“Herd the one about the couple who live with two buffaloes? RC Bridges – nicknamed ‘The Buffalo Whisperer’ – and his wife Sherron share their Texas home with 2394 lbs Wildthing and recent arrival Bullet, who tips the scales at a mere 896 lbs. Both buffaloes are still growing, and could eventually reach heights of up to 11 feet tall. Asked why her huge pets are allowed to roam their home, Sherron responded: ‘Why not? You let your kids into the house, don’t you?” w/ photos + video

“A shark at the Birmingham National Sea Life Center is surprising her handlers – she appears to be the world’s first vegetarian shark. Florence, a six-foot nurse shark, started life as a meat-eater, but following an operation in 2009 to remove a rusty hook from her jaw, she has completely stopped eating her normal prey. In fact, her handlers need to resort to devious tactics to get protein into Florence’s diet – such as hiding pieces of fish inside her celery, and even in hollowed-out cucumbers. Curator Graham Burrows said: ‘We’re having to hide pieces of fish inside celery sticks, hollowed out cucumbers and between the leaves of lettuces to get her to eat them. ‘And it has to be well hidden, because if she realizes it’s there she’ll ignore the offering and wait for the strictly vegetarian option.” w/ photos

“Motorists in China have been left bemused by this traffic signalling system, where officials installed over 20 sets of lights on a single pole at a crossroad. The baffling traffic light junction was spotted at a set of crossroads in Chongqing City in China, and looks too confusing for even the most experienced driver. Those approaching the lights could be forgiven for thinking they were nearing the world’s most complicated junction.” w/ photos

“This automotive-themed venue features all kinds of auto accessories and even full cars as dining tables. Established in 1999, by two classic car enthusiasts, P.S. Bu Bu is an innovative restaurant that serves all kinds of popular Western dishes, as well as fusion cuisine that caters to the tastes of Taiwanese people. Although the food is to die for, it’s not the main reason people choose to eat at P.S. Bu Bu. Most of them just come here to be transported back to the ‘swinging sixties’ by the unique decorations and accessories of the restaurant. Parked inside the restaurant are iconic automobiles like the Mini Austin, Volkswagen Beetle, 1963 Cadillac Series 6200 Coupe or a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air.” w/ photos

“Playing golf at Camp Bonifas in South Korea can prove dangerous in more ways than one. After all, it is notorious for being the most dangerous golf course in the world. What’s the worst thing that can happen, you ask? Well, you could get blown up to smithereens, for one. The deadly golf course is pretty small at 192 yards, but it feels like a good 250 yards. The place is flanked by military style bunkers on the right, and on the left side, separated by an 18-foot high security fence topped by concertina wire, lie buried countless unexploded mines. Even a small mistake could cause a huge, fatal explosion.” w/ photos

“A forgetful photographer had the shock of his life when this soaring golden eagle made off with his knife. Dutch snapper Han Bouwmeester had been using the utensil, in Västerbotten, Sweden, to carve up chunks of meat in a bid to attract the birds of prey. But, busy with the task in hand, the wildlife aficionado clumsily dropped it in the snow.” w/ photos

“Love Valley in Cappadocia, Turkey certainly has a claim to fame – a very large one. Rather euphemistically named, the valley is home to rock structures that bear a passing resemblance to… well – make your own mind up. Seeing, as they say, is believing. Cappadocia is a region of exceptional natural wonders, none more so than the giant monuments left by Mother Nature in Love Valley. Situated in the very heart of modern day Turkey this natural wonder sits on a high plateau over a thousand meters in altitude. Rainfall is sparse in this area and the place has hot dry summers and bitterly cold snowy winters. There is little rainfall and so the region is generally arid. In this environment these huge phallic natural structures seems like some sort of ancient homage to male fertility. However, they are far from man-made despite the possible resemblance to manhood.” w/ photos

“The K-E diet stands for Ketogenic Enteral Nutrition diet and is the work of Dr. Oliver di Pietro, from Florida. He promises to help anyone shed 20 lb in as little as 10 days. As a part of the diet, dieters have to get a small nasogastric tube inserted into their nose going all the way to the stomach, through which a liquid solution drips constantly. The solution supposedly contains a mix of protein, fat and water and makes up 800 calories. A few hours of this and a process called ketosis is said to be triggered, which burns body fat due to the lack of carbohydrates. The fat is burned but the muscle and water in the body remain untouched. Dieters who want to achieve the best results aren’t supposed to eat anything for a period of 10 days and also have to carry around the bag of nutritious fluid everywhere they go.” w/ photos + videos

“This is the hilarious moment a hippo makes sure his pearly whites are gleaming – as zoo keepers brush his teeth. The enormous hippos at Shanghai Zoo have some of the cleanest gnashers in the animal kingdom after keepers introduced thrice-weekly brushing sessions. Diligent zoo keepers have manufactured a special brush designed to reach right to the back of the beasts’ enormous mouths – without the keepers having to lean too far in… And the dental hygiene sessions are popular with members of the public – who flock to see the spectacle.” w/ photos

“Urban golf gets its name from the very urban landscape that it has been adapted for. In other words, it’s simply golf played in a city environment – potholed streets and black asphalt, building sites and car parks, with the city’s everyday life creating obstacles. The excitement of the game comes from the fact that each day poses a new obstacle, a new course, and new challenges. Lampposts serve as trees, buildings as wooded areas and drains, bunkers. Interestingly, the concept of urban golf has been around since 1992, when Torsten Schilling began playing golf in areas surrounding his office in Berlin. Today the sport has evolved into a real movement, with many supporters and members around the world.” w/ photo + video

“Beauty clinics and spas across South America and South Korea are turning to snail extracts that is believed to be good for the skin. Packed with glycolic acid and elastin, a snail’s secretion protects skin from cuts, bacteria, and powerful UV rays, making mother nature’s gooeyness a prime source for proteins that eliminate dead cells and regenerate skin. Typically beauty clinics employ products made from the sticky mess, but one beauty salon in Russia’s Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk decided to cut out the middleman by placing the snails right onto their clients’ faces. Treatment involving snails has been used as far back as ancient Greece: Hippocrates reportedly prescribed a mixture of sour milk and crushed snails for skin inflammations. These days, it’s marketed as an acne treatment, spot and scar remover, and burn healer.” w/ photos

“Jeepneys are the most popular means of transportation in the Philippines, and are considered a symbol of the archipelago, despite recent controversy regarding their heavily-polluting emissions. The history of Jeepney buses dates back to the final days of World War II. When American forces withdrew from the Philippines, they either left behind or sold hundreds of surplus jeeps. The country’s public transportation had been destroyed by the war, so people started modifying the jeeps to accommodate more passengers and classified them as passenger-style jeeps. Recognizing the wide-spread use of these new vehicles, the Filipino government soon regulated their use.” w/ photos

“Zack Hample, from New York, is a baseball fan and bawl hawk – he’s great at catching and stealing balls. But Zack isn’t an ordinary ball hawk, because no one else boasts a collection as impressive as his: more than 5,800 balls, both home runs and fouled balls. The way he goes after balls at matches can be characterized as almost professional. A typical game for Zack Hample goes kind of like this – running around the Major League ballpark, searching for foul balls or home runs, and sometimes even convincing coaches and players to toss balls into the stands. As you can imagine, being a ball hawk is no walk in the park. It involves a lot of athleticism, a bit of science and loads of luck too.” w/ photos + video

“According to 9news.com, Regan’s ingenious dress started out as a weird collection of pop tabs, which soon turned into a joke, then became a very serious two-year project that culminated on prom night, Saturday night. A couple of years ago, a friend suggested she start collecting pop tabs, and she soon got the idea to make a dress out of them, because she had always thought ‘a great prom dress should pop’. It was a really intriguing project, but she had never made a dress before, let alone one from thousands of pop tabs. Her friend, Sara Sanford, remembers thinking it was a cool idea, but she also believed ‘it would kind of peter out and wouldn’t actually happen.’ She was wrong!… Regan finally fulfilled her dream of going to prom in a unique dress, made of thousands of pop tabs (5,114, to be exact). And just in case you’re wondering, no, she didn’t drink that many sodas herself.” w/ photos + video

“Each year the National Eagle Repository bags more than 2,000 dead birds and freezes the animals before delivering them to waiting Native American Indian tribes to use in religious rituals. Eagles are sacrosanct for many tribes, and the National Eagle Repository provides them with feathers, wings and talons and, in some cases whole carcasses. But the Indians’ demand outstrips the repository’s supply and there is a waiting list running to 6,000 requests for the animal carcasses or body parts. Each year the repository receives about 2,300 dead bald and golden eagles, gathered by wildlife agents and others.” w/ photos

“21-year-old Valeria Lukyanova is an internet sensation in her home country of Russia. Her popularity stems from the fact that she might be the closest anyone’s ever come to looking like a real live Barbie Doll. Valeria looks very unreal, almost plastic. Her face is expressionless, and her body proportions are quite abnormal. It’s highly unusual to find a woman with a naturally tiny waist, a huge chest and plasticy-looking blond hair. Many speculate that Valeria is either a product of plastic surgery, or her photographs have been doctored by photoshop. The girl has no qualms about discussing her looks though, and refers to herself as the most popular woman on the Russian-language Internet, on her blog.” w/ photos + videos

“Could these be the world’s ugliest pigs? Farmer Lan Yi, from Luocheng in southern China’s Guangxi Province decided to raise a pair of the hideous hogs after he discovered them living deep in the mountains. He captured the two ferocious-looking porkers last year when they were just piglets during a trip to the Jiuwan mountain range.” w/ photos

“When it comes to outlandish new design ideas, Dubai is certainly ahead of the curve. The glittering emirate has already got the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, and even the Earth itself – in the form of dozens of man-mad islands just off its coastline. So it is no surprise to hear that architects are set to take on a new challenge – building a half-submerged hotel, complete with underwater rooms offering views of life below the surface of the sea. The ‘Water Discus Hotel’ – a spaceship-shaped building perched in the water and looking not unlike a Jame Bond villain’s lair – is set to be the first of several planned across the region. The designers, Deep Ocean Technology (DOT), hope the hotel will fulfill holidaymakers’ desire to explore the depths of the oceans.” w/ photos

“The wine-colored birth mark on the right side of his face and chest has grown to extraordinary proportions over the years. An office worker finds it hard to walk down the street without someone spitting in disgust because of his facial condition. Mohammad Hussain was born with a wine-colored birth mark on the right side of his face and chest that has grown to extraordinary proportions over the years. The 44-year-old dreams of living a normal life – to marry, have kids, even just to eat in restaurants like we all take for granted. But his facial disfigurement, which could be operated on if he could afford it, has left him living a lonely existence in his hometown of Srinagar, India. He has to face constant ridicule by the general public, with some even running away from him or covering their face thinking his condition is contagious.” w/ photos

“13-year-old Jeff Cokeley discovered an eastern box turtle in his backyard, carved his initials and the year onto its shell and then let the creature go. Flash forward 47 years and the boy’s 85-year-old father, who still lives on the property, finds a box turtle in his backyard, turns it over and discovers it is the exact same one from all those years ago. ‘I picked it up and I thought, ‘Oh geez, this is Jeff’s turtle!’ said Holland Cokeley, who lives in South Strabane, Pennslyvania, according to the Observer-Reporter.com. ‘It’s been here for 47 years and it still has the same markings on it!’… The engraving made by the teenage boy would not have hurt the turtle as its shell is so thick. Discovering the long-lost turtle after taking a walk with the neighbour’s dog, Jeff brought it back to his house, took some pictures and then sent them to his son.” w/ photos

“There’s finally an apartment for the man that refuses to act his age – and it has even got a slide to keep him forever young. Nestled on 13th Street between 1st Avenue and Avenue A, the asking price for this 2,400 square foot duplex is just $3.9 million, a little more than the average kid’s allowance. Beyond the slide, it’s got four bedrooms, four baths, two terraces, a garden and just about every other amenity from those adults suffering from playground envy.” w/ photos + video

“A new gadget is designed to get people drunk INSTANTLY… Two American scientists designed the device – a small spray that gives you that instant drunk sensation from less than a drop of alcohol. The feeling lasts just seconds – but when it fades, you are sober and able to carry on with your day. The ‘Wahh Quantum Sensations’ delivers just a miniscule dose of alcohol – 0.075ml – directly in to your mouth, but thanks to the aerosol effect, the effect is instantaneous. With a typical drink containing 40 to 60ml of alcohol, the scientists say it would take a thousand sprays to get the equivalent amount of alcohol into your system. French designer Philippe Starck and Franco-American scientist David Edwards say the advantages is to enjoy the drunk sensation with none of the harmful effects of alcohol on the body.” w/ photos

“A lucky homeless dog has been given a whole new lease of life by another stray mutt. Two-year-old Tanner was born blind and has a seizure disorder. He was sent to Sooner Golden Retriever Rescue organization, Oklahoma City, after his owner died… Fortunately for young Tanner, Blair, a one-year-old black labrador, has shown uncanny empathy for his new friend and now has taken the role as his guide. Staff say the dogs’ bond is extraordinary… The friendship seems to have had a strong healing effect on both animals.” w/ photos

“This is the picture that proves a dog really is for life, as Susie the pug dog and Tabitha the piglet cuddle and play as best friends do. The pair became unlikely pals when Susie’s owner rescued the piglet when she was found abandoned at the side of the road, just days old. The pair were inseparable, and their owners made videos of the pair playing together – which showed Tabitha climbing all over her new mum. However in just a few months, she’s grown to almost the same size as her adoptive mum.” w/ photos

“She gives the phrase ‘Looking up to God’ a whole new meaning. Jamie Calloway, 33, from Ohio, is the latest to join the top ten of hilarious mugshots for having the words GOD tattooed across her forehead. Calloway has twice been arrested on separate charges and police undoubtedly had no trouble identifying her inking and her mouth full of metal teeth… The 33-year-old was arrested last night and booked into the Montgomery County jail on a misdemeanor menacing by stalking count.” w/ photos

“A devastating age-reversing disease has regressed a pair of middle-aged brothers back to their childhood. Former RAF serviceman Michael Clark, 42, became homeless and now acts like a 10-year-old. While Matthew, 39, lost his job as a factory worker and started behaving like a toddler – despite having a 19-year-old daughter, Lydia, who is expecting a baby. Their tragic situation mirrors the Brad Pitt film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, in which an old man keeps growing younger. The brothers now spend their days watching episodes of The Smurfs, eating crisps and playing snakes and ladders because Cluedo is too difficult. Dad Anthony, 63, who looks after the boys with mum Christine, 61, said: ‘They’ve gone from being fully-functioning adults, with jobs, careers and getting married to going back into a childlike state.” w/ photos

“A teenager suffering from a rare illness is being fed through her heart to keep her alive. Amy Knowles, 17, cannot digest food so a tube has been inserted and she spends 12 hours a day having liquid nutrients sent to her blood stream. She has not eaten normally for six months and doctors diagnosed a rare intestinal condition with no known cure. Each time she is fed through the tube, she stands a risk of killer complications such as line infection, septicaemia and liver failure. Her courage and determination has even touched the hearts of celebrities like The Voice star Jessie J, who visited her at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital. The tube has been surgically placed into her heart through an incision close to her armpit and is supplied from a bag containing nutrients. Amy has a backpack to carry it when she goes out and she said: ‘My friends joke that I look like Dora the Explorer with my backpack.” w/ photos

“Former motocross champ adds latrine-racing to her list of world-beating achievements. Stunt woman Jolene Van Vugt was flushed with pride after setting a new land speed record for the world’s fastest motorized toilet. 31-year-old Van Vugt got the convenience up to 46 mph in Sydney, about four and a half miles per hour faster than the previous Guinness world record. ‘I flew into Australia yesterday and came out here to jump straight on the toilet,” said Van Vugt. ‘That was so fun and I’m stoked to get the record.” w/ photos + video

“A bra with a iPhone-sized pocket in the side strap is set to go on sale thanks to an ingenious design by two students at Seattle’s Washington University. The JoeyBra also has space for bank cards, ID cards and a key, doing away with the need for a purse at all. Mariah Gentry and Kyle Bartlow named their design after a Joey, which is a baby kangaroo that is raised inside its mother’s pouch. The two students, who both attend the university’s Foster Business School, have claimed through their website that the animal print design is ‘the first sexy and comfortable pocketed bra’ to be sold on the market. The bra, which comes in small, medium or large sizes, can be converted into a razorback or strapless style if desired. It is currently available for $19.99 as a pre-sale through the site.” w/ photos

“Sad Aidan breaks out in hives if he is touched by anything that is colder than his body temperature. Sad Aidan Smith stares out from his balaclava as he battles his allergy of anything cold. Aidan, seven, is constantly at risk of going into anaphylactic shock. And he breaks out in hives if he is touched by anything that is colder than his body temperature. So he never goes out without a hat, scarf, balaclava and gloves. Aidan can’t go on holiday or eat cold food. And only very rarely is he able to play outside. He is one of just six people in the UK with the condition known as cold urticaria. He even has problems in warm weather because sweat, designed to cool people down, is colder than his body. Aidan said: ‘I can’t play outside with friends and it makes me sad. ‘When it’s cold my mum won’t let me out and that makes me upset.” w/ photos