There's a prosthetic for everything

including an alligator's tail.  Mr. Stubs lost his tail to another alligator several years ago.  He's managed to survive but has had a number of problems.  Swimming is difficult and he could not store food as other alligators do - in his tail.  His 'owners', the Phoenix Herpetological Society, decided to create a prosthetic tale for Mr. Stubs.  It took almost a year to make, but the alligator seems pleased.

Maybe he just wanted a glass of wine.

No one answered the door at three o'clock in the morning, so an 11-foot alligator broke some low windows and entered a house in Clearwater, Fl. He knocked over a wine shelf and several bottles of wine were broken.

No one was injured during the incident but police said the gator had some minor cuts to its shoulder area. It will be taken to a private alligator farm.

Courtesy of our Florida correspondent

Hitching a ride

That's an alligator that he is riding on.

From our correspondent in the Big Apple

An alligator has been reported in Michigan. The gator was living in a corn field. It was a fairly small one as it was killed by a 4-foot bar swung by a farmer.

Alligators on the loose

Yesterday it was Queens, today it's Brockton. In both cases an alligator - a small one - was found wandering the streets.

Closer to Home

It's hard to see, I know. But that is supposed to be a 4-foot alligator taking it easy in the Charles River in Dedham, which is not that far from the Hub of the Universe.

Sightings of alligators or crocodiles have picked up this summer. The previous sighting was only a week ago.

Another Alligator in Unfamiliar Surroundings

This one was found in Rhode Island. I remain surprised at the number of animals being found in unfamiliar places.

Sherman checks in

That's Sherman the alligator as shown below. He was taken from the Chicago River yesterday. Another gator was found a few weeks ago, also in the same area.

Are reptiles trying to tell us something?

Living Underground

Our Florida correspondent sometimes looks at odd web sites. His latest find is the World News Daily Report, which is based in Tel Aviv but refers to itself as an American Jewish Zionist newspaper that has been in business since 1988 and publishes more than 200,000 copies every day. Some of today's headlines:

• German scientists prove there is life after death
• 600-pound alligator shot down in Central Park
• 36-year-old auctions his virginity to highest bidder
• Cannabis discovered in prehistoric tomb
• Alabama man cheated on his wife with a goat
• Janitor claims to be Obama's half-brother
• Japanese whaling crew eaten alive by killer whales
• Man diagnosed with multiple personality disorder has 16 wives and 63 children
• And then there's the story that caused me to write the title of this post, Miner found alive after 17 years underground.

The miner has spent the last 17 years living underground in a mine that had collapsed in 1997. When the mine collapsed 78 of the miner's coworkers died. He, however, fell near a ventilation duct that connected to the surface and that gave him air to breathe. His first supply of food came from an emergency stash of rice and water, which had been stored in the mine. He augmented his diet by catching and eating rats and collecting some sort of moss. 

Don't you want to read the other stories in this "newspaper"?