Squirrel causes panic in public swimming pool

A squirrel sparked panic by diving into a busy public swimming pool in Torquay.

The rodent caused swimmers to flee the pool and gave lifeguards the slip before biting a member of the public on the finger.

No-one knows how the rodent got into the Riviera Centre in the Devon town, but after causing squealing and panic, it paddled around in circles while swimmers scattered.

When one man waded over to rescue the frightened creature and grabbed its tail, it bit him on the finger.

Jacquie Lovett, swimming instructor at the Waves Leisure Pool told The Western Morning News: "It was doing a few strokes in the deep end, going under the water and then coming up for air.

"It looked like a drowned rat. Then it ran out through a door we had opened."

http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/squirrel_causes_panic_in_torquay_swimming_pool

Crocodile goes unnoticed by swimmers at a pool in Australia

A saltwater crocodile who was paddling around among oblivious bathers was spotted and rescued by a lifeguard at a public swimming pool in Australia.

Brave lifeguard Tim Dupe, 54, fished out the crocodile from the shallow end at the Parap swimming pool in Darwin.

He said the pool was holding a swimming boot-camp at the time but luckily the reptile 'had a lane to itself'.

Fortunately for swimmers, the croc was just a baby and only 50cm long.

Ranger Tommy Nichols thinks it was put in the pool as a joke and added that it was the third crocodile to turn up in a public pool in the past few years.

He said: 'They didn't get there by themselves. It's just a stupid thing to do.

'Certainly, a croc this size isn't going to hurt anyone, but if it was bigger it could have ended badly.'

The crocodile has since been released into the wild by rangers at a secret spot in the nearby area.

http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/875159-crocodile-goes-unnoticed-in-public-swimming-pool