Yvonne the runaway cow still missing after three months | Mail Online

 

Peek-a-moo: Yvonne the runaway cow taunts pursuers three months after escaping the slaughterhouse

• Elusive animal pops up on CCTV in a corn field

By Daniel Miller

They seek her here, they seek here there, but those Bavarians still can’t track down Yvonne the elusive cow and now she’s popping up to taunt them on camera.

The fugitive, dubbed the Scarlet Pimpernel of the bovine world, escaped from her farm in Zangberg, Germany, moments before she was due for a trip to the abbatoir.

Having successfully evaded capture for 92 days Yvonne has now been spotted on a CCTV camera happily chewing the cud in a field of maize.

Hide that hide: Yvonne pops her head out of a corn field near Zangberg, Germany, having been on the run for 92 days

Catch me if you can: Yvonne appears to taunt her pursuers relaxing in the corner of a field near the town of Mühldorf in Bavaria, Germany

A full-scale cow hunt has been underway for months under the name Operation Yvonne but every time the net closes in she somehow manages to give her pursuers the slip.

A recent attempt to lure her out of the Bavarian forest where she is hiding failed because the bull, with which they were trying to woo her – described by it’s owner as the George Clooney of the bull world – turned out to have been castrated.

The team then tried tethering her sister, Waltraut, to a tree in the hope that a friendly face would bring her out of hiding but that too proved unsuccessful.

She was spotted last weekend when when she was in a near miss with a police car after which an order was issued to hunters to shoot her on sight.

But this infuriated Germany’s animal lovers who offered to buy her from the farmer and the shoot-on-sight order has been rescinded until Monday.

German tabloid newspaper, the Bild, has put up a €10,000 reward for the safe return and they claimed an 11-year-old schoolboy had found a fresh hoofprint in woods near his home.

Hans Wintersteller, the owner of a local animal sanctuary and co-ordinator of Operation Yvonne, told the Times: ‘We know roughly where she is.

‘But she always seems to keep on step ahead of us.’

Experts now belive that when she first escaped she was taken in by a herd of deer who taught her how to evade capture by foraging at night and lying low during the day.

One of the more desperate attempts to get hold of Yvonne was to try using an animal psychic to contact her and tell her to come home.

Most wanted: Animal lovers were upset when an order was given to shoot Yvonne on sight so they offered to buy her from the farmer

Sisterly love: Not even Yvonne’s sister, Waltraut (pictured), has been able to lure her home

Before she escaped she was fattened up and ready to be taken to the slaughterhouse where she would have been made into sausage meat.

It is estimated that she would have shed around 200lb in weight since breaking free.

Members of the sanctuary have now embarked on a mission to find another bull to tempt Yvonne from her woodland hideaway.

As those who want to save her and those who want to eat her race to find the cow, her fame continues to grow and one newspaper described her as a ‘freedom fighter’.

A helicopter has been leased to track that down and the next step is to take her two-year-old son, Friesi.

The cow has been on the run since escaping and evading slaughter on May 24

Yvonne the runaway cow still missing after three months | Mail Online

Depardieu’s friend sheds new light on plane pee problem – Yahoo! Movies UK

 

Depardieu’s friend sheds new light on plane pee problem

 

 

by Michael Edwards

Earlier this week we reported that legendary French actor Gerard Depardieu was removed from an Air France flight for urinating in the aisle, but now a friend has leapt to the star’s defence.

The Oscar nominee, who has starred in such films as ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’, ‘The Last Metro’ and the Asterix series, had been refused access to the lavatory immediately prior to take-off and promptly urinated in the aisle, stunning fellow passengers.

But actor Edouard Baer, who was travelling with Depardieu, says that the star had no choice, reports the Daily Mirror.

Baer told the paper that the 62-year-old couldn’t wait to use the lavatory:

"He was barred access. So he urinated in front of everyone. I passed him a small bottle… [But] it was too small so it overflowed."

The comments shed new light on previous passenger accounts, in which it was claimed that Depardieu stood up, yelling "I need to p***", and that, "You could see that he had been drinking, but there were no comments [from the air hostess]."

Baer also insisted that Depardieu was completely sober during the incident which, he adds, "was very embarrassing for him."

Depardieu’s friend sheds new light on plane pee problem – Yahoo! Movies UK

Lorry left dangling out of third-storey window – Yahoo! Cars

Lorry left dangling out of third-storey window

 

This lorry driver got the freight of his life.
56-year-old Robert Legall crashed his vehicle through a wall, leaving it hanging from a third-floor window. He was left dangling in mid-air screaming for help and had to be rescued with a fire ladder.
The amazing crash happened at the Sanitation Department repair shop in Queens, New York.
The 16-ton salt-spreading truck was at the facility for annual repairs when the driver lost control.
The skidding vehicle crashed through the wall and – according to reports – the only reason it didn’t plunge to the ground was because the rear got caught on window frames. Two cars below were also crushed by the falling debris but no pedestrians were hurt.
The driver was taken to hospital and treated for neck and back injuries.
Onlooker Frank Almona told the New York Post: "I heard a loud bang and turned and I saw this truck sticking out of the side of the building.
"The driver was screaming like crazy, he was saying, ‘Help, help, help.’ He was hanging on."

Orlando Parfitt

Lorry left dangling out of third-storey window – Yahoo! Cars

Unlucky cow freed after getting his head stuck in a LADDER

 

Cud you help me? Unlucky cow freed after getting his head stuck in a LADDER

By Daily Mail Reporter

Animal welfare experts were stunned when they arrived at a farm to find a cow with its head stuck in a ladder.

The Belgian Blue bullock was spotted awkwardly walking around the field by a member of the public who alerted animal rescue workers – who thought it was a hoax.

The rescue team were amazed to find the confused animal with a set of steps around its neck in Troon, Ayrshire.

Stunned: The Belgian Blue bullock was spotted by a member of the public who alerted animal rescue workers – who thought it was a hoax call

They contacted the farmer who arranged for the rest of the herd to be put into a pen while they gently pulled the ladder free from its head.

Inspector Kerry Kirkpatrick, from the Scottish SPCA, said: ‘When the job came through my first thought was that this was a wind-up.

‘But I arrived at the field to find the cow looking confused but surprisingly calm despite having his head wedged tightly in between the rungs of the ladder.

‘The farmer had no idea how the ladder ended up in his field as he only recently took on the lease for the land. 

‘It may have been used to patch up a hole in the fence or it could have fallen off a passing van or lorry. Either way, it’s a rescue I won’t forget in a while!’

Confused: Passersby were amazed to find the animal wandering around the field in Troon, Ayrshire, with a ladder around its neck

Unlucky cow freed after getting his head stuck in a LADDER | Mail Online

Cow leaps three foot fence

Cow leaps three foot fence and squashes car

Motorist Robert Gould is lucky to be alive after a startled cow leapt over a three-foot fence and landed on his car.

Amazingly Robert escaped with just cuts and bruises despite skidding almost 80 yards and ending up on the wrong side of the road as he tried to stop Photo: CATERS

 

 

8:00AM BST 12 Aug 2011

 

The frightened Friesian has written off Robert’s Citroen C5 after denting the bonnet and breaking a wheel after bounding onto the busy road.

Stunned police later breath-tested Robert after he called 999 to report the collision.

It is understood the cow which died at the scene had been trying to escape from a farmer when it jumped into the road on the outskirts of Leek, Staffs.

Robert escaped with cuts and bruises despite skidding almost 80 yards and ending up on the wrong side of the road as he tried to stop.

The 24-year-old said: “I am now looking out for low-flying cows when I am driving .”

House-hunter Robert was travelling at 60mph and had been on his way to view a property in Cheddleton at the time of the accident in Macclesfield Road.

Safety officer Robert, of Barlaston, Staffs, said: “I was driving along when a cow jumped out and landed on my bonnet.

“It had hurdled a three-foot high fence and hit the front of my car.

“I had no time to brake and my car veered to the other side of the road.

“I was very lucky that nothing was coming in the opposite direction.

“The police were very nice about everything, although I don’t think they could quite believe it either.

“They breath-tested me which came back negative.”

Dad Chris, aged 53, said: “To see a cow flying over the top of the car made Robert jump and it has left him in shock. It was a good job the road was not busy at the time.”

The dead cow was later removed by a digger.

Bob Lee, who retired from Staffordshire Ambulance Service after 30 years dealing with emergencies, said: “I have heard of someone being trampled by a cow, but never a cow jumping over a fence and landing on a car.”

Farmer Clive Langford-Mycock believes the cow must have been very frightened to have jumped the fence during last weekend’s incident.

The farmer, a former Staffordshire National Farmers’ Union chairman, said: “Accidents involving farm animals are very rare.

“Something must have happened to frighten the cow. Possible causes could be thunder or lightning, low-flying aircraft or one of those stupid Chinese lanterns.

“I hope the driver gets over it.”

 

Queen to share Pacific nation’s coins with Star Wars characters

 

Queen to share Pacific nation’s coins with Star Wars characters

Characters from the Star Wars space epic are to appear on a nation’s currency for the first time.

The coins will feature Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and Yoda

By Paul Chapman in Wellington

Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Yoda and a cast of other heroes and villains from a galaxy far, far away, will join the Queen on coins issued by the South Pacific island state of Niue.

A set of 40 coins is being produced by the New Zealand Mint.

As legal tender, the coins will have a face value of NZ$2 (£1), but the silver content in each is worth considerably more than that.

The coins are primarily aimed at collectors and investors around the world in a bid to boost Niue’s flagging government coffers.

Sets of four, each containing 1oz of silver, will sell for NZ$469 (£235).

Others struck in silver-plated base metal will cost much less.

"You wouldn’t want to go and spend them because they’re only worth $2, but the value is much more than that," said Chris Kirkness of the New Zealand Mint.

"No one is going to go buy an ice-cream with them.

"Traditionally, who would buy these would be coin collectors, but this product opens up the market as a gift product and for enthusiasts of Star Wars," he told Fairfax newspapers’ website.

"You know Star Wars if you’re seven or 70."

While Star Wars characters are depicted in colour on the reverse of the new coins, a traditional effigy of the Queen by the sculptor Raphael Maklouf dominates the obverse.

Underlining the target market, the first issue goes on display at the American Numismatics Association’s show in Chicago next week.

Further coins will be released until 2014.

Fans of George Lucas’s classic films are expected to be enthusiastic about the coin issue.

Star Wars rapidly developed a cult following after first appearing on cinema screens in May 1977, and spawned a huge merchandising industry.

Niue, a remote Polynesian state of only 1,400 people, normally uses New Zealand currency.

The island nation courted controversy in April with the commemorative stamp it issued to celebrate the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

The stamp featured a perforated line down the middle, which split the happy couple.

Queen to share Pacific nation’s coins with Star Wars characters – Telegraph

‘Invisible man’ artist hides in supermarket

 

Invisible man’ artist hides in supermarket

By Gaby Leslie | Yahoo! News – 5 hours ago

 

An artist best-known as the real-life invisible man has painted himself again for a new photograph collection – this time against a supermarket shelf.
Chinese-born Liu Bolin has mastered the art of camouflaging himself against a variety of backdrops and taking photos of the impressive results.
The talented 38-year-old has travelled far and wide disguising himself across many surroundings, including a London phone box, a pile of bricks, the Beijing Olympic stadium, a Venetian canal and a graffiti-covered wall.

Photo:PA

A supermarket shelf may have been an odd choice of installation for the fine arts graduate, but he appears to blend naturally into the colourful stocked-up shelf of soda bottles and Pepsi cans.

 

The artwork entitled ‘Plasticizer’ was created to express his speechlessness at use of plasticizer in food additives.

Photo:PA

According to the artist, each photograph can take months of planning and the actual paint job can take up to ten hours.
The new photographs are part of Bolin’s ‘Hiding in the City’ collection and are being exhibited at the Eli Klein Fine Art Gallery in NYC until 28 August.

‘Invisible man’ artist hides in supermarket – Yahoo!