of flour, 26.8 litres of water and 0.6 kilogrammes of salt, and it took them over 17 hours to make it. The noodle was eventually served to the public to enjoy.

The Chinese chefs from Henan province broke Japan’s previously-held record of 1,800 feet, set in 2001.

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 23rd, 2017