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When peacocks attack

People who attack £30,000 Lexus cars - digruntled lovers, jealous motorists.

Now you can add love-sick peacocks to the list.

A peacock named Ron mistook a blue Lexus, parked at Maunsel House in Somerset, for a love rival.

After ruffling his feathers and fanning his tail for hours, the blue bird pecked the vehicle, covering it in scratches.

The bird’s owner Sir Benjamin Slade said: “He’s done it before. Blue cars drive him wild.”

Poisonous passenger

When 20-year-old mechanic Adam Morrison-Thomas opened the door of an imported 1965 Cadillac Sedan de Ville he found more than he bargained for - a poisonous black widow spider.

The spider, which has a venom fifteen times more deadly than that of a rattlesnake, had spun a 12-inch web under the passenger seat of a car.

Having caught the arachnid in a sandwich box, Mr Morrison-Thomas contacted the RSPCA. The spider, now named Dorothy, is being kept in a cage within a cage with alarmed glass, five locks and a panic button at Stratford Butterfly Farm in Worcestershire.

Demolition proposition

We all know the drill. Pick a suitable location, get down on one knee, diamond ring in hand, and maybe a hire a string quartet if you’re feeling extravagant.

But US demolition derby racer Kevin Weaver’s proposal to his fiancée was a little different.

The 34-year-old painted the words ‘Karen Slusser will u marry me?’ on the side of the car, and drove into the derby arena where he knew Ms Slusser and her family would be in the crowd.

When they saw the painted question the family cheered, and after the race 47-year-old Ms Slusser met Mr Weaver at the driver’s pit gate and said “Yes!”.

Mr Weaver said: “Every woman I know says she wants to announce it to the world when she gets engaged. I figured I’d announce it for her and make it well noted.”

Video: Roll with it

I went 4x4 driving recently (look out for the report soon on this site and in Auto Trader’s Gadgets and Gifts supplement - free with every copy of Auto Trader at the end of October). It was great fun, but I’m glad it didn’t end like this…

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Previous Weird World of Wheels:

Celebrity shenanigans:
Britney does it again
Prince Charles goes green
Suggs' Rolls Royce ends up in a swimming pool
Al Gore’s son is arrested for driving at 100mph
Gordon Ramsay crashes a 4x4
See the F1 champion sent back to driving school

Police, camera, action:
Police chase a pensioner on an 8mph mobility scooter
The car thief who stole the same car twice
20mph petrol-powered roller skates
The lorry driver who drove while eating spaghetti out of a saucepan

Lights, camera, action:
Big screen edition

Animal action:
When Geese Attack
Dragon's den
Where's the beef?

More weird worlds:
Supercar special
See the car totalled by a 1,500lb wrecking ball
The 21-year-old wheelchair user caught on the front of a truck
The £36.3million car crash picture
Sat nav trouble for a student who drove her car onto train tracks
See the £5,000, 70mph toilet
Crushed Bristol