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April 19th, 2024

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Nature 2, Florida 0

News of the Weird by Chuck Shepherd

By News of the Weird by Chuck Shepherd

Published August 2, 2016

Nature 2, Florida 0

(1) Nicole Bjanes, casually zipping along Interstate 4 in Volusia County around noon on May 9, saw a red-eared slider turtle come sailing through the air and crash into her windshield, sending her car off the road. The Florida Highway Patrol said the turtle had become airborne after being hit by another car. (It was apparently unhurt and swam away when a firefighter released it into a nearby pond.)

(2) On May 10, police in Key West responded to a caller at the scene of a giant banyan tree (common to Florida and featuring vertical roots that thicken, spread and become entangled with the central trunk). A woman had attempted to climb the tree but had fallen among the vertical roots, making her barely visible. Said a proud police spokesperson, "They popped her out like a cork." [WFLA-TV, 5-13-2016] [WPLG-TV (Miami), 5-10-2016]