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• Joe the Pigeon, named after the new U.S. president, has become world-famous after being found in a Melbourne, Australia, backyard on Dec. 26 with a band around his leg that suggested he was a racing pigeon from Oregon, 8,000 miles away.
Australian authorities declared the bird a biosecurity risk and announced they would have to euthanize him, the Associated Press reported, but Joe received a last-minute reprieve when Deone Roberts of the American Racing Pigeon Union declared on Jan. 15 that the band around Joe's leg is "counterfeit and not traceable."
Australia's Agriculture Department agreed, saying in a statement that Joe "is highly likely to be Australian," and it would take no further action against him. [Associated Press, 1/14/2021]
• Residents of Chikuzen Town, Fukuoka Prefecture, in Japan, have constructed a towering, 23-foot-tall gorilla scarecrow as a symbol of power and strength to scare away COVID-19.
SoraNews24 reported construction of the gorilla, made of a steel frame covered with rice straw resembling gorilla fur, took two months and was finished in early December.
Its open mouth reveals terrifying fangs, and at night its red eyes light up. "Proud Gorilla 2020" is the sixth in a series of giant scarecrows the town constructs each year. [SoraNews24, 1/14/2021]