Smart kid: A creative boy in Brazil didn’t need a fancy packaged model to come up with an ingenious toy. All he needed was a few recyclable scraps that he found. Using items such as PVC pipes, hoses, wood scraps and a wooden fruit crate, Wesley Pereira de Souza made a model of an excavator. It even has a manoeuverable bucket, which looks and operates almost exactly like the real thing, but only is much smaller in size. Wesley proved that one doesn’t have to shop in expensive stores and buy ready-made games. Instead, just look around, gather what’s available, and use your imagination.

Facing the beast: Wildlife photographers have been known to get some pretty amazing shots of animals, but Chris McLennan raised the bar when attempting to capture pictures of lions while he was in Botswana, Africa. McLennan had a friend rig up a pint-sized, specialized remote-control car, which could be controlled from a distance. The car, which had a camera mounted securely inside, was then driven into a pride of lions. After retrieving the car and finding the camera undamaged inside, McLennan captured some amazing close-up shots of the lions’ faces.

Move over!: A man in Nottinghamshire, England, is in big trouble after he stole a big vehicle to go on a big rampage. Not satisfied with just a small car as his vehicle of choice, the thief chose an earthmover instead, then proceeded to drive dangerously around the village of Church Warsop. He hit several other cars, then drove into a cemetery and knocked down several headstones. Police eventually caught wind of the crime, and since an earthmover doesn’t move very fast, they were able to catch up with the man and arrest him. Also damaged in the spree were some hedges and some farmers’ fields.

Racing cow: When one enters a big racing event, one does not expect a cow to be at the starting line. But that is exactly what happened at the Scorching Bay Triathlon in Wellington, New Zealand. This event started on a beach located near farmland. Just as the race organizers and 300 racers were about to start the event, a black and white cow wandered out of the bushes and sauntered down to the beach. Organizers delayed the start, and some racers took part in an unscheduled warm-up by shooing the animal back to the farm.