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Alligators in the Sewer
It used to be a trend for parents returning home from Florida vacations to bring back small, baby alligators for their
children to raise as pets, particularly in New York. Once the babies grew up, they were no longer cute or convenient. So,
to get rid of them New Yorkers resorted to flushing the little guys down the toilet. Some of these washed up gators survived
in the city's sewer system and began to breed. Now there are full-grown alligators living under the streets of Manhattan.
It's been said that the animals are blind and albino, having lost their eyesight and the pigment in their hides because they
live in constant darkness.
- Variations:
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- The alligators grew to monsterous sizes and are "mutants."
Fact: NOT TRUE...It is true that alligators have been found in many unlikely places, such as swimming pools as well
as some sewers. However, while rats, insects and some stray fish do call New York's sewers home, over the long term an alligator
would have difficulty surviving the cold, the close quarters, the lack of sufficient prey and the bacteria commonly found
there.
Cabbage Patch Death Certificates
One of the '80s hottest toys were Cabbage Patch Dolls, which all came with "adoption" papers. Likewise, when
a "parent" returned his or her damaged doll to the manufacturer for repair, the company mailed back a death certificate.
Fact: NOT TRUE...Coleco Industries did offer repair services for the dolls, but they did not produce
the death certificates, funeral bills, letters of condolence or child-abuse citations they were rumored to.
Cooked Organs
In anticipation of an upcoming wedding, one bridesmaid circumvented time limits on tanning sessions by visiting
multiple salons a day over a period of several weeks. When she began to feel unwell, she went to the doctor's, only to find
out that she had cooked her internal organs.
Fact: NOT TRUE...Tanning lamps emit ultraviolet light waves, and ultraviolet radiation only penetrates one-sixteenth
of an inch into your skin — not nearly enough to affect a human's internal organs. So, severe sunburn? Yes. Roasted
organs? No.
Killer Snake
A few years ago, a young man was killed by his own pet python, who mistook his owner for food.
Fact: True...The year was 1996, the place was the Bronx, and the python was a 12-foot Burmese python named Damien. When
he was attacked, 19-year-old Grant had been preparing to feed Damien a live chicken, the snake's first meal since a chicken
the week before. It's speculated that either Grant hadn't sufficiently washed the smell of chicken from his hands or that
the python preferred larger prey. Whatever the case, the python wrapped itself around the young man, who then called for help.
When the paramedics arrived, they extricated Grant from his 45-pound pet and rushed him to the hospital, where he died.
Banned Wedding Rice
Many churches have banned rice-throwing at weddings because the little white pellets will expand in the stomachs
of birds that eat it off the ground, causing them to explode.
Fact: NOT TRUE...This myth got its start in the usually legitimate advice column of Ann Landers in 1996. Unfortunately,
Ann was duped by this turkey. According to agricultural and ornithological experts, there is no risk to birds from rice thrown
at weddings. In fact, rice is an integral part of some bird species' diets. None have yet been witnessed exploding after a
wedding rice feast, or ever for that matter. There is some truth to this rumor, however. Some churches have banned the throwing
of rice at wedding ceremonies, not for the sake of the birds, but because of the risk to newlyweds and their guests. Hard
surfaces littered with tiny rice pellets can become a horror show when the in-laws start slipping and sliding and someone
puts an eye out or breaks a hip. Churches would prefer to protect their guests, as well as their liability.
Headless Chicken
A farmer thought he was just putting dinner on the table when he picked up an axe and beheaded one of his chickens.
Turned out he had a legend on his hands after the now headless rooster bobbed and weaved back to the henhouse and lived for
18 more months — without a head.
Fact: TRUE...Lloyd Olsen of Fruita, Colo., did indeed own the world's only surviving headless chicken, according to the
Guinness Book of World Records. He wielded the infamous axe in September 1945, unaware that he and his rooster would
go down in history. The animal, now dubbed Mike and celebrated with a festival, Web sites and various magazine articles, apparently
survived because the blade missed his jugular vein and a clot prevented him from bleeding to death. The axe blow landed high
enough that most of the chicken's brain stem and one ear remained intact. Olsen kept the animal fed and watered by inserting
an eyedropper directly into his gullet. Eighteen months after the chicken lost his head he choked to death in a motel room.
Residents of Fruita remember Mike as "a big fat chicken who didn't know he didn't have a head."
Robbed At "Snake Point"
A man stopped at a traffic light was robbed at "snake-point." Thugs approached the car, pulled out a snake, and
demanded cash and jewelry.
Fact: TRUE...Vibhor Jain, an Indian executive, was one victim of the "snake-looter," who haunted the New Delhi neighborhood
of Vasant Kunj in 1998. According to Asia One, a black cobra was used as a weapon in several robberies, prompting police to
question area snake charmers.
Psycho With Hook
A teenage couple is making out in a car when they hear a report on the radio about an escaped murderer with a
hook for a hand. The girl is frightened and insists that her boyfriend drive her home immediately. Back at the girl's house,
when they get out of the car they discover a bloody hook hanging from the door.
FACT: NOT TRUE...This story has been floating around for more than 50 years, and was even published in "Dear Abby," but
there is no evidence that it ever happened. Rather, the story serves as a cautionary tale about teenage sexuality. Had the
young couple not curtailed their make-out session, the consequences may have been disastrous ... in more ways than one.
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