Bear Convicted for Honey Theft

I've been both very busy and rather poorly for the last week or two, so I've been mostly blogging about news stories, books, other blogs and so on. But my dad has now gone home to Ireland and my cold is much better, so I am determined to blog about things I'm doing - checking on my loft insulation, digging the allotment, raising seedlings and so on.

But I couldn't resist sharing this news story - a court in Macedonia has convicted a bear of theft and criminal damage after repeatedly attacking a local beekeeper's hives. I loved this bit:

For a while, he kept the animal away by buying a generator, lighting up the area, and playing thumping Serbian turbo-folk music. But when the generator ran out of power and the music fell silent, the bear was back and the honey was gone once more.

I wonder if Jethro Tull would have the same effect?

Being a wild animal, the bear had no owner, so the court ordered the state to pay compensation to the beekeeper of $3,500 (£1,750 or 2,238 euros). I wonder if it is possible under UK law to sue a mouse?

And in case you're worried:

The bear, meanwhile, remains at large - somewhere in Macedonia.