Ice-fishing shanty blown across Michigan bay

Three anglers are safe after a homemade ice-fishing shanty was blown about a mile (1.6 kilometres) across a bay in Michigan, by winds that neared 50 mph (80 kph), authorities said.

A person onshore called Huron County dispatchers after seeing someone struggling with the shanty as it was being blown across the ice on Saginaw Bay, off McKinley Township, Huron County Sheriff Kelly Hanson said in a news release.

The shanty, which had been occupied by three men, was about 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometres) offshore when deputies arrived. A fire department airboat was taken to the site for a rescue, but the men eventually made it across the ice to shore on their own.

The men told that they were aware of an approaching storm, but apparently took for granted the power of the winds.

Rare pink grasshopper found

Dirk Parker, an Ohio man currently working in East Texas, made an unusual discovery among the Texas foliage — a pink grasshopper.

Parker snapped photos of the grasshopper and returned it to where he found it. Later he did a Google search for pink grasshoppers and discovered the insect has a rare condition called erythrism.

Erythrism is caused by a recessive gene, and it is rare to find grasshoppers with the condition because the pink colour makes them easy targets for predators.

Parker returned to the same spot the next day to capture the grasshopper, which he named Pinky. He is now keeping Pinky in a habitat as a pet.

101-year-old man receives high school diploma

A 101-year-old manwas presented with a high school diploma more than 80 years later. Jefferson County Schools in West Virginia said Merrill Pittman Cooper, 101, attended Storer College, a former high school in Harper’s Ferry. But he had to drop out during his senior year in 1938 after his family relocated to Philadelphia for financial reasons.

Cooper expressed regret about never graduating during a 2018 visit to the former Storer College campus, leading relatives to reach out to Jefferson County Schools. So recently Cooper was presented with an honorary diploma by Jefferson County Schools in a graduation ceremony attended by his family.

Rare spotted deer born at British zoo

Chester Zoo in England has announced the birth of a rare, Philippine spotted deer. It is named Lyra, after a constellation. Her mother is named Nova and her father Cosmos.

The fawn was born as part of a conservation breeding programme established at the request of the Philippine government. Only 700 Philippine spotted deers remain in the wild, found only on the islands of Panay and Negros.

These deers have become regionally extinct on several islands in the Philippines due to hunting, deforestation and forest clearance.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 2nd, 2022