Police in Bristol who were called out to deal with an escaped alligator might have been relieved to find out that it was simply a toy. Roads were sealed off as they stalked the creature which was hiding in bushes. However, after 30 minutes emergency workers used a camera to zoom in on the reptile and found that it was a harmless stuffed toy.

A burglar was left rather red faced when he was caught by his own shoe lace. The man had smashed his way through a glass window but had then caught his foot. He was left hanging upside down until the homeowner returned. Although he protested he had been trying to stop the burglars the man was arrested and eventually admitted burglary with intent to steal.

A giant inflatable turd broke free of its moorings and brought down a power line when it escaped during a storm. The turd was a piece of modern art created by American artist Paul McCarthy. The work entitled Complex Shit was lifted by a sudden gust of wind during a storm and took off landing 200 yards away. I'm not too sure about the whole modern art thing, it looks like a pile of poo to me.

We all know that you can fined for carrying for carrying an offensive weapon such as a gun, knife or a gobstopper. Ok, maybe you weren't aware that a gobstopper could be considered an offensive weapon. It is apparently in Edinburgh where a man was fined £400 for carrying one in a sock. The man in question was found with a gobstopper the size of a snooker ball and when questioned said he needed it for protection because he had been attacked. Sheriff Kenneth McIver told him that, even though it was not in the same category as a knife or axe, it was capable of inflicting a nasty injury.

Two people in Japan were attacked and robbed by a vicious Winnie the Pooh. Pooh was actually a man called Masayuki Ishikawa who was out with his friends who were dressed as a mouse and a panther. Apparently he took offence to being stared at, approached the couple saying "What are you staring at?" and then robbed them. It later emerged he was wearing the Winne the Pooh costume because he had run out of clean clothes, obviously he has not heard of a washing machine.

When Hector the great dane started drooling and looking unwell, it was obvious there was something wrong with him, so his owner took him to the vet. It was only when, he was given an X-ray, however, that it emerged he has managed to swallow a 63cm stick. The stick was so long that it stretched over two thirds of the dogs body. It was later removed under anaesthetic and Hector appears to be fine despite the sticky situation.

A woman who mistakenly flushed 900 euros down the toilet managed to get it back after sewer workers were able to recover it. The money had been in her back pocket and slipped out into the toilet bowl. Not realising what had happened she flushed the toilet and then realised that the money was gone. She called the council and sewer workers used a mini camera to find the notes. The bank notes were returned to the lady and hung out to dry.

A lady from New York had a surprise when she opened her washing machine to find a 8ft python. The snake had apparently managed to climb up the pipes where it ended up among her washing. She called animal control who took the snake to New York Wild Animal Kingdom where it is recovering from its adventure.

Motorists in Doebriach in Austria had to wait for several hours after camels stopped traffic. The camels had escaped from a nearby circus and ended up wandering along a busy road. An eye witness said "I came out of a bend on the road and suddenly saw a load of camels strolling around. I could hardly believe my eyes."  The camels were eventually rounded up and returned to the circus.

Nasa has appealed to its employees for donations of urine. The urine is needed for space tests on the new Orion space capsule. The testers need 30 litres of urine everyday in order to conduct the tests because as the head of support systems says "you can't make fake urine".