Female frogs 'fake death' to avoid advances

Female frogs appear to fake death to avoid unwanted advances, researchers have found. In a test, "tonic immobility" – stiffening with arms and legs outstretched as if playing dead – occurred in 33% of all females "clasped by a male", said The Guardian. "Females in these dense breeding aggregations are not passive as previously thought," said Dr Carolin Dittrich, from the Natural History Museum of Berlin.

Thieves make schoolboy error

Thieves in the US managed to "swipe" thousands of dollars in merchandise from a vintage clothing store but overlooked a "glaring issue with what they took", said Fox News. The Lincoln Police Department said the thieves mostly made off with a bunch of shoes only for left feet. "They then broke into the building through a window and stole a bunch of… left shoes. You heard that right, single shoes," it said.

Mother bear wins contest

A "notoriously aggressive" mother bear has won Alaska's Fat Bear Week competition, reported The Times. Grazer, a mother bear with light brown fur and blonde ears, beat a huge male called Chunk to become only the third female winner. It was a "landslide" victory for Grazer, said the paper – she won more than 108,000 votes to her rival's 23,000. Announcing the win, Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve said: "Let's crown our Queen that's thicker than a bowl of oatmeal."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up