And Bertl and Irmi Reiterer are often unable to use the oven at their home in Salzburg as the bird uses it for a nest.
Reiterer, 84, said: “I found her by the side of the road where she had obviously been hit by a car and had broken a wing.
“We gave her some food and had her treated by a vet and put her in the garage downstairs – that was in April 17 years ago.
“It was clear that because of her injuries she would never fly again and at Christmas when I accidentally left the door open she came inside and then hopped into the oven which had just been used and was still warm – and refused to come out. I guess she felt it was too cold down in the garage.
“We gave her a bit to eat in the oven – a few pieces of cornbread. The next morning when she was still there we gave her some water, and she sort of just remained.”
The couple named the pigeon Susi, and say that they can’t imagine life now without her, despite her advanced age.
Reiterer, 77, says that they have to wait until the pigeon decides to go for a walk around the house before they can use the dishwasher as it disturbs her while she is sleeping.
“I don’t regret the fact that we haven’t gone on holiday because of her – we didn’t travel much anyway although we do have a hut in a ski district we can only go there for the day,” she said. Vet Heide Maria Müller said: “Susi is a very unusual case. I understand that pigeons can live up to 20 years. But in the wild no bird would manage to live that long.
“Obviously where she is, with plenty of good food and no predators, she has a good chance of reaching an even higher age.”
Vampire fears boost garlic sales
Sales of garlic are booming in western Serbia after the local council issued a public health warning that a vampire was on the loose. The warning came after an old ruined mill, said to once have been the home of notorious vampire Sava Savanovic, collapsed. Savanovic was said to have lived in the old watermill on the Rogacica river, at Zarozje village in the municipality of Bajina Basta where he drank the blood of anybody that came to mill their grain.
The watermill was bought by the local Jagodic family, and they were too scared to use it as a mill – but discovered it was a goldmine when they started advertising it to tourists.
But the family were worried about carrying out building work on the mill because they were scared they might disturb the vampire or unleash his wrath if his home was messed around with – and now the property has collapsed through lack of repair.
But for locals it has sparked rumours that the vampire is now free once again.
Local mayor Miodrag Vujetic admitted: “People are worried, everybody knows the legend of this vampire and the thought that he is now homeless and looking for somewhere else and possibly other victims is terrifying people. We are all frightened.”
He added that it was all very well for people who didn’t live in the area to laugh at their fears but he said nobody in the region was in any doubt that vampires do exist. He confirmed that the local council had advised all villagers to put garlic on their doors and windows to protect them from the vampire as it was well known they can’t stand the smell.
He added: “We have also reminded them to put a Holy cross in every room in the house.”
Toothache sparks motorway madness
An Austrian driver drove 40 miles the wrong way down the country’s busiest motorway – because he had toothache and desperately needed a dentist.
Austrian radio stations interrupted reports to urge drivers on the road to pull to one side as Kurt Wagner, 36, from Mödling South of Vienna sped along the A2 Südautobahn motorway.
Police said that he got onto the motorway on the wrong lane near his home and then drove to Grimmenstein in the Neunkirchen district causing at least one accident before he was stopped in a massive police operation. Police spokesman Willy Konrathsaid: “We had put a block on the motorway to warn other drivers but he ignored blue lights and sirens, he just didn’t seem to notice anything.”
Incredibly police lost sight of the vehicle when it drove into thick fog and then left the motorway but officers had noted the number plate and arrested the driver later.
When arrested he claimed he could remember nothing about the drive, admitting he had taken a mixture of strong medication and alcohol to cope with the pain and the next thing he knew he was at the hospital being treated by doctors for his toothache.
New road built around stubborn tenants
Road planners in China built a four-lane highway around an apartment block after the last tenants refused to move out.
Officials in WenLing, Zhejiang province, could not persuade the final two families living there to relocate, so simply built the new road around them. The highway – an access way into a new train station – will soon have thousands of cars racing past the property every day.
Stubborn resident Zhang Ling, 46, explained: “They didn’t offer us enough compensation to leave so we’re staying. “It could be a good opportunity for us. We could open up a drive through shop on the ground floor.”
Comic’s DVD stunt backfires
A TV comedian ended up being restrained by the long arm of the law for real after a DVD signing stunt involving a fake policeman went wrong.
Simon Brodkin, in character as Lee Nelson, was being chased by an actor in a police uniform after pretending to steal a copy of his DVD from an HMV store in London.
A passing police community support officer mistook the scene for a real crime and helped apprehend the comedian, reports The Mirror.
The struggle spilled outside of the shop and even caused traffic to stop in Oxford Street as the PSCO tried to arrest the publicity-seeking ‘thief’.
The three men rolled around in the middle of the road before the PCSO marched the comedian back into HMV and forced him to the ground.
A spokeswoman for Brodkin said: “He was doing a signing for his DVD at HMV in Oxford Street, and as a treat for his fans he ‘stole’ one of his own DVDs, then was chased around the store by an actor dressed up as a police officer.
“Somehow they ended up out on the pavement, where a real police community support officer got involved, thinking it was a theft taking place.
“Shoppers were looking on and buses were stopping, it was all very dramatic. The community support officer brought him back into the store where it was explained that it hadn’t been a real theft taking place.”
Nelson said later: “How can you get arrested for nicking your own DVD? Loophole lawyer, if you’re reading this, get me off and I’ll sort you out with the 20 other DVDs I took.”
Post published in: World News