Big alligator with missing foot stops traffic

A driver in Florida captured on video the moment a large alligator with a missing front foot walked across the road, bringing traffic to a temporary halt. Daniel Kaufman said he was driving on Jacaranda Boulevard in Venice, when he spotted the large gator dashing into the road.

The video, posted to Facebook, shows traffic stops for the alligator as it makes its way across the road and directly toward Kaufman’s vehicle.

Kaufman said he could feel his truck shift as the massive reptile moved underneath it. He said the gator emerged from the other side of the truck and made it to the opposite side of the road.

Guests can bring houseplants to hotel stay

A Kentucky hotel is offering houseplant-loving tourists the chance to bring them along to the “World’s First Plant-Friendly Hotel experience.”

VisitLEX, the convention and visitors’ bureau of Lexington, teamed up with Elwood Hotel & Suites for this.

The package also includes greenery provided by Pemberton’s Greenhouses, a complimentary potted succulent, botanical toiletries and a ‘tea’ for plants served in a pink mug, and “plant-centric perks” including a Garden Mojito cocktail made with blackberry syrup, fresh herbs and edible flowers.

“After all, there are plenty of pet-friendly hotels out there. Why not offer the same Southern hospitality to the houseplants people love just as much?” said Barbara Jean Josey, director of business development and hospitality sales for Elwood Hotel & Suites.

World’s largest bug hotel

Conservation group Highland Titles built a 7,059.4-cubic-foot insect hotel on the Highland Titles Nature Reserve in Duror. A Guinness World Records adjudicator visited the site and confirmed the insect hotel, which already houses a variety of species, took the world record from a 3,157-cubic-foot insect hotel built in Warsaw, Poland.

“This record-breaking initiative is about the environmental message,” Highland Titles CEO Douglas Wilson said in a news release. “Using these same trees for something that puts nature first symbolises that the world has changed, and we hope our efforts will inspire others. We’d be delighted if someone beat our record in the future.”

‘Critically endangered’ blue-eyed black lemur born at a zoo

The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens in Florida announced the birth of a blue-eyed black lemur, a primate considered one of the most endangered species in the world.

The zoo said in a Facebook post that the baby is the second born at the zoo to parents Hendricks and Hemsworth.

Blue-eyed black lemurs are among “only a few” species of primate to have black eyes. Males have black hair, while females have rusty brown hair. Babies begin life with light brown hair that will change colour later in their development.

Lemurs are found only in Madagascar, and researchers have estimated there could be an up to 88 percent reduction in the population by 2080 due solely to the effects of climate change.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 30th, 2022