This week in weird news: Animals got stuck in pools, a resort shop and rush hour

BERLIN (AP) — Firefighters have freed a deer that got stuck in an empty swimming pool in a German town, with a little help from a hunter.

The fire service in Wetter an der Ruhr, in western Germany, said it was alerted to the animal's plight on Monday. Five firefighters sent to the scene found the deer trying unsuccessfully to climb the steep sides of the pool.

Local authorities called in a hunter to help. He grabbed the animal by its hind legs and pushed it upward toward the firefighters.

The fire service said in a statement Tuesday that "the animal didn't even thank anyone for its rescue" before it ran off.

ROME (AP) — A dazed and confused deer has stormed into a clothing store in the fashionable mountain resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo, on the Italian Dolomites, blocking the local shopping street for a few hours before been saved and freed.

Local authorities said Tuesday that the deer, estimated to be 4 or 5 years old, entered the shop, specialized in tirolese outfits, while the assistant was away, and got trapped inside among the clothes.

Authorities said It was necessary to cordon off Cortina's shopping square to allow local veterinarians to catch the animal, anesthetize it and then bring it back to the wild.

Cortina mayor Gianpaolo Ghedina said that "luckily, all ended well. Once the animal was sedated, it was brought back to the woods and then freed."

BEDFORD, N.H. (AP) — A young moose that got stuck in a New Hampshire swimming pool has been successfully coaxed out.

New Hampshire Fish and Game Department biologists and conservation officers were called to a Bedford home Tuesday to help remove the young bull. He was in the water for several hours.

Officers say he was unable to get himself out of the pool, so they put in a set of wooden steps.

The department posted a video of the moose looking back and forth as the team held a rope and coaxed him out. He scampered away.

Col. Kevin Jordan suggests it had to do with it being moose breeding season.

He tells television station WMUR that “the younger moose will wander long distances struggling to find a female.”

PHOENIX (AP) — A baby javelina is recovering after a jaunt on a Phoenix freeway.

The Arizona Department of Public Safety says the young javelina was one of two that brought traffic on State Route 51 to a standstill Monday afternoon.

DPS officials say several troopers tried to round up the animals, which were on the northbound lanes.

Trooper Martin Sotelo managed to wrangle one javelina. The other ran off and eluded capture.

The rescued javelina was transported to Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center in Scottsdale for medical treatment.

Javelina, which look like wild boar, are native to desert environments.

BALTIMORE (AP) — A 1,600-pound bull escaped from a truck into the streets of Baltimore for several hours.

The Baltimore Sun reported that it took three tranquilizer shots and a crew of zoo officials to recapture the animal on Wednesday.

The purebred angus breeding bull broke out of a truck while it was stopped at a red light. A crowd gathered and watched as the animal was eventually corralled.

Baltimore Police spokeswoman Det. Nicole Monroe told the newspaper that the “owner of the bull said he doesn’t have the best disposition.”

The bull was from Hedgeapple Farm in Buckeystown. Executive director Scott Barao said the animal was very expensive and thanked police for not shooting it.

He said the bull is “extremely valuable to us and we’re just glad to have him alive.”

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — It’s a real ice cream flavor: guinea pig.

Anyone who thinks of guinea pigs as pets — cute, squishy, squeaking bundles of fur — might find that idea hard to digest.

The rodents are a traditional hot dish in some Latin American countries, including Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. In Ecuador, people typically cook guinea pigs with salt and serve them with potatoes and peanut sauce. But one vendor is taking things to another gastronomic level, serving guinea pigs as a cold dessert.

Some people like ice cream made from “cuy,” as the animal is locally known.

“I was suspicious, but it was tasty,” said Marlene Franco, a 78-year-old retiree who tried a scoop at a stall next to a highway linking the Ecuadorian capital of Quito to the city of Sangolqui.

The stall owner is María del Carmen Pilapaña, whose offbeat offering inspires disbelief and laughter among first-time customers.

Pilapaña’s operation is small. It consists of two tables in an open area lined with dentists’ clinics and other businesses. Even so, demand is growing. Every week, the entrepreneur prepares 150 servings ($1 for a cone) of guinea pig ice cream.

She also makes 40 servings of ice cream flavored with beetles, also traditionally eaten as a salty snack, and a smaller amount of mushroom ice cream.

“My family and my husband thought I was crazy. They didn’t think anyone would like these ice creams, but now they’re our main product,” said Pilapaña, who acknowledges that she had her own doubts about whether her investment would pay off.

It was a close call. Out of work, with three children in tow, Pilapaña began attending free training courses for entrepreneurs. She was challenged to do something innovative and, after six months of testing, she starting selling her range of ice creams at the beginning of September.

Pilapaña manages to concentrate guinea pig flavor after cooking and preparing a pate from the animal’s flesh, adds milk or cream and refrigerates the concoction until it has the rough consistency of ice cream. The taste is similar to chicken.

The beetle and mushroom ice creams include fruits such as pineapple and passion fruit. Beetle ice cream has a slight aroma of wet earth.

Ants, cicadas and worms are used to make some desserts, often chocolate-infused ones, in parts of Latin America. But incorporating such ingredients — guinea pigs included — into ice cream is unusual.

Carolina Páez, director of the anthropology school of the Catholic University in Quito, isn’t surprised.

"The guinea pig is a very important ancient food in Andean indigenous societies, especially for its high protein content," she said. Other cultures eat various types of animals, Páez said, "so there is no reason to be amazed that Ecuadorians eat guinea pigs, even in ice cream."

For Pilapaña, guinea pig ice cream is just the beginning. She has new flavors in mind: crab, chicken and pork.

"Seeing how my business is picking up, I'm sure I’ll do well,” she said.

— By GONZALO SOLANO Associated Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Having played nearly every corner of the Earth in a nearly 50-year career, the rock band Kiss is taking its show to a new place _ under the sea, where they will perform for great white sharks and eight fans separated from them by a small submarine.

As part of a promotion by Airbnb, the fans and Kiss will travel Nov. 18 in separate boats off the coast of southern Australia. While Kiss stays above board on one vessel, the fans will be lowered beneath the surface of the water from a second boat into the viewing sub in an area known for shark activity.

Using underwater speakers, Kiss will begin playing, and the sound will be audible to the submerged fans and the sharks.

“I was a little taken aback by it, but they explained that sharks are attracted to low frequencies and so they’re attracted to rock ‘n’ roll,” singer and guitarist Paul Stanley told The Associated Press. “Since we’re going to be in Australia, it gives a whole new meaning to doing a concert down under.”

The first-come, first-served event costs $50, which is half the price of Kiss tickets in even the worst nosebleed seats in the last row at Madison Square Garden. Proceeds will go to charity, the company said. Reservations can be made starting at 6 p.m. EDT on airbnb.com/KISS on Oct. 14.

The event will take place in the Indian Ocean off Port Lincoln, South Australia. Kiss will be in full makeup and costumes for the performance, which will be at least four songs.

“I’m not sure how much of us the sharks can take,” Stanley said. “I’m hoping they know ‘Rock And Roll All Nite.’”

Stanley said Kiss bassist Gene Simmons has recovered after having some kidney stones removed recently, and should be ready to perform well before the shark show.

“I tend to think he just ate gravel,” Stanley joked.

The event is part of Airbnb Animal Experiences, and is designed to have people entertain animals instead of the other way around, the company said in a news release.

As strange as it sounds, underwater concerts are not new. The Underwater Music Festival has been held for the past 35 years in the Florida Keys.

The shark show has untapped potential if they want to do it again sometime. After all, what other concert could potentially bring together Great White and Air Supply?

—By WAYNE PARRY Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin appeals court has ruled that operating a riding mower while drunk carries the same penalties as driving a car while intoxicated.

The ruling Tuesday came in the case of a northern Wisconsin man who was arrested for drunken driving in 2017. Police pulled Keith Shoeder over while he was operating a riding mower on the streets of Rhinelander after leaving a tavern.

Shoeder appealed his convicted of fourth offense drunken driving.

Shoeder argued that the charge should be dismissed, contending the riding mower was an all-terrain vehicle and not a motor vehicle and therefore he was not subject to the same penalties.

But the 3rd District Court of Appeals disagreed. It upheld an Oneida County Circuit Court ruling, saying a riding mower is a motor, not an all-terrain, vehicle.