SNAKES IN A BOX

The power in a Poughkeepsie, New York,hospital was taken out for 10 hours after a garden snake got stuck inthe switch box that controlled the building's main electrical supply.

Workers discovered the slithering culprit dead in the box around 3 p.m. and couldn't get things working again until 1 a.m. the next morning. There were some emergency cases that had to be diverted to other hospitals.

No patients suffered any disruptions do to the outage.

(Originally reported by the AP)

CAMERA DROP

A camera that was mounted to a Columbus, Ohio, police helicopter snapped off mid-flight and struck at least three different vehicles below.

The $100,000 infrared camera somehowbecame dislodged from the chopper and was subsequently ruined when itsmashed into the cars, causing massive damage to one of them.

The helicopter was being used in the search for a missing woman.

(Originally reported by the AP)

BIKER BBQ

A Melbourne, Australia, man was fined $700 after cops busted him riding his motorcycle with a barbecue strapped to his body.

The 29-year-old was charged with carelessdriving, though he told the cops that he only reason he had the barbecuewas because he found it on the side of the road and wanted to bring ithome.

His license was also revoked for a month.

(Originally reported by UPI)

I'M NOT DEAD YET!

A man in Houston, Texas,was finally able to convince the Department of Veterans Affairs that hewas alive after he threatened to take his story to the media.

39-year-old John Paul Scott -- who hadbeen receiving disability benefits from the military after being injuredin the Army during the Gulf War -- was accidentally listed as deceasedin the Veterans Affairs computer system.

He lost out on $2,000 during the time he was supposedly dead.

(Originally reported by UPI)