Animal magic

That esteemed unofficial organ of the Birmingham tourist industry, Birmingham: It's Not Shit, has recently held its vote for Brummie Of The Year.

Baggies supporting 'Match Of The Day 2' and 'Working Lunch' presenter Adrian Chiles came out third with 83 votes, while West Midlands rock survivor Dave Kusworth amassed 226 votes but was narrowly pipped in second place.

The winner, by an extraordinarily slender margin of just five votes? Babu the red panda, whose escape from Birmingham Nature Centre made the national news just over a month ago. Personally speaking, I think calling yourself a panda when you're really a rusty overgrown ferret is a bit rich, but then who am I to begrudge the award to a creature that managed to survive in the wilds of the city for four days before being found?

I'm a bit disappointed by the lack of an acceptance speech, mind. Surely Babu could have mustered something, even if it was the usual platitudinous tripe about thanking God, Allah, his parents and Birmingham Nature Centre's Keeper of Pandas.

(Thanks to Alison for the link.)