Weird Rhode Island news - Lions and lions and lions, oh my!

I might not have time to do a proper television entry today - I'm running all over the place working on various stuff. But, I did want to at least post some token weird Rhode Island news.

According to an article in The Providence Journal, a lion was recently taken from the home of a Glocester man. Yeah, I'm a bit surprised this story didn't originate from Florida, the capital of bizarre animal and just bizarre news in general.

Although the article notes that the former owner did have the proper permits for the lion, it makes me think that the animal was grandfathered in as legal, since he's apparently been there for more than a dozen years. I'm surprised there wasn't any outcry from the neighbors about, you know, the lion in their backyard, after earlier news stories about a chimp mauling some people. (I would link to the story, but everyone reading this has probably already seen it, and I'm not chancing that I'll see the horrific picture of the woman without a face again.)

Also, the Rhode Island climate makes me wonder if the lion is really comfortable; don't they normally live in warm portions of Africa? Then again, lions have a lot of hair, so maybe he likes the breeze of 20-degree weather.

Finally, this makes me ponder an exotic pet of my own. Is it legal for me to own a penguin? What about a giraffe or a kangaroo? This is something I seriously have to look into.

The lion photo is from this site.