Not previously known for being culinary connoisseurs, elks are being employed to taste the salt being put on Swedish roads.
The Scandinavian country’s transport ministry has not gone completely crazy though – it simply wants to know what types of the common table condiment do not appeal to the large deer.
It turns out the elk has developed a tendency to lick all the salt put there to prevent cars from skidding in the cold weather.
More animal magic – a swan has been caught feeding fish in a Chinese zoo.
The bird has developed its own visitor fanbase after being spotted regularly scooping up feed in its beak and passing it on to its fishy friends.
Apparently the swan and the fish have become pals after growing up together. Or, and more probably, the clever swan is fattening up some very tasty future morsels.
Still in China, relatives have started handing out Viagra at cemeteries to make sure the recently deceased don’t miss out on a healthy sex life.
The scheme stems from a centuries-old ritual where paper pictures of objects to be taken to the next life are burned.
But while images of televisions, cars and actual paper money are commonly set alight, this is the first time that good sex has been on offer to the dead.
A cat has been causing waves in the Midlands by catching a bus at the same time everyday for the past three months.
Nicknamed Macavity by his fellow passengers, the white moggy jumps on at the same place before getting off at the next stop.
Passenger Paul Brennan said his number 331 bus compatriot is “the perfect passenger”.
“The only problem is he never pays,” he added.
And finally, a 105-year-old man has lost his record of never being taken to hospital after being admitted for indigestion after eating a jar of pickled gherkins.
Romanian doctors said Tudorica Anghel was “amazingly healthy” for a man of his age, despite never being taken to hospital before.
It’s thought that the offending gherkins were well past their sell-by date.
