Welcome to another entry in our new column, The Week's Weirdest World News. The world, you might have noticed, is a very strange place — so every seven days, we'll be rounding up the most bizarre things that have happened across the globe, purely for your enjoyment.

From a man paddling in a pumpkin to deodorant-wearing sheep, these stories are sure to inspire wonder — or, at the very least, befuddlement — at the weird ol' world around us.

Australian man floats down river in giant pumpkin

A man turned the biggest pumpkin grown in Australia this year into a canoe, and paddled it down the country's Tumut River.

Adam Farquharson's friend, Mark Peacock, won a blue ribbon for his mammoth pumpkin at Sydney's Royal Easter Show this year — and Farquharson decided that wouldn't be the end of the giant gourd's career.

Farquharson, whose previous attempts at growing pumpkins big enough to travel downstream in were an "abject and hilarious failure," hollowed out the 407-kilogram pumpkin — named Tormund after the "Game of Thrones" character — and took it to the water as 1,000 spectators watched.

"It's just something really cool to do. I've paddled that river so many times, [but] that's the most fun I've ever had floating down the Tumut River," Farquharson told ABC News.

"It made me happy and apparently it made other people have a bit of a smile too."

Japanese bullet train delayed by snake

^{[Image credit: Fikri Rasyid]}

Japan's bullet trains are known for their speed, safety and punctuality, but the "shinkansen" service saw a delay this week thanks to an unwelcome animal passenger.

On Tuesday evening, a commuter traveling on a train between Nagoya and Tokyo spotted a 40-centimeter snake on board, RTÉ reported.

While dogs, cats and even small animals like pigeons are allowed to accompany passengers, snakes aren't, and a spokesman for Central Japan Railway Company told AFP that it is not clear how the serpent found itself on the train.

"It's difficult to imagine wild snakes somehow climbing onto the train at one of the stations. We have rules against bringing snakes into the shinkansen," the spokesman said.

The train company eventually decided to use a different train for the rest of the journey, causing a rare 17-minute delay to the service.

Michigan man wins lottery in bizarre coincidence

A 26-year-old Genesee County man was inspired to buy a Michigan Lottery ticket after a character in a movie, who just so happened to be his look-alike, won a Lottery prize, and he ended up winning $500,000 playing the Lucky No. 13 instant game! ➡️ https://t.co/HYYG7hrQzM pic.twitter.com/w2tuDiXL6e

— Michigan Lottery (@MILottery) April 17, 2024

A man from Genesee County, Michigan was inspired to buy a scratchcard after seeing a look-alike actor win the lottery in a movie — and ending up winning $500,000.

According to Michigan Lottery Connect, the 26-year-old, who has opted to remain anonymous, bought a Lucky No. 13 scratch card after seeing an actor who strongly resembled him buy a winning lottery ticket in a film he was watching.

"I was watching a movie and the main character won big on a lottery ticket," he said. "The main character was my look-alike, so I took it as a sign to go buy a ticket."

"When I saw I'd won $500,000, I couldn't believe my eyes!"

The man told the Michigan Lottery website that he planned to put the winnings towards a vacation and caring for his kids.

British shepherdesses use Axe body spray to stop rams fighting

^{[Image credit: Livin4wheel]}

Shepherdesses around the UK are using deodorant to stop their riled-up rams from fighting with each other.

According to the Wall Street Journal, those who tend sheep have been using Lynx, the British name for popular US body spray Axe, to mask the hormones that cause their male sheep to be aggressive towards each other.

"I'm not the only nutter, lots of ladies have it in their tool kit," shepherdess Sam Bryce told the WSJ. "It's quite a well-known thing among the ladies — the shepherdesses — that Lynx works."

Taming testosterone-addled rams isn't the only use for Lynx, apparently. Another shepherdess, Caitlin Jenkins, said she uses the spray to trick ewes into adopting orphaned lambs.

"I always go for Lynx Africa because it has a very distinctive strong smell," she said. "The ones that don't smell as strong have less chance of working."

Not had your fill of weird news just yet? Check out last week's roundup.