Federal agents inspecting a couple’s belongings at an Arizona entry port on the U.S.-Mexico border found two live parrots hidden inside an Elmo doll.

The Customs and Border Protection says agriculture specialists found the birds on July 1 after cutting open the doll when an X-ray revealed something unusual about the contents.

The seized birds were placed in quarantine and transferred to a Department of Agriculture holding facility, while the couple was fined $300.

The border agency says birds entering the country are regulated because they can carry viral and bacterial diseases.

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Bogus Bomb Scare

A suspicious device at a southwest Wyoming power plant turned out not to be a bomb, but it might have hurt a mosquito or two.

Security guards spotted the object at the Jim Bridger Power Plant around midnight one Wednesday. The device had wires connected to a small battery.

A bomb squad was called out to the coal-fired power plant. Sweetwater County sheriff’s officials say bomb experts looked over the device and even X-rayed it.

It was a mosquito trap.

Weed and pest officers routinely put out the traps to check for mosquitoes that carry the West Nile virus.

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Attack of the Killer Bees

A North Texas street department worker has been stung about 1,000 times by aggressive bees that also attacked two co-workers who tried to help him.

Wichita Falls officials blamed the attack on Africanized honey bees.

Spokesman Barry Levy (LEE’-vee) says a swarm attacked a worker mowing grass along culverts near the Weeks Park Tennis Center. He says the man was in good condition at a local hospital.

Levy says two co-workers also were stung when they came to the man’s aid. One worker fled into a nearby tennis center, bringing the swarm with him.

One of the co-workers also was hospitalized in good condition, the other was treated and discharged.

The center, a nearby trail and part of a golf course remain closed until personnel confirm the bees are gone.