WEIRD NEWS

Kelly Garrahan, a resident of Titusville, found a creature with oddly shaped head and tail in her yard, which started disrupting her farm animals.

The swimming pool in the backyard of Louis Minardi’s home may be distinctive to Florida: The custom-built pool is shaped like a six-shooter revolver, in a state made famous – sometimes infamous – by guns, gun politics and gun culture.

Oscar Mayer is searching for its next set of Weinermobile drivers!

Two people in Florida are in jail after deputies say one of them made a 911 call to get help with moving their belongings from a home they were burglarizing.

For the surfing Santas off Florida’s central coast, the Atlantic Ocean felt more like the North Pole than the Sunshine State as temperatures plunged to around freezing, while freeze warnings were in place for at least half of the state.

Two Alabama women are preparing to stand trial in a city court where they're accused of committing misdemeanor violations by feeding and trapping stray cats.

Firefighters have rescued a 13-year-old blind dog that fell into a hole at a California construction site.

The employee can be seen body slamming the would-be carjacker, putting him in a chokehold, and pinning him to the ground as they waited for authorities to arrive.

One portion of the house has the original basketball court and bleachers, while another portion was renovated into elements of what typical homes have, such as a kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms.

Some things you’d expect: umbrellas, sunglasses, lunch boxes, leftovers. Others, you’d never imagine.

Residents hear the joke all too often. A Tampa Bay Times inquiry on the 38,000-member Facebook group, “The Villages Word of Mouth,” was revealing.

Zachary, a 9-year-old, 5-foot American alligator, has a new home after his owner -- who surprisingly is not a "Florida man" -- turned over the reptile to authorities last week.

A woman with an open bottle of Jack Daniel’s whiskey in a bag was arrested for driving a golf cart on Florida’s busiest interstate while drunk.

A Florida woman interrupted an uninvited guest in her bathroom on Saturday night.

A beloved pet cat that’s been dodging airport and airline personnel as well as animal experts since escaping from a pet carrier at Boston’s Logan International Airport about three weeks ago has finally been caught.

NASA is launching a study of UFOs as part of a new push toward high-risk, high-impact science.

A woman who was out gardening at her home came across what appeared to be a decades-old mortar, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

A passenger with no flying experience radioed an urgent plea for help when the pilot of a small plane fell ill off Florida’s Atlantic coast, and was able to land safely with the help of air traffic controllers.

A man was arrested and nine citations were issued to several people after an engagement proposal party on a yacht that ended with deflated balloons polluting Biscayne Bay, News4JAX partner station WPLG in Miami reported.

If anyone wants to get a personalized license plate from the state of Florida, it’s best to be creative and avoid vulgar language — and don’t try “WANKRR” because it’s already been rejected.

A bright, yet brief, traveling blob of light was captured on Channel 4 this morning during Amanda Devoe’s Timesaver Traffic report.

Green Cove Springs native Caeleb Dressel has seven Olympic gold medals and multiple swimming world records, and now he can add one more -- interesting -- trophy to the case.

We could have gone our whole lives without seeing this...

There will be six more weeks of winter.

Federal authorities say the last of the escaped monkeys from a Pennsylvania highway crash of a truck towing a trailer load of the animals has been accounted for.

Police in Ireland are investigating reports that the body of a dead man was brought to a post office in an attempt to collect his pension.

Just after storms moved through Texarkana last week, the skies opened up again and rained fish for a few minutes.

Police say a 7-foot-python looking for a joyride snuck onto a sailboat in the Florida Keys and ended up staying onboard until the boat reached the state's southwest Gulf Coast.

Recent storms may have pushed a big part of a ship onto a secluded Central Florida beach.

Surveillance video has helped police get to the bottom to a series of vehicle break-ins in Thornton, New Hampshire.

There’s plenty of "buzz" about inviting these creepy crawlers to dinner -- as the main course.

Since 2016 Callahan resident Mary Ann Salis and her husband have received dozens of payments addressed to Card Member Services in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Australia’s oldest-ever man has included eating chicken brains among his secrets to living more than 111 years.

What’s described as “weird, brown stuff” that’s falling on cars and driveways in the Cedarbrook community on Jacksonville’s Northside has left residents scratching their heads. But a beekeeper believes he’s solved the mystery.

Neighbors in the Cedarbrook community are concerned about unusual brown stuff they said has been falling on their cars and driveways.

TAMPA, Fla. – An Indiana man has been sentenced to four years and 10 months in federal prison for threatening his ex-wife over several years and mailing a dead rat to her Florida home. Romney Christopher Ellis, 57, of Indianapolis, Indiana, was sentenced Tuesday in Tampa federal court, according to court records. He routinely made racially and sexually charged statements in the text messages, including sending sexually explicit images of himself. Ellis sent text messages stating that he had traveled from Indiana to Florida to see his ex-wife. On one occasion, Ellis mailed a package to the victim’s home containing a dead rat and black rose.

SARASOTA, Fla. – A Florida man who had been storing a trash can for a friend for more than two months, found a badly decomposing body inside when he opened it, authorities said. Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said the unidentified man had been holding the 55-gallon container for a friend who promised to retrieve it later. But that person never returned and after about two months, the man smelled a foul odor and opened the container. Inside were human remains that had been wrapped up. The Herald-Tribune reported Tuesday that the sheriff's office is investigating the identify of the remains and how they died.

There’s nothing like a bond between human and pets, no matter how unusual it is. Instead of dogs, cats, birds or other common household pets, Blackwood is a passionate caretaker of raccoons, dubbing himself the “Raccoon Whisperer.”It’s not just a couple of the furry creatures that Blackwood takes care of. One of the videos shows Blackwood feeding the raccoons peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. On the channel, Blackwood said he has been rehabbing raccoons for 20 years. He has ever since, and all the raccoons in the woods know where to go when they get hungry.

OCALA, Fla. – Two Florida men are behind bars after the Marion County Sheriff’s Office says they left their wallets with driver’s licenses at the scene of a burglary. The Sheriff’s Office says Robert Hobby, 41 and Marcus Reeves, 23, face 14 charges total for grand theft and burglary. The Sheriff’s Office the duo broke into convenience stores and stole cigarettes and lottery tickets. In addition to leaving their wallets and licenses behind the two were seen on surveillance cameras smoking the stolen cigarettes in the stores.

LAKE CITY, Fla. – The Lake City Mall was evacuated Sunday after someone reported a suspicious item: a cylindrical shaped object with multiple wires protruding from it. Lake City police said the object was found by a concrete pillar near a fire hydrant. With the area secure and the Lake City Fire Department and Century Ambulance Service on standby, officials made a closer inspection of the object. “We greatly appreciate the swift cooperation and patience of those who were affected by the evacuation,” Lake City Police Chief Argatha Gilmore said. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Lake City Police Department at 386-752-4343.

TREASURE ISLAND, Fla. – A Florida man was arrested after confronting a child wearing a mask at a restaurant and spitting in his face when the boy refused to take it off, police said. Jason Copenhaver approached the child's table Sunday and asked the boy if he was wearing a mask, according to Treasure Island police. He then grabbed the boy's hand tightly and put his face next to the child's, telling the boy he now had the coronavirus, according to police reports. “Victim stated that (Copenhaver) was in such close proximity that spit particles from (Copenhaver’s) mouth landed in his face,” an officer wrote in the police report. Police said Copenhaver told them he didn’t know if he had coronavirus and has never been tested.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Daniel Uhlfelder, a Florida lawyer, known for haunting Florida beaches dressed as the Grim Reaper is coming to Jacksonville Beach today. Scythe in hand, Uhlfelder first drew national attention when he scoured beaches in Walton County, Florida in May. He announced his visit to Jacksonville on social media, noting that he would be talking about the RNC. I will be addressing this tomorrow in Jacksonville for Grim Reaper Tour pic.twitter.com/0zOONJHZEm Daniel Uhlfelder (@DWUhlfelderLaw) July 3, 2020News4Jax spoke to Uhlfelder early this morning. The Grim Reaper will appear at the pier on Jacksonville Beach at 11 a.m.

ODESSA, Fla. A Florida woman has filed a lawsuit seeking either a paternity test on her goats or a refund and she's not kidding. Kris Hedstrom filed the suit against her neighbor, Heather Dayner, last month seeking DNA for the goats she purchased. According to the lawsuit, Hedstrom believed the goats Bella, Gigi, Rosie, Zelda and Margoat could be registered with the American Dairy Goat Association, a group that records goat pedigrees. Registered goats have higher values than unregistered goats. Proving paternity would require about 40 of the father goat's hair follicles for a DNA test, so Hedstrom wrote Dayner a letter requesting the DNA in February.

LINN COUNTY, Ore. Biscuits and Gravy, the kitten with two faces, has died days after capturing the hearts of animal lovers all over the world. Biscuits and Gravy "was born with the longest of odds and by living nearly 4 days, he beat those odds," the King family said on Facebook. To care for him, the King family had to take over much of Keenly's motherly duties. Shortly before Biscuits and Gravy died, the King family posted a short tribute to him on Facebook. The King family had decided to keep Biscuits and Gray and give away the rest of the litter, which were born healthy.

MICANOPY, Fla. – The Marion County Sheriff’s Office on Friday arrested Lillian Patterson and charged her with negligent manslaughter. The Sheriff’s Office said Patterson told Fire Rescue that Patterson stumbled out of a bedroom and collapsed on the floor. Patterson first told investigators that Collins fell onto a knife being held by one of the children in the home. During another round of questioning, Patterson claimed both she and a child were holding knives and Collins fell onto one of the knives. The Sheriff’s Office said Patterson admitted she had multiple opportunities to relinquish the knife before and during the “wrestling” match.

A remarkable story out of Nassau County where a dog was found Wednesday shot through the head with an arrow and survived. The dog, who earned the nickname Unicorn, was found in Yulee by a good samaritan who called Nassau County Animal Services. The lab mix was then rushed to Blue Pearl Animal Hospital where a vet removed the arrow. Once hes cleared by the vet, Nassau Animal services will take applications to foster him. No one knows who shot Unicorn with the arrow, or whether it was an accident or intentional.

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – A Virginia family out for a ride to get a change of scenery after being holed up due to the coronavirus found nearly $1 million in two bags lying in the road. The Schantzes tossed the bags in the back of their pickup truck and kept riding, according to Emily Schantz. Only when the Schantzes returned home did they discover the bags contained money, she said. They contacted the Caroline County Sheriff’s Office, which sent deputies to the home. The deputies took inventory and determined the money totaled nearly $1 million.

There are things that are sacred in this world, and one of those things is pizza -- and the toppings we choose to put on that pizza. Kiwi may be sweet, but when was the last time you heard of kiwi getting incorporated into a savory dish, let alone being used as topping on an innocent pizza that didn’t ask for any of this nonsense? The photo of the kiwi pizza was tweeted out in January and it went viral immediately -- with most people equally (or if not more) grossed out by this flavor combination. People compared it to a petri dish, called it a “travesty” and blamed pineapple on pizza for this cooking crime. Let’s just hope this was a one-off experimentation and kiwi pizza doesn’t start showing up at our favorite pizza chains.

Now we have giant hornets with freakish eyes and a venomous sting to add to this year’s list of worries. For the first time, Asian giant hornets have been spotted in the United States, specifically in Washington state, scientists say. Scientists don't know how these giant hornets native to Asia ended up in Washington state. Washington state agricultural officials are asking beekeepers and residents to report any sightings of the giant hornets. State officials are asking people in Whatcom, Skagit, Island, San Juan, Jefferson and Clallam counties to be especially vigilant.