Tag: odd news

Catch of ‘primitive’ gar breaks nine-year-old record

A Georgia angler has established a new state record with her catch Saturday of a 31-pound, 2-ounce longnose gar.

A Georgia angler has established a new state record with her catch Saturday of a 31-pound, 2-ounce longnose gar.

Rachel Harrison, of Adairsville, caught the toothy gar on the Coosa River near Rome. The catch breaks a record – 30 pounds, 13 ounces – that had stood since 2013.

“State records do not get broken every day, so join us in congratulating Rachel on her impressive catch,” the Georgia Department of Natural Resources exclaimed Monday on Facebook.

Longnose gar, of the broader gar family, “are considered relics from a large group of primitive fishes,” the DNR’s Wildlife Resources Division explained in a news release.

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The fish inhabit mostly weedy areas in lakes and streams, and prey largely on other fish.

For the sake of comparison, the world record for longnose gar stands at 43 pounds. That fish was caught in the Trinity River in Texas in 2017.

Deer snatches hunter’s rifle, prompting search for weapon

Police in Czechoslovakia are asking the public to be on the lookout for a deer carrying a rifle – which the animal inadvertently stole from a hunter.

Police in Czechoslovakia are asking the public to be on the lookout for a deer carrying a rifle – which the animal inadvertently stole from a hunter.

“If anyone finds the weapon, they are obliged to hand it over to the nearest police department,” Police of the Czech Republic stated in a news release.

The agency reported that last Friday “an older hunter” was with other hunters in the forest near Horní Planá in the South Bohemian region, when a hunting dog startled a deer.

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The deer charged toward and past the hunter, but not before its antlers tore the man’s sleeve and caught the strap of his .22-caliber rifle, tearing the weapon from his grip.

According to Police of the Czech Republic, another hunter later reported seeing a deer with a rifle dangling from its antlers about a mile away.

“The hunters, of course, searched the forest, but did not find a weapon,” Police of the Czech Republic stated. “The hunters had no choice but to report everything to the police.”

Thankfully, the agency added, the man who lost his rifle to the deer claimed that the weapon was not loaded.

–Deer image is generic