Naturalists have discovered that orangutans can not only swim but that they also know how to fish. The orangutans in Borneo were previously thought to be non swimmers but they have learnt how to swim across the river to get to the best fruits. They have also learnt how to use a tree branch as a spear in order to catch a fish after watching fishermen using rods. However, they have also worked out that it is less work to steal fish from unattended fishing lines rather than going to the effort of catching the fish themselves. At this rate they will quickly be overtaking some of the lesser intelligent human individuals among us.

A luxury watch with a price tag of £150,000 has sold out within 48 hours of going on sale. That might not seem surprising but the watch is unusual because it doesn't tell the time. It has a crocodile skin strap and is made from steel salvaged from the wreck of the titanic encrusted with sapphires. The face is divided into two sections which signify day and night. It is described by the manufacturer as “world unique - a watch that does not tell the time” and the chief executive of the company says “Anyone can buy a watch that shows time, but only a discerning customer can buy one that doesn’t.” Call me old fashioned I think I will stick with a cheaper watch that tell the time.

Some rats are now becoming resistant to normal poisoning techniques and have been dubbed "super rats". The rats which have been found in the West Country have a mutant gene which helps them develop resistance to the poisons. If all else fails I guess they will have to resort to using an army of cats to counteract the problem.

According to this article pets are the latest victims of Britain's throwaway society. Figures from the RSPCA show that 7,347 animals were rescued from the street last year. Half of this figure were cats, a trend which the article describes as disturbing because cats are traditionally thought of as easy to care for. It appears that many people give up their pets for rather strange reasons with some examples being “My cat doesn’t match my new carpet.” Another said: “I’ve just bought a new leather sofa and I don’t want the cat to scratch it.” There is also a rise in people abandoning animals such as dogs and rabbits when they go on holiday and then not claiming them when they return. Tim Wass of the RSPCA says “It is an offence to abandon an animal and there is never any excuse for doing so. If people have pets they cannot care for, for any reason, then help and advice is always available from the RSPCA.” Reading this article I wonder why people get pets if they are unwilling to care for them.

A vicar in Pennal has applied for a drinks license so that he can sell wine and beer at his church. He says the license is needed to sell drinks at parish functions such as concerts and weddings. He may later open a small bar on the premises in the small cafe at the rear of the Church. A spokeswoman for the church in Wales said "The Church in Wales welcomes initiatives such as this which encourage people to come to churches and to see them as places where they can relax, socialise and share food and drink."

A new system is being tried London which will put a value on trees. Trees will be assessed on a number of factors including size, how many people enjoy the tree and the life expectancy of the tree. Taking into account all of those factors a plane tree in central London has recently been valued at £750,000. The system is designed to make it harder for trees to be felled. For example if a developer illegally destroys a tree, then the fine imposed could now be a better reflection of the tree's value, meaning they should be less likely to consider felling a tree in the first place.

This is an interesting idea, a suit that can be worn and washed in the shower. It is made from fast drying Australian merino wool and is designed for the Asian market. It is aimed primarily at businessmen who are required to wear a suit in the humidity of an Asian summer. At the end of the day all you need to do is hose the suit down in the shower and hang it up to dry. It regains its shape and is ready to wear again the next morning without the need for dry cleaning.

We have spent most of today trimming the hedge that surrounds our garden. Whilst this may seem like an easy task, its not, this hedge has really large thorns. During the day I managed to step on a thorn which pierced through my shoe into my foot and have sustained several other injuries where the thorns managed to get through my gloves. On top of that I managed to get sunburn, despite the fact that it was overcast and windy for most of the day. I hate that hedge...

Pierre the penguin had a problem with his feathers leaving him with bald patches. Unfortunately, penguins need their waterproof fathers to keep warm whilst in the water. This meant Pierre would sit on the side of the penguin tank shivering whilst the other penguins played in the water. Pierre now has a special penguin wetsuit which is designed to keep him warm but has openings for his flippers so he can still swim. It also allows his feathers to grow back at the same time and he can play happily with the other penguins.

This is an interesting idea, children's shoes that can extend as the child grows. The shoes are called inchworm shoes and they can extend by as much as one full shoe size. All you need to do is adjust the shoe to fit by pressing a button and pulling the toe out to the required length as shown below. They are available in child sizes only and cost £48.

People living near a river in Oxfordshire were rather surprised to find that it was a rather bright shade of green today. The Environment agency were called to Grove Brook near Wantage to find it was fluorescent green. It is thought that the colour was caused by a dye that is used to trace the flow of water through drainage systems, but it is not known how the dye got into the river. The dye, however is not toxic and should disperse by the end of the day. I wonder if it turns the fish green as well.

According to this article we are likely to see fewer butterflies around this year because of last years wet summer. 2007 was the worst year for butterflies for more than a quarter of a century with numbers at a record low. This was mainly because butterflies do not fly in the rain and therefore they cannot reach plant nectar to feed or fly to breed. The charity Butterfly Conservation is hoping that we have a long hot summer this year so that numbers can recover. Unfortunately I think my cats are to blame for the lack of butterflies in my garden.

It's St George's Day today, a day that I feel should be national holiday. After all St Patrick's Day is a public holiday in Ireland and St Andrew's Day is a voluntary public holiday in Scotland so why should England not have a public holiday to celebrate our national day. You can sign the petition here if you agree with me.

This is an interesting idea, a mug that stirs the liquid inside it without a spoon. It has a ceramic ball on the bottom of the mug. When you swirl the cup the ball turns and stirs the liquid inside. The cup is called Ceramic For Mix and its inventors who have so far made a number of prototypes are currently looking for a manufacturer for the product.

If you want a dog but don't have the space, then you might be interested in this rent a dog service. The service offers canine companions for rent at the cost of £279 for four days a month. It's an interesting idea but I think it would be hard to establish a relationship with a dog that you only see a few times a month. It has, also been criticised by the RSPCA who say that moving a dog from owner to owner makes the dog stressed and unhappy. Judging by the comments left at the bottom of the article the majority of people agree with this view.

I came across this article the other day about a rather odd hobby called extreme ironing. Extreme ironing according to the website is "the latest danger sport that combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well pressed shirt" Examples of extreme ironing include ironing on the sea bed, ironing whilst bog snorkelling (left) and even David Blaine-style ironing. It all looks very exciting, you can check out some more examples in the gallery here.

This is what happened when a learner bus driver went under a low bridge. The top deck of the bus was ripped off and left in the road making it an open top bus. No one was injured in the accident but the road was sealed off for an hour whilst a recovery firm took the bus away.

Police in Texas were a little surprised when they came across this motorist with an alligator in the back of his car. The driver had found the alligator by the side of the road and decided to put it into his car. Reptile experts were called in to release the alligator into a wildlife reserve. The driver of the car was charged with illegal possession of an alligator.

I tried a butterfly ball bath bomb from Lush the other day and whilst its not one of favourites it is still quite nice. It turns the bath a rather nice shade of pink and includes little sparkling butterflies (pictured left). At £1.95 its quite good value too.

I was in Sainsbury's the other day and came across a rather disturbing sight (pictured left). Wine in plastic bottles, it just doesn't seem right somehow, wine is supposed to come in a glass bottle with a proper cork. Whilst I appreciate it is probably packaged in this way to cut costs, it has the look of fruit juice and comes across as somewhat cheap and nasty. This is only my first impression, as I haven't actually tried the wine, if I can bring myself to purchase a bottle (or should I say carton) of this wine, then I will review here later.

This huge lobster was reportedly caught off the south coast of England. It is five times the size of a normal lobster and weighs over 4 kilograms. He certainly looks tasty.

I woke up this morning to find that it had snowed during the night. Although there is not a great a deal of snow it was still enough to create some entertainment for the cats, well for Willow anyway. Oscar and Oliver pictured to the left went out to investigate before coming straight back inside and sitting on their bean bags refusing to leave the house again. Lucy pictured on the right simply sat under the bench looking miserable before also retreating inside.