J.R.’s Assorted Outdoor Oddities of the Week

Here’s a quick look at some of the offbeat tales the Outdoor Newshound as been tracking this week.

In Knoxville, Tenn., the winningest coach in NCAA women’s basketball history is recovering from a dislocated shoulder after she had a late-night run-in with a rascally raccoon.

Tennessee Lady Volunteers head basketball coach Pat Summitt said she went to her home’s backyard deck one night last week to see why her yellow Lab was barking. There she found a fat raccoon raised on its hind legs, ready to do battle with her dog, Sally.

Summitt said she used her forearm to smack the big ‘coon off the deck, with such force that she injured herself.

“I was in dire pain,” she said. “I looked down, and there was an indent. I knew (my shoulder) was out.”

Also in Tennessee this week, authorities in Church Hill are continuing to investigate who was responsible for placing an odorous substance in an air-conditioning unit that sickened a roomful of students at Volunteer High School.

Police Chief Mark Johnson said he ‘s pretty certain what caused the big stink, which makes him believe a dastardly deer hunter was behind the prank.

What was the smelly liquid? Deer urine.

And in West Virginia this week, Randy Earl was fishing from his boat at Mason Lake when he tipped the craft over and found himself bobbing in the chilly, 50-degree water.

The first thing he did was lift his fishing companion, a black spaniel named Lacy, to safety on the bottom of the capsized boat while he waited for help to arrive.

When W. Virginia State Trooper J.D. McCoy paddled a kayak to where the two were adrift, an angler on shore witnessed the rescue.

“He asked the state trooper to take the dog first,” Jan Thorn told The Dominion Post of Morgantown. “It was very touching.”