Spidermania:
Spiders are often seen as helpful to humans because they make meals out of bothersome bugs, such as mosquitoes. However, such was not the case when a mother from Chatham in Michigan (US) brought home a bag of grapes from the grocery store to find a live black widow spider hidden in the package. Assuming it was just a typical spider, the mom thought nothing of it until her daughter did some research on the Internet and was able to identify it as a poisonous black widow. Still unfazed, the family put the spider in alcohol to kill and preserve it, then the daughter used it for Show and Tell at school. It was a hit!

New zoo:
Most parents can relate to the sadness and nostalgia that goes along with the dispensing of the stuffed animals their children have outgrown. A man in Slovakia has found a way around this problem. He kept his children’s stuffed animals, took donations from other people, and opened a stuffed animal zoo! The retired “zookeeper” and his wife, who are grandparents, as well, arranged the animals in their small garden. Neighbourhood children love to come over and play with the lions, the tigers, the bears and the monkeys, and other animals kept in this cage-free zoo.

Don’t doze:
Here’s a lesson everyone can learn from a Czech woman who miraculously escaped injury after falling onto subway tracks: Don’t fall asleep standing up, especially while waiting for your train. Apparently, the woman was having a catnap while standing near the edge of the train platform in Prague in the Czech Republic. She fell onto the tracks, but landed in a fairly deep indent between the tracks. An oncoming train sped over her, but she was snuggled safely out of reach. After the incident, onlookers ran to assist her, but she stood up, brushed herself off, and insisted that she was fine. She is one lucky woman!

Wrong way:
If you want to run away from the police, it’s best to run in the opposite direction of the police station. That’s a lesson that a youth in South Auckland, New Zealand, learned the hard way. The boy and some of his friends were causing a bit of trouble in the parking lot of a supermarket by harassing customers who were coming in and going out. Someone called the police, who quickly arrived on the scene and started chasing members of the group. In his frenzy to get away, the youth hopped a fence and landed right in the police station parking lot where he was caught. Hopefully, the young man will get the help he needs to stay out of trouble.