And other stories from the stranger side of life
A mayor of a Mexican town has married a crocodile bride in a traditional ritual for prosperity, reported the BBC. Mayor Victor Hugo Sosa could be seen kissing the reptile, whose snout had been tied shut. The seven-year-old crocodile is believed to symbolise a deity linked with mother earth and her marriage represents the joining of humans with the divine. “It is the union of two cultures,” Mayor Victor Hugo Sosa told reporters.
Septuagenarian punches a bear
A 64-year-old US woman punched a bear in the face after it started chasing her dog. Lynn Kelly was working in her backyard in Maine when her dog started barking and ran into the woods. When the dog returned, Kelly noticed that it was being chased. “The bear looked at me, and I looked at the bear,” she said. “I think we both scared each other.” She punched the bear on the nose and the bear bit her right hand before running off. Local authorities have urged Maine residents to “keep a distance” if they see a bear, noted CNN.
‘Boil in the bag’ funerals coming to UK
Water cremation will be available in the UK later this year, said The Guardian. The process of dissolving a body in a bag in 160C water treated with an alkali is the first new legal method of disposing of corpses since the Cremation Act of 1902. Perfect for anyone “uneasy at the thought of their body being consumed by flames or interred in an insect-teeming grave”, the process has been described as a “boil in the bag” funeral, said the paper.
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