One might question his techniques, but there's something to be said about this gold-digger's determination ... even if that "something" is "what a moron!"
Norm Enrique, a 63-year-old treasure-hunting fool, says he got "carried away" after his gold detector reported a positive hit in his front yard and started digging, the Associated Press reports.
But Enrique didn't just pull out a plastic shovel and get crazy sand-box style — cops found him 10 days later directing two dudes burrowing away at the bottom of a 60-foot-deep hole with a rope and a bucket.
"We told him, 'You're done,"' said Montclair Fire Capt. Rich Baldwin. "It's amazing no one got killed."
Authorities, who plan to call out the state Occupational Safety and Health Administration to determine how to undo Enrique's industrious handiwork, fenced off the property for safety.
Unfortunately for Enrique, the only successful gold-digging will be dug right out of his wallet — he'll be required to hire a and pay a licensed engineer to do the job.
You Gotta Respect the 'Stache
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — Amsterdam's retiring fire chief is urging his men to shave, saying mustaches project an outdated macho image of the fire service.
"Mustaches are inappropriate at the fire department," Commander Kees te Boekhorst was quoted as saying in the Telegraaf newspaper. "They reinforce the stereotype image of an old boys' club."
Spokesman Jeroen Nan said the chief wasn't suggesting an outright ban.
"It's in all the Dutch children's books," said Nan. "Whenever you see a firefighter, it's a man, and he has a mustache. But that's not a realistic image of the fire department today."
Te Boekhorst is retiring in July and will be replaced by a woman, Caroline van de Wiel.
Cheaper by the Dozen, Indeed
BECKLEY, W.Va. (AP) — These "Cheaper by the Dozen" DVDs were a steal. Thieves swiped more than 270 copies of the 20th Century Fox flick from Wal-Mart stores in Beckley, MacArthur, Summersville, Lewisburg and neighboring Virginia shortly after it was released on DVD in late May, along with 22 copies of "Hollowman 2" and several other random items, said State Police Trooper M.S. Efird.
Efird said the "Cheaper by the Dozen" DVDs alone were worth $6,000.
A man and woman were captured by video surveillance that showed the pair entering the Beckley store and getting a shopping cart and storage container. They were briefly joined by three other people. The man and woman then went to the electronics department, where the man stuffed the DVDs into the storage container, Efird said.
The man talked on a cell phone and then the pair escaped through a rear fire door and climbed into a van, Efird said.
Efird said the entire event lasted less than 20 minutes.
The videotape was not clear enough to provide a good description of any of the suspects, who all appeared to be in their early to mid-20s, Efird said.
Say It With ... Spiders?
LONDON (AP) — A British man on Wednesday admitted delivering a package containing a venomous tarantula to a work colleague the day he handed in his resignation.
At Leicester Magistrates' Court in central England, Mahlon Hector, 22, pleaded guilty to delivering a rare Mexican red-kneed tarantula in a box addressed to a woman colleague at the branch of the store Marks & Spencer in Leicester, where they both worked. At the same time, he handed store bosses his resignation. The intended recipient, Susan Griffin, was not hurt.
Hector is to be sentenced later on the charge of sending a letter or other article conveying a threat on March 28. He did not reveal his motives in court Wednesday. When staff at the store discovered the spider they alerted the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which took it away.
"It was a daft (stupid) idea. They are not the most dangerous spider, but it could be fatal if it is given to someone who has an allergic reaction to it," the society's spokesman said Wednesday.
"The woman who received it must have been terrified."
The Mexican red-kneed tarantula — Latin name Brachypelma Smithi — is commonly used in movies because of its scary appearance. With a leg span measuring up to 10 inches (25 centimeters), it has a hairy dark brown body and reddish-orange leg joints. Each leg ends with two claws, which are used for climbing trees.
It is said to bite rarely, but flicks its hairs at victims.
It is the only tarantula listed as rare by the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species.
Compiled by FOXNews.com's Taylor Timmins.
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