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Published 25 May, 2019 07:24am

The weekly weird

Three-eyed snake called Monty Python found

The Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Service at Australia shared the picture of the baby carpet python — nicknamed Monty Python — which had a third eye on top of its head, on Facebook.

The wildlife authority’s rangers found the creature on the Arnhem Highway, near Humpty Doo, just outside of Darwin, in the country’s north. It died a few weeks after it was found.

The post says: “The snake is peculiar as an x-ray revealed it was not two separate heads forged together, rather it appeared to be one skull with an additional eye socket and three functioning eyes.

“It was generally agreed that the eye likely developed very early during the embryonic stage of development. It is extremely unlikely that this is from environmental factors and is almost certainly a natural occurrence as malformed reptiles are relatively common.”


Chicken nugget-flavoured ice cream, anyone?

An Irish ice cream company is causing a stir online with the debut of its unusual new flavour: chicken nugget.

The XXI ICE, based in Dundalk, unveiled its latest creation, chicken nugget-flavoured ice cream. The company released a video showing how the ice cream is made, which actual chunks of McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets broken up into the vanilla ice cream and more chicken nuggets on top as a garnish.

The company previously made viral waves when it released a Tayto cheese and onion ice cream flavour ahead of St Patrick’s Day.


Doctor finds spider building a nest inside man’s ear

A Chinese doctor shared a video of the unusual cause of a patient’s ear discomfort — a spider building a nest inside his head.

The video filmed at a hospital in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, shows the inside of an ear belonging to a patient identified by the surname Li.

Li came into the hospital complaining of discomfort in his ear and the doctor looked inside to discover a small spider was building a nest inside the man’s ear canal.

The doctor said the spider was too small and too fast to be grabbed using tools, but hospital staff was able to use water to flush the arachnid out of the patient’s ear.


Special shoes created to help baby giraffe walk

A baby giraffe born at a Seattle zoo has been outfitted with a custom-made pair of therapeutic shoes to treat a leg abnormality that prevented it from walking. The Woodland Park Zoo said the giraffe, a yet-unnamed male born recently at the facility, was born with a condition known as hyper-extended fetlocks that made it difficult for him to walk.

“It is well-documented in horses and has been reported to occur in giraffes,” zoo veterinarian Tim Storms said. A team of specialists worked together at the zoo to design and create a set of shoes from high density polyethylene and plywood.

“At this stage, the new therapeutic shoes are on a trial basis, but I’m hopeful that they will help him walk better. We’ll continue refining and improving our approach to find a good balance between supporting his limbs and strengthening his tendons,” Storms said.

Published in Dawn, Young World, May 25th, 2019

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