Badgers have been desecrating human remains in the English town of Swindon by burrowing under graves and bringing bones to the surface. The Swindon Borough Council explained it's powerless to stop the badgers because of the 1992 Protection of Badgers Act. "Licences to move badgers," a council official pointed out, "are only granted in exceptional circumstances." Following the council's decision, Frances Bevan, a member of the Friends of the Radnor Street Cemetery, warned, "The badgers are left to breed." (BBC)

The Head's Not Dead

After a homeless man killed a venomous snake, believed to have been a cottonmouth, in Mobile, Alabama, he cut off the head. His 41-year-old friend picked it up and stuck his finger in the snake's mouth. The mouth bit down on his finger. When the victim began showing signs of envenomation, paramedics were called. He was treated with anti-venom and released. (WALA-TV)

That's No Palm Tree

Part of a cell tower disguised as a palm tree broke off and crashed through the windshield of a car in El Paso, Texas. Driver Sergio Gonzales said the steel branch, made to look like a palm frond, impaled the vehicle and cut his face near his right eye. Blaming the accident on high winds, tower owner T-Mobile denied responsibility, pointing out the branch "broke in the middle of the frond, not at the point of attachment to the primary structure," which would have meant there'd been a problem with building techniques. (KVIA-TV)

A Small Design Flaw

While driving a $160,000 armored Chevy Suburban specifically designed to thwart high-velocity gunfire, fragmentation grenades and land mines, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata, 32, was ambushed in central Mexico by drug cartel gunmen. When they forced his vehicle off the road and surrounded it, Zapata confidently put the allegedly invulnerable vehicle in park. That's when the door locks popped open, thanks to a consumer-friendly automatic setting installed in the vehicle. Assailants were then able to wrestle open the door enough for one to spray gunfire into the interior. U.S. officials acknowledged that "hundreds, if not thousands, of other U.S. government vehicles all over the world" might have the same vulnerability. (The Washington Post)

Guns Before Gays

Missouri lawmakers voted to add gun owners to the list of groups protected against workplace discrimination. The bill's sponsor, Rep. Wanda Brown, said the measure was inspired by a constituent who runs a meat-packing plant in a bad neighbourhood who "was told that if he didn't quit carrying his gun, the USDA would not come and inspect his product," meaning he couldn't sell it. After the measure passed 115 to 36, openly gay Rep. Mike Colona pointed out that the state "put protecting gun ownership above discriminating against somebody because of their sexual orientation." (KWMU-FM)

Alley Oops

Authorities accused Paul A. Broadwell, 22, of throwing a bowling ball at a man during an argument while bowling in Niagara Falls, New York. "That guy ducked," said deputy district attorney Doreen M. Hoffmann, adding, "the bowling ball hit this kid who was just minding his own business." The 16-year-old victim suffered broken facial bones and needed four plates installed in his face to hold up his eyeball. (The Buffalo News)

Armed With Assumptions

Holding a gun makes you think others are, too, according to research by University of Notre Dame psychologist James Brockmole and Purdue University perception expert Jessica K. Witt. "Beliefs, expectations and emotions can all influence an observer's ability to detect and categorize objects as guns," Brockmole explained. Added Witt: "We hope that this information will be helpful to anyone who relies on a firearm for self-defence." (Notre Dame News and Purdue University News Service)

That's Not Mud

British authorities reported that a 34-year-old Lithuanian man suspected of stealing fuel in Wiltshire abandoned his van when police spotted him, and he took off running. The man tried to escape detection by a police helicopter with on-board thermal imaging by hiding in a manure pile at a farm. Officers on the ground noticed him "face-down in the dung" and arrested him. (BBC News)

Low-Speed Getaway

Police had no trouble catching Chester Michael Schaffer, 30, whom they suspected of robbing a convenience store in Hampton, Virginia. "He was located immediately," police Cpl. Mary E. Shackelford said, trying to make his getaway on a moped. (WVEC-TV)

Compiled from mainstream news sources by Roland Sweet