TSA Wants People To Stop Hiding Weird Animals In Their Bras, Pants: Weird News & Oddities

The TSA would like for people to stop stuffing turtles where they don’t belong in an attempt to sneak them past security and onto airplanes.

It happens more often than you might think. The latest incident occurred in Florida, where Transportation Security Administration screeners at Miami International Airport found two turtles hidden in a woman’s bra.

“OK, friends, please — and we cannot emphasize this enough — stop hiding animals in weird places on your body and trying to sneak them through security,” the TSA said in a July 24 social media post.

Earlier this year, a Pennsylvania man was caught trying to sneak a red-eared slider turtle through security at Newark Liberty International Airport by stuffing it in his pants.

In other notable incidents in recent years, TSA agents at the Miami airport prevented a man from smuggling a bag of snakes in his pants last year. A year earlier, officials confiscated a bag of Amazon parrot eggs and live birds after they heard chirping coming from the carry-on baggage of an international traveler with a layover in Miami.

• Read more: FL Woman Busted For Turtles in Bra. Prompting Unusual TSA Warning

History Right Underfoot

Archaeologists are unearthing long-buried stories of Connecticut’s Revolutionary War history, right beneath the sidewalks, lawns, and storefronts of Ridgefield’s Main Street.

With the help of a federal grant from the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program, a team led by battlefield archaeology specialists Heritage Consultants has launched a second phase of an initiative aimed at mapping and understanding key moments in the 1777 Battle of Ridgefield.

The finds — made using a combination of metal detectors, ground penetrating radar, historical records, and shovel test pits — have confirmed the precise location Patriot General David Wooster was mortally wounded as he led colonial forces in a series of attacks against retreating British troops.

“This is a battle that happened not out in some field or hill away from town, but right through the center of town,” James Segelstein, chairman of the Battle of Ridgefield Advisory Committee, told Patch. “Some of the artifacts we’re finding are just feet away from where pedestrians and cars are going by on Main Street.”

• Read the Patch Exclusive by Rich Kirby: Archaeologists Dig Up Revolutionary War History

1 In A Million Birth

A New Jersey mom gave birth to quadruplets, something that rarely happens without fertility treatments. In fact, it happens in only about 1 in 1 million pregnancies.

Aja Kennon and her fiancé, Emmanuel, welcomed Ean, Evan, Alayha and Eamon to the world on July 1 at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston. The newborns have an 8-year-old brother, EJ.

Twenty medical professionals were involved in all, and the babies each had their own medical team Kennon carried the quadruplets to 34 weeks.

With twins on both sides of her and her fiancé’s families, Kennon joked that it felt almost meant to be. Despite the challenges of carrying four babies, Kennon stayed active throughout her pregnancy, working at the U.S. Postal Service until just a month before delivery.

As she reflected on her journey, Kennon said she still can’t believe it.

“Sometimes I’m still in amazement — just to naturally carry four babies at one time, it’s amazing,” she said. “They’re here, and they’re perfect.”

• Read more: ‘They’re Here, And They’re Perfect’: A 1-In-A-Million Pregnancy

‘Chuck E. Cheese, Come With Us’

A man wearing the Chuck E. Cheese mascot costume was arrested at a children’s birthday at the chain’s Tallahassee, Florida, restaurant after allegedly stealing a customer’s debit card and going on a spending spree, according to police.

Jermell Jones faces multiple charges. Including theft of the customer’s debit card, which he used at a smoke shop, meat market and Whataburger, according to police.

The theft victim notified police after finding fraudulent credit card charges. Police found him on the job and one officer reportedly grabbed him and said, “Chuck E, come with me, Chuck E.”

• Read more: ‘Chuck E. Cheese, Come With Us’: Police

In Worm Talk, That’s Amore

Strange, bristly worms washed up along the New Jersey shore, and some people took to social media asking what the heck they were.

The eely, reddish worms were likely clam worms, said people in the know. They’re also called cinder worms or pile worms, and they’re related to earthworms. And despite their appearance, they're harmless — just maybe a little gross for children having fun at the beach.

But why so many? It is perhaps a little TMI for the kiddos, but it’s mating season for clam worms. They swim in circles primarily as part of their mating ritual, according to the Smithsonian Institute.

During mating season, these worms go through a dramatic morphological change, with both sexes changing into a specialized “heteronereis” form when the worms’ segments are compressed. Their eyes become enlarged, especially the males’, and their bodies change colors. The males become bright red and develop a white tail, while the female fades to a paler white shade of white to bright green.

In worm talk, that’s amore. It’s short-lived, though. Many of them die.

• Read more: Weird Worms Wash Up On Jersey Shore: Here’s Why

Massive Lizard On The Loose

Animal control authorities in Webster, Massachusetts, reassured people in a social media post a couple of weeks ago that just because a massive, 5-foot-long lizard was on the loose, there was no reason to fret.

The lizard, specifically a water monitor lizard, escaped from its owner. It’s illegal to keep water monitor lizards in Massachusetts.

Webster Animal Control authorities said this type of lizard isn’t known to attack humans or pets, but that it was still best to leave wrangling it to the professionals. They’re known to climb trees and seek out water in their travels.

Authorities did a small search around the neighborhood where the lizard escaped, and police drones were used to check nearby pools. Due to the amount of time the lizard had been on its adventure, authorities abandoned the search, but said anyone who encountered it shouldn’t approach it.

• Read more: Massive Lizard On The Loose In Massachusetts

Rare Sighting Rattles Suburb

An extremely rare sighting of one of Pennsylvania’s most powerful predators rattled a Chester County neighborhood this week, and no, it was not the northern snakehead, the invasive land-crossing fish that preys on birds.

But it was a snake — a timber rattlesnake — spotted in a residential area in Williston Township Tuesday night. The sighting was rare enough to prompt a police response.

Once prevalent in every corner of the state, timber rattlesnakes haven’t been common in heavily developed southeast Pennsylvania in decades. In dense suburbs like Williston Township, where the snake had slithered under a vehicle, sightings are all but nonexistent.

Police trapped the snake and planned to turn it over to the state Fish and Boat Commission.

• Read more: Rare Rattlesnake Spotted In Dense PA Suburb

Parting Shot

A pair of fox pups mixed it up one night last month in Fairfax, Virginia, after a squabble over cat food quickly escalated into a fierce fight.

A Patch reporter caught the whole thing on his Ring door camera.

The cat food was intended for Popeye, a community cat that lives in the storm drains of the reporter’s neighborhood. Other creatures have helped themselves over the years, including other foxes, raccoons and even flying squirrels, and Popeye often shows up to an empty bowl.

• Watch the video: Fierce Fox Food Fight