These are some of the strange, weird and wacky stories of 2005:

A taxi driver in Dallas, Texas, was prosecuted for sprinkling dried faeces on pastries in a grocery shop. Customers had complained that the fresh-baked items smelled and tasted like manure.

A 29-year-old woman in the UK admitted that she had not washed her hair in 11 years.

A traffic warden slapped a parking ticket on a car which had its dead driver slumped at the wheel outside a shopping mall in Sydney, Australia. The warden failed to notice the man inside and issued the parking fine two days before the body was discovered.

Odd fish with human faces caused a sensation in South Korea. They were actually mutants born of carp and leather carp - but they looked really scary and spooky.

A straying couple in Jordan both started sizzling affairs in cyberspace. But the bad news for both is they found out they were married to each other.

A British bank had to apologise to a customer after they sent him a debit card bearing the name "Mr Dick Head". Very embarrassingly for the card owner, he did not spot the mistake until he tried to buy something at a supermarket.

A parcel that vibrated and made strange noises sparked off a bomb alert in a German post office. Workers contacted the owner, who was forced to explain the contents - they turned out to be an inflatable sex doll.

A cat chewed the toes off the right foot of an elderly woman with senile dementia while she was asleep at a home for the aged in Japan. Workers found the 88-year-old woman bleeding from her feet, with all the toes missing from her right foot. Paw prints of a cat were found on the floor of the room.

A giant 13-foot (3.9m) python exploded after attacking and attempting to eat an alligator. Rangers in the Everglades National Park, Florida, found the snake lying dead with the 6-foot (1.6m) alligator protruding from its middle.

Dog lovers mourned the death of Sam, the world's ugliest dog. Sam became a celebrity after winning an ugly pet contest in the US twice. When Sam died, its owner said: "I don't think there'll ever be another Sam. Some people might think that's a good thing."

A sparrow nearly ruined a world record attempt at dominoes when it flew in through an exhibition centre window and knocked down 23,000 tiles. Organisers shot the little bird, causing an outcry. As a tribute, the bird's body will be displayed in a museum.

A court in Ontario acquitted a man of sexual assault charges because he suffered from "Sexsomnia" and was, as he claimed, asleep at the time of the incident.