A few strange stories worth sharing.
The following appeared in the Nelson Daily News, of Jan. 14, 1914, under the headline “Pigs show homing instinct.”
One day last week two seven week old pigs swam across the Columbia river. The pigs, which had been sold to a resident on the West Robson side of the river, had been taken over in a crate and had in some manner during the night escaped. Inquiry being made the following day resulted in their being found on the ranch from which they were sold, they having successfully breasted the current of the Columbia river, which for pigs under two months old is considered a difficult feat.
Unfortunately, there was no word who these resourceful piglets belonged to, or any update on their further adventures.
Pigs can’t fly, but they can swim. Pixaby.com
Two-headed calf
The Grand Forks Gazette of Feb. 15, 1962 reported the stillbirth of a two-headed calf at the Eldin Bannert ranch up the North Fork.
The two heads were perfectly formed with all features and with two short necks joining into a single normal length neck. The mother is a cross-bred Aberdeen Angus and Ayrshire cow … It is believed this was the only two-headed calf to have been born in this area. The carcass was taken to the Grand Forks high school where the twin head will be preserved and studied by biology classes.
The newspaper included a photo, but it just comes out a black blob on the microfilm.
Airborne fire extinguisher
“It sounded like snow falling off the roof.”
That was Arlee Anderson’s reaction after a bright red metal cylinder about 18 inches long fell from the sky and landed at the foot of a tree on the Castle-Bar ranch in Castlegar.
According to The Vancouver Sun of Jan. 14, 1955, her young son Lindsay thought it was a bomb. But it turned out to be a fire extinguisher from the airport. It had inexplicably hooked onto the undercarriage of a plane and fallen off over the ranch.