A bear raided a campsite cooler and drank 36 cans of Rainier beer, puncturing each with a claw and guzzling the contents before passing out drunk.

He tried one can of Busch and that was more than enough.

The bear was chased off the grounds, but returned for more beer the following day. He had to be baited with a trap containing the usual sweets and... two more cans of beer.

A winged cat has been killed by villagers near the Central Russian city of Kursk. The locals drowned the deformed puss after believing it was a messenger of Satan, the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper reports.

Tigger fursuiter Michael Chartrand was found not guilty on the molestation charges brought against him. The charges occurred while he was working as Tigger at Walt Disney World, a role he considered a "dream". Today, he wants his job back. Disney declines comment.

Tigger's defense attorney is also a professional fursuiter. The DA's argument included an illustration of the hampered mobility of wearing a fursuit, which the attorney demonstrated in court by donning a Tigger fursuit himself.

The jury deliberated for less than an hour before returning the verdict. They said the fursuit defense had nothing to do with the verdict. It was the lack of evidence that decided the case, including the prosecution's inability to prove that Michael was even the Tigger in the photo. Click here for the full story.

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Have you hugged your local halitosis strain today? Spent any good time cuddling with the common cold? Or had a good time with beer yeast? Geek outfitter ThinkGeek is selling plush microbes, plush critters modeled after nine strains of microbes enlarged over 1,000,000 times. The perfect gift for the furry with everything.

So. Any anthropomorphic microbes out there?

"Gabibbo" has been the mascot of a popular satirical tv show since 1990, with music CDs and image licensing. "Big Red" has been the mascot of Western Kentucky University since 1979.

An Italian company's decision to license "Big Red" for use in Italy (cutting out "Gabibbo") may be the cause of the legal action. A magazine interview with the tv show director in 1991 may not help his case.

The International Herald Tribune runs the New York Times story at:
http://www.iht.com/articles/131511.htm

Eatery Wants to Use Tigers As Attraction
Houston Restaurant Hopes to Add Tigers As Latest Way to Attract Customers

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Where can you see lions? Only in Kenya, apparently.

It's more highly addictive flash from the fellows who brought you Weebl and Bob.

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The Louisville Courier-Journal had an article in it's Features section about The Bunny Museum which has been entered into the Guinness Book of World Records as having the largest collection of rabbit memorabilia in the world.

Here's a series of photos of a real lion-lover! He jumped into the lion's area of a South American zoo. After a slight wrestling match, the man was taken away mostly unharmed.

Granted, it's not badgers.

But still... God help us.

This selection is from the same people who brought us "Viking Kittens" and at least a dozen other singing animal animations, both original and from popular music.

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A family in Clallum County, Washington, set up a video camera to catch the prankster who was leaving a dog inside their parked car. They were suprised at what the video revealed.

A businessman in Thailand's Lopburi Province thinks lucky monkeys are behind his success, so he holds an annual party for them! You can read the AP story and see the Pepsi-guzzling monkey here

Though some pet stores do carry bottled water for dogs, an Australian has come up with flavored bottled water!

Anyone for beef flavored water?

Here's the story and a cute photo too.

People who prefer to kiss their pets may just be avoiding human halitosis! This news story found most Britons (especially women) had worse breath than a dog.

Timothy Treadwell, a well-known author and filmmaker who professed a deep love and kinship for bears, was killed and partially eaten by bears during a trip to Alaska. Also killed was his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard.

Treadwell liked getting close to bears, even singing to them, and tried to promote the idea that getting close to bears in the wild was not dangerous. He had been repeatedly warned that getting too close to bears was risky, and had even survived other bear encounters that threatened his life.

The full article can be seen at the Anchorage Daily News website.