Hunter discovers 1,100-year-old Viking sword

Einar Ambakk stumbled upon the weapon while reindeer hunting up a mountain in Norway, and only discovered it was a sword when he pulled the blade out from in between rocks.

The rare find was reported to Lars Pilo, an archaeologist for Oppland County Council, who estimated that it dates back to the period 850-950. The sword was found 1640m above sea level.

Writing on his blog Secrets of the Ice, he said: “It appears unlikely that the sword has reappeared on the surface due to permafrost movement of stones, as it is well preserved without any kind of scratches and bending.

“We surveyed the find spot closely, both visually and using a metal detector. The survey, which covered a distance of up to 20m from the find spot, did not result in any further finds. The sword is thus an isolated find.”

Meet Suki, the Bengal cat!

She’s a Bengal cat from Canada who, unlike most lazy felines, isn’t a stranger to exploring new and exciting lands. In fact, she’s more adventurous than most humans.

The Instagram star, who has nearly 180,000 followers, goes about the Canadian countryside with her human, exploring the mountains and streams around her wooden cabin. Unlike many cats, Suki isn’t afraid of water.

In fact, she likes dipping her paws into lakes, streams and rivers. She is not even afraid to take her paws on all sorts of adventures, even if it is canoeing with her human. Perhaps Suki can be inspiration for many cats out there!

Real life Furby, really?

It is not wrong to say that some things are just better off staying fictional. When certain things enter the real world, they take on a horrifying new dimension which, frankly, no one needs.

This Tawny Frogmout, which is being touted as a ‘real life Furby’ — is one of those things. Fluffy things automatically get a few bonus points just for sheer fluff. But look at that gaping maw, and try to explain the horrifying void in your heart. You can’t.

This newborn Tawny Frogmouth is just a few weeks old, and is born at the Vogelpark Oclhing Bird Park in Munich, Germany. It will eventually grow up into a big old majestic owl, so there’s time for us to get over it.

Japan’s first cat cafe train

Railway passengers in Japan were treated with a lunch and the company of dozens of rescue kittens as they took a ride on the first cat cafe train.

Cat cafe chain Sanctuary collaborated with Yoro Railway to convert the train from Ogaki to Ikeno into a mobile cat cafe for one day to raise awareness for strays.

There were 30 kittens on the train, and all of them were scheduled to be put down, but Sanctuary rescued them to take part in the special cat adoption event.

“We all wondered what it was going to be like, this vision of a train and cats,” passenger Bill Adler told.

The group of “awesomely cute” kittens easily captivated the hearts and attention of the passengers during the two-and-a-half-hour trip.

“Nobody (passengers) got off the train [at the break] ... no one bothered to look out the window, because the cats were just so cute,” Adler said.

Published in Dawn, Young World, October 7th, 2017