Fish with 'human teeth'

An angler had a shock in the US - when a mystery fish bit him back with distinctly human-looking teeth.

Frank Yarborough was fishing in Lake Wylie, South Carolina, when he hooked the fish which was 5lb and nearly 1ft 8ins long.

Assuming it was a catfish, he scooped his hand in the water to pull it out, only to find his fingers clamped between what appeared to be a set of dentures.

Robert Stroud, a freshwater fisheries biologist with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, has confirmed that samples from the fish have been sent off to determine the fish's species.

Stroud told WBTV: "This fish is more than likely a common species of Pacu, Colossama macropomum, originating from the Amazon River basin of South America and is quite common in the aquarium trade."

Pacus, a distant relative of the piranha, is a warm water fish, and not native to Lake Wylie. Biologists believe it was probably raised in an exotic fish tank and released when it got too large for the tank.

The fish is currently in a freezer in Mr Yarborough's Clover home, but unsurprisingly he has no plans to cook his catch.

Family's flood of Joy

A newborn foal has become best friends with a family's cats and dogs after being rescued from floods.

Shetland foal Joy was found practically entombed in freezing cold mud in recent flooding in Victoria, Australia.

Rescuers dug her out and rushed her home where, in front of a roaring fire, she started to show signs of life.

Still less than two weeks old, Joy is now being cared for by Quest Equine Welfare president Rebecca Atkins at her home.

Her main playmates are two dogs, both taller and twice as heavy as she is, and she also loves snuggling up to cats Miffy and Willy for a snooze.

Ms Atkins said: "She needs a bottle of mare's milk formula every 40-45 minutes, then a 30-minute nap then play and prance time, and then we go through it all over again.

"It will be worth it if she survives because we can call her our greatest ever little miracle."

She is now virtually recovered from her ordeal, though her right eye is ulcerated as a result of her head being left packed in mud and it is unsure whether this will heal.

Man seeks world rope-sleeping record

A Chinese man who claims he can sleep on a rope tied between two trees is hoping to get into the Guinness Books of Records.

Gao Yang, 37, says it took him nearly a quarter of a century to master the skill but he can now sleep on the rope for seven hours.

Gao, of Anshan, northeastern China's Liaoning Province, says he practices on a 10ft high rope in his local park every morning.

He told NEN News: "I met a master when I was 12, and he taught me some tips. It took me nearly 24 years to acquire the skill.

"It's nearly impossible for ordinary people to do this. It needs the perfect coordination of body muscles and balancing skills.

"I am finally ready to contact Guinness in the coming days and am confident of being able to set a world record."

'The Cezanne of the simians'

A retired circus chimpanzee has become known as the "Cezanne of simians" after drawing crowds to watch him paint.

Jimmy, 26, has been producing paintings each day for three weeks at the Niteroi Zoo in Brazil.

And plans are now afoot for an exhibition of his works, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Roched Seba, the animal's trainer, said Jimmy had shown no interest in the toys and other diversions that chimpanzees typically enjoy.

In an effort to entertain the chimp, Mr Seba brought some paints to the enclosure three weeks ago - and Jimmy took to them straight away.

For at least 30 minutes a day, so long as he is not distracted by too many onlookers, Jimmy dips his brush into plastic paint containers and uses broad, bold strokes to create his art.

The chimp is not the first animal to wield a paintbrush. An African elephant called Brittany decorates canvases sold at the Milwaukee County Zoo's gift shop to raise revenue.

And three abstract paintings by a chimp named Congo in the 1950s sold for about £17,000 at a 2005 auction in London where works by Renoir and Warhol were unsold.