Look who’s fighting!

Police officers were left shocked after they were called to a domestic disturbance and found a man arguing with his parrot.

A resident in Loerrach, Germany, contacted authorities when he became concerned a row was getting out of control. He reported he could hear loud shouting from a next-door apartment that had been going on for some time.

The police dispatched officers to property but it turned out to be a false alarm. When they arrived, they found a 22-year-old man arguing with his friend’s parrot, who could only respond by barking like a dog. The man told them he had become annoyed with the bird. Police decided not to take the matter any further.

Custom-built motorcycle-cum- truck-cum-tricycle

A driver on an Iowa road shared video of what initially appeared to be the front-end of a semi truck but was actually the rear of a custom-built three-wheeled motorcycle.

The video, recorded on a Mason City road, shows the filmer approaching what initially appears to be a semi-truck travelling in reverse.

The vehicle is revealed to actually be a custom-built tricycle — a truck trike. The rider, Lonny Sailor, offers the filmer a thumbs-up as he passes.

Spider trained to jump

A spider has been trained to jump on demand by scientists. Kim is a phidippus regius, also known as a regal jumping spider, which can jump six times her own body length.

In comparison, the best a human can achieve is about 1.5 body lengths. At take-off, the force on the spider’s legs is equivalent to five times the creature’s body weight. The University of Manchester study could help engineers design agile mini-robots that are currently beyond human technology.

Spiders are known to use the hydraulic fluid pressure system to extend their legs, but what role this played in jumping was unknown.

Study co-author Dr Bill Crowther, also from the University of Manchester, said: “Our results suggest that whilst Kim can move her legs hydraulically, she does not need the additional power from hydraulics to achieve her extraordinary jumping performance. Thus, the role of hydraulic movement in spiders remains an open question.”

The politest pet in the world

This cat might just be the most polite pet in the world. A driver was left stunned when he saw the ginger moggy climb up a dustbin and use its paw to lift the door knocker — as if asking to be allowed inside the house.

Motorist Dan Richardson spotted the ingenious feline outside a house in Bootle, Merseyside.

He said: “I was in my car and I caught a glimpse of it happening. Then I watched and the cat started to climb up the door again so I whipped out my phone to record it. I looked and wondered if that had just really happened — I was baffled. It is not something you see every day.”

Published in Dawn, Young World, June 15th, 2018