This photo provided by Rachel Carle shows a 1983 entrance gate ticket to the New England Aquarium in Boston. It was first purchased in 1983 by Catherine Cappiello, who came to visit the aquarium, but was too late to enter that day. Her grand niece, Rachel Carle, 26, used the ticket, which allowed the holder to return ‘at anytime in the future’ for entry on June 10, 2021, more than 37 years later.
AP photo
Famed escapee Buddy the beefalo adjusting to life in Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A bison hybrid who roamed the woods in Connecticut for months after escaping on the way to the slaughterhouse has adjusted to life in a Florida animal sanctuary.
Buddy the beefalo “has fully integrated into the herd” and has not tried to escape since the second day after he arrived at Critter Creek Farm Sanctuary in Gainesville, the facility posted on Facebook this month.
“There must be something about being surrounded by happy, stress-free animals that put him at ease,” Critter Creek officials posted. “We are so thrilled Buddy’s story has had such a happy ending.”
The 800- to 900-pound (360- to 410-kilogram) beefalo, a cross between a bison and domestic cattle, bolted on Aug. 3, 2020, while being loaded off a truck at a meat processing plant in Plymouth, Connecticut.
Buddy’s adventures, including appearances on a wildlife camera set up by police, earned wide attention during his eight months on the lam.
Funds were raised to send Buddy to the Florida sanctuary, but when he first arrived he didn’t want to stay in his pen, the sanctuary officials said. “In fact, he was so hesitant that within about two minutes, he had jumped the fence of the pen and gone into the horse pasture,” they said on Facebook.
Buddy appears to have settled in, though. A recent video shows him happily eating hay with other bovines.
Bandit responsible for vehicle break-ins is a black bear
THORNTON, N.H. (AP) — Surveillance video helped police get to the bottom of a series of vehicle break-ins in town of Thornton.
Home security footage captured the bandit — a black bear — opening the door of a vehicle and then crawling inside.
Police believe the bear was rummaging for food and that the bear is responsible for damaging other vehicles. Police warned residents to remove food from their vehicles to avoid enticing the bear.
The good news is the criminal is unarmed, and probably not dangerous. Officials say that making loud noises is usually enough to send a black bear scampering away.
Message in a bottle travels across the Atlantic Ocean
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A Portuguese teenager has found a message in a bottle that traveled at least 2,400 miles from a Vermont teenager.
Christian Santos, 17, was spearfishing in the Azores when he found a crumpled plastic bottle that was tossed into the sea near Rhode Island in 2018, The Boston Globe reported.
Santos’ mother, Molly Santos, posted a photo of the note on Facebook asking for others to share the post in hopes of finding the writer to share how far the message traveled.
The note inside of a Powerade bottle was written in orange marker on a notecard that reads, “It is Thanksgiving. I am 13 and visiting family in Rhode Island. I am from Vermont.” The note included an email address to respond.
Molly Santo said that she sent an email to the address, but never received a response.
New England Aquarium accepts ticket saved for over 37 years
BOSTON (AP) — The New England Aquarium in Boston accepted an entrance ticket on Thursday first purchased in 1983 that allows the holder to return “at anytime in the future.”
Rachel Carle, 26, picked up the ticket from her great aunt, Catherine Cappiello, who came to visit the aquarium more than 37 years ago, the Boston Herald reported.
Cappiello and her partner arrived near closing time in November that year and both got a “late gate ticket,” which was good for a visit at a later time. Cappiello, who lives in Trenton, New Jersey, gave it to Carle last fall as she drove from the Washington area up to Boston, where she is enrolled as a graduate student in public policy at Harvard University.
Aquarium President and CEO Vikki Spruill told the newspaper the late gate tickets were discontinued about 25 years ago, but that they will see about one a year.
“We honor each valid admission ticket, and this was one,” Spruill said. “Forty years is a long time to be carrying that ticket around, and we’re so glad she did.”
Carle tweeted a photo of one of the tickets which was legible, if a little worn around the edges.
The New England Aquarium is one of Boston’s most popular attractions and a research institution. It closed temporarily closed twice in 2020 and reopened again to visitors in February.
