Stealing sand, a Viking reunion, dogs doing adorable things, a naked bike tour, and a fetish for farm equipment? It doesn’t get any weirder than some of the stuff that happened around the world this week.

SON OF A BEACH

Dozens of tourists will have to shell out up to $4,200 for their souvenirs from Sardinia’s pristine beaches. Customs police on the Mediterranean island issued fines to 41 people who tried to leave the island with a total of 100 kg. of sand, seashells, and beach rocks. In some cases, the tourists had put the beach booty up for sale on the Internet, feeding a flourishing, illicit market for such souvenirs, including from swank resort areas along the Italian island’s Emerald Coast. The contraband was seized at Sardinia’s airports and returned to the beach where possible.

MASKS REQUIRED, CLOTHES NOT SO MUCH

Participants in the annual Philly Naked Bike Ride won’t need their shirts, pants, skirts or even underwear — just a mask. The Aug. 28 event typically attracts is expected to attract thousands of riders, who usually gather in a park to strip off their clothes and paint each other’s bodies before carefully hopping on their bikes. The naked ride is to promote positive body image, advocate for the safety of cyclists, and protest dependence on fossil fuels. Riders pedal a 16-km course while taking in sights including Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s steps (featured in the “Rocky” movies).

THAT’S THE TICKET

The New England Aquarium in Boston accepted an entrance ticket first purchased in 1983 that allows the holder to return “at anytime in the future.” Rachel Carle, 26, picked up the ticket from her great aunt, Catherine Cappiello, who came to visit the aquarium more than 37 years ago.

TILL WE MEET AGAIN
The skeletons of two related Viking-era men, one who died in central Denmark and the other who was killed in England during a massacre ordered by a king, are set to be reunited for an exhibition opening in Copenhagen this month. Scientists on both sides of the North Sea have established a genetic link between the Norsemen with DNA tests showing that they are either half brothers or nephew and uncle.”

The man from the central Denmark island of Funen was a farmer in his 50s; his skeleton was excavated in 2005 near the town of Otterup. Across the North Sea, the skeleton of a younger man was found in a mass grave near Oxford, England in 2008 with the remains of at least 35 other men. All were killed more than 1,000 years ago when the king ordered the slaying of dozens of Danish settlers. The pair of skeletons will be displayed as part of an exhibit titled “Togtet” (Danish for “The Raid”), which opens June 26 at the National Museum of Denmark.

AWWW!
Wally the golden retriever did exactly what his breed is supposed to do during a recent swim in a Massachusetts lake, retrieving a small rodent and giving it a ride to shore on his back before ending the trip with a little kiss — an interaction all caught on video by Wally’s owner. “He was about 100 metres out and a woodchuck, I think, just crawled right up on his back and he swam back to shore with him,” says Wally’s owner, Lauren Russell, who said her golden is a friendly dog, but she had never seen anything like this. “We were flabbergasted. It was unbelievable. We couldn’t believe what we were seeing.” She added that when they got close to shore, the dog and rodent gave each other a kiss before parting ways. “They like touched snouts and then he ran away.”

AWWW, PART 2
A pet dog who vanished for two days after being ejected from a vehicle during an accident in Idaho was found apparently doing the job it was bred to do — herding sheep. Linda Oswald’s family and their two-year-old border collie and red heeler mix, Tilly, were driving along Hwy. 41 when they crashed into another car, launching the dog through the rear window.

The unharmed but stunned dog then ran away, prompting an unsuccessful search that lasted for 10 hours. But when Oswald asked for help on Facebook, Tilly was recognized by the Potter family as the same dog they saw on their farm. Both the Potters and Oswald think Tilly was drawn to the farm and their sheep. “I think that dog was trying to herd,” Travis Potter said, while Oswald added, if it weren’t for the post, Tilly would still be out there.

THAT’S A NEW ONE

Authorities rescued a man who said he had been trapped for two days inside a large fan at a Northern California vineyard. The man was discovered by a deputy responding to a call about a suspicious vehicle parked near the winery in Santa Rosa. The deputy saw a hat on a piece of farming equipment and then found the man stuck inside the shaft of a vineyard fan. Firefighters rescued him.

“The man indicated he liked to take pictures of the engines of old farm equipment,” the sheriff’s office said. “After a thorough investigation, which revealed the farm equipment wasn’t antique and the man had far more methamphetamine than camera equipment, the motivation to climb into the fan shaft remains a total mystery.” The 38-year-old man required medical treatment and was charged with trespassing and drug possession.

NEITHER RAIN, NOR SLEET

They say neither rain nor snow nor gloom of night will stop the US Postal Service, but an alligator could get in the way. That’s what happened at the Spring Hill Post Office in Florida’s Hernando County, where sheriff’s officials say someone stopped by to drop off a package and saw a two-metre gator roaming around the lobby.
A trapper was called and safely removed the animal.