Unusual Tastes | Redneck Chronicles

• Karen Kaheni, 42, of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England, is a heavy smoker, puffing on 60 to 80 cigarettes a day. But as she watches TV in the evening, Kaheni also eats eight cigarette butts. And, as a side dish, she eats about 9 ounces of chalk every week. Her odd addictions are related to Pica, she told the Mirror, a condition that involves eating things that aren't really food. "I have no idea what triggered it," she said. "It isn't so much the taste of the cigarette butts or the chalk that I like -- it's more the texture and the crunch." When she runs out of either item, "I get quite agitated and my mouth begins to water." Kaheni hasn't consulted a doctor about her addiction, claiming she is too embarrassed, but she has discovered a Facebook page for others who suffer from Pica: "It makes me feel like less of a weirdo -- less like I'm going mad," Kaheni said. [Mirror Online, 12/13/2018]

• Call it a dangerous case of mistaken identity: The Helena (Montana) Independent Record reported that a 27-year-old man was shot at multiple times on Dec. 16 after being mistaken for Big Foot.

The unidentified man told police he was setting up targets for shooting on federal land when bullets struck the ground nearby. He ran for cover, then confronted the shooter, who said the first man "was not wearing orange and thought he was Big Foot," said Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton.

The cryptid impersonator described the shooter's vehicle to police but didn't want to press charges, asking only that the shooter be lectured about safe shooting. [Helena Independent Record, 12/17/2018]