Ross The Place to Be ... Massive Lines As Stores Reopen

Yes, Dress for Less -- but also ... dress comfortably for long wait times at Ross, 'cause that's what hundreds of people are experiencing across the country as the company starts to reopen its doors.

Check out all these crazy scenes from different Ross discount stores nationwide -- from Louisiana to Indiana and probably lots of other locations in between. There are MASSIVE lines out the door that wrap around the building ... and in some cases, out into the parking lot.

As one FB user noted, there doesn't appear to be a special promotional giveaway or anything that Ross has announced lately. Other than the fact that these go-to retail haunts are just now starting to let customers back in, not much else has changed. So, what gives?

Well for one ... apparently some Rosses are having major sales upon reopening, which would explain the crowds. They're already pretty cheap, and a sale is like giving stuff away. Two -- and probably more to why the lines are so long -- is that Ross has pretty strict restrictions in place for getting in ... including a limited head count, and roadblocks.

Word on the ground is that Ross has implemented plexiglass all throughout the inside, and a lot of their aisles are one-way too. Oh, and don't forget social distancing ... Ross wants people to adhere to that when they're roaming their racks. So, in short, it takes forever now.

Ross started opening their stores back up pretty recently, this after they reported their latest sales figures ... which were awful. Welp, they got business back and then some.

Two-Faced Kitten 'Biscuits & Gravy' Janus Cat Dies ... 4 Days After Birth

A two-faced kitten who was born in Oregon this past week has died just four days later ... despite a hard-fought battle to pull through.

The rare feline phenom -- which is often referred to as a Janus cat -- was part of a litter of six kittens that popped out in Albany on Wednesday, and the owner, Kyla King, noticed one of them had two mugs on one giant head. She named the kitty Biscuits and Gravy.

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Kyla and her family documented B&G's development over the next few days, showing off their attempts to feed the kitten -- which proved incredibly difficult, on account of it being able to feed itself out of both faces -- as well as it playing and napping with its siblings.

The owners say Biscuit (its short name) was actually able to eat pretty decently, but he simply wouldn't grow ... and had trouble carrying its head, which was too big for its body.

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In the end, the cat died of natural causes -- with Kyla writing ... "This photo was taken about an hour before Biscuits died. Kyla gave up 3 1/2 days of her life to put all of her efforts into saving him. He was born with the longest of odds and by living nearly 4 days, he beat those odds."

She added, "We thank all of you who have been so kind, prayed, and wished the best for Biscuits and Gravy. So many of you care and wanted to follow his progress, and said some very nice things to and about us. We will never forget your kindness!"

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It's not uncommon for Janus cats like these to have short lifespans -- they simply have too many internal complications for prolonged good health. One exception though ... 15-year-old Frank and Louie, AKA Frankenlouie. He toughed it out for a long time, and died in 2014.

RIP

FL Wildlife Park Gatlorland's New Mascot ... A Social Distancing Skunk Ape!!!

One Florida theme park has a fun way to make sure guests obey their new coronavirus rules -- an overly aggressive, but totally well-meaning furry mascot, which seems very effective.

The place is called Gatorland, and it's in Orlando -- not too far from Disney World, Universal Studios and all the other family-friendly facilities nearby. They just reopened Saturday, and they rolled out a new costumed character to enforce their safety guidelines.

Meet the Social Distancing Skunk Ape!!! The name is just as subtle as his intro video that the company posted, which goes into great demonstrative detail about what it's all about. Basically, he roams around and low-key hassles non-abiding guests ... gently, but firmly.

It's an interesting idea, and certainly brings some much-needed levity to the heaviness everyone's been feeling during all this. On Saturday, some ticket holders got to meet the Social Distancing Skunk Ape in person -- and he looked just as charming as he does on YT.

The question now ... is Disney and co. about to do something similar with their many mascots??? They definitely could make a few tweaks to reflect the times ... The 'Rona Humanoid Rat is one way to go. Don't Hug Me Damsel in Distress Princess is another.

In all seriousness though, we probably already have an idea of how Disney's going to handle their costumed workers. Shanghai Disney recently reopened, and they kept them all away from their guests on a far-away float.

Gatorland's a little more hands on, apparently. Different strokes 🤷🏽‍♂️

Memorial Day Gesture Woman Rents Giant Cherry Picker ... Sings to Seniors Fo' Free

A generous, talented lady out in Chicago reached new heights to live out her mission of lifting quarantined senior citizens' spirits with a song ... and used heavy machinery to do it.

The woman's name is Colette Hawley, and she goes around professionally singing to old folks who live in nursing homes, and who might be feeling extra isolated and lonely during the pandemic. BTW, she does all this for free -- and she's pretty darn good at it too.

For Memorial Day weekend, Colette decided to utilize a new way to entertain as many seniors as she could in one shot -- renting out a cherry picker to bring up several stories as she had a megaphone in hand to belt out some scat singing, and other tunes.

She writes on Twitter, "I rented a Cherry Picker to sing to seniors(close but not too close!)for Memorial Day. This is an unbelievably hard time for them. I love & value our seniors. NO ONE IS DISPENSABLE. Offering free shows to nursing homes. 💖 coco."

Watch -- it would appear her good deed was a hit with her target audience ... a bunch of nursing home residents came out and started dancing. Even from their wheelchairs!

Obviously, this reminds us of the grandmother balcony serenade from a few weeks back, which some other nursing home elders were happy to piggyback on themselves.

Welp, this happy time's for anyone and everyone, it seems. Good on her for doing it.

LAPD Horse Ditches Cop Rider ... Evades 'Arrest' on Venice Beach

An LAPD horse went from trusty steed to fugitive on the run on Venice Beach this weekend after it somehow lost its police officer rider ... then tried to make a clean getaway.

The wild scene went down Saturday, and it starts out with a cop who somehow came off the saddle and attempted to run down the free-spirited stallion in the sand -- to no avail. It looks like the horse might be freaked out by all the people who gathered around.

Yeah, that probably didn't help ... it quickly became a spectacle.

Eventually, the big fella found his fellow horse pal standing calmly nearby with its own rider mounted on top ... and he finally settled down enough for the frantic officer to catch up and rein him in, literally. The horse stopped putting up a fight and allowed itself to be led away.

What's crazy is that once the horse was away from the massive audience, it still was being a little stubborn and jittery. But, alas, the cowboy cop broke the bronco once more ... and got back on the horse.

No official word on if they rode off into the sunset together -- probably not, it was still around mid-afternoon here.

Adolf Hitler Rumored 'Pet Alligator' Dies at 84

An alligator rumored to have once belonged to Adolf Hitler has died at quite a remarkably old age.

The reptile -- who goes by Saturn -- recently passed away in the care of the Moscow Zoo, which he called home since the 1940s after he was discovered by British soldiers and gifted to the facility shortly thereafter ... once Germany suffered defeat in WWII, of course.

Saturn is actually said to have survived a bombing at the Berlin Zoo back in 1943 -- where he had been living after being shipped there from America in the mid-'30s -- and somehow lived among the ruins until he was found again in 1946. After that, Russia was his new home.

For some reason ... rumors swirled in Moscow that the alligator might've once been part of Hitler's personal collection of exotic animals. The Moscow Zoo says it became an urban legend but doesn't elaborate on why something like that might've even been thought.

Whatevs ... the scaly creature lived out the rest of its days in Moscow's care, and apparently -- he was a very good, but also cantankerous boy. Of the animal, the Zoo writes ... "He was fussy about food and loved being massaged with a brush. If he didn’t like something, he would gnaw on the concrete decorations." He had a diet of rabbits, rats and fish.

Now, the Zoo doesn't confirm whether the Hitler story is true or not -- the theory could never be proven -- but they do defend Saturn's rep by saying ... regardless of who he might've belonged to, an animal's an animal, and shouldn't be judged by any human action.

The alligator was 84.

RIP?

San Leandro Woman Posts Racist, Xenophobic Letter ... On Homes of POC

A Bay Area woman was allegedly going around and posting xenophobic letters on the homes of people of color, demanding they leave the U.S. ... and she was caught on camera doing the heinous deed.

Photos of the lady -- who has yet to be identified -- circulated Saturday ... with a couple pics of her pinning a hand-written note to the front of door of someone's home in San Leandro. Apparently, she was going around Friday doing this in a residential neighborhood.

A FB user claiming to have been a victim of the bigotry wrote, "This happened today, a white woman wearing a USA beanie targeted People of color homes with this letter at their front doors. This occurred in a quiet and well diverse middle-class community in San Leandro. My family’s house was also targeted. We were able to capture all this on camera."

She added, "There is no room for this hateful and despicable behavior in this society."

Now, the contents of the letter are disturbing. It starts out by quoting America's preamble, and then go on to demand that people who weren't born here return to their countries of origin -- and in some of the letters found around the area ... she gave 'em a deadline.

The worst part of the letter reads, "If you are a woman or man who was born in another country, return, go back to your land immediately. Fast, with urgency." Later it says, "We the People: Do ordain to you to leave this house. One American, white, brave, that serves the nation of USA is going to live here."

The good news here is that the former Mayor of San Leandro, Stephen Cassidy, said the woman was already picked up by cops, and that statement by the police department is forthcoming. He'd earlier said he would tell officials to charge her with a hate crime.

Story developing ...

Alyssa Milano Here's My Sure-Fire, Hand-Knit Mask ... It's Got a Filter Inside!!!

UPDATE

3:31 PM PT -- Turns out Alyssa DOES have something underneath to keep the 'rona out -- there's a filter inside ... which she just pointed out to her followers.

UPDATE
UPDATE

She tweeted out the update, saying ... "Mask has a filter in it for f**** sake. A carbon one. My mom makes them. 🙄 #WearAMask."

UPDATE

Glad she cleared that up, 'cause for a minute there ...

Alyssa Milano's new face mask is getting the double-take treatment -- 'cause it's got tons of holes in it ... and it's unclear if she's aware of its ineffectiveness.

The actress posted a photo Saturday of her in the car with her fam, including hubby Dave Bugliari and their two kids, Elizabella and Milo. Everyone had masks on -- including Alyssa -- but hers was about as penetrable as a fishnet ... looks like a homemade crochet job.

She definitely had the covering in mind when throwing this up, saying ... "Show me your masks! Masks keep people safe and healthy. Show me yours! Ready? Go! #WearAMask"

Now, it's unclear if Alyssa's in on the absurdity of this, or if she's got some type of protection under there we can't see -- but the internet didn't wait for a punchline or more context ... people had a field day with her hand-knit mask promo, showing off other joke-y ones that might be just as great at keeping out droplets of 'rona (why we wear 'em to begin with).

One lady showed off a feather mask, which only covered the upper part of her face ... and said they're one in the same. Tons of other people had examples of non-protective masks of their own ... snorkeling goggles, pantyhose, mesh beekeeping veils ... and on and on.

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Of course, it also reminded people of this gas station lady that went viral a few weeks back ... who cut a hole in her own mask so she could breathe easier. Just one of many mask fails documented during the pandemic.

Both that woman and Alyssa might be better off going out with a classic hands-to-face shocked look 🙊. Stay safe out there, y'all.

Originally Published -- 3:19 PM PT

Ex-North Carolina Representative Damn You, Pottery Barn ... F*** Appointments, Let Me In!!!

A former North Carolina state politician is balling up his digital fists at one ABSOLUTELY essential store refusing to let just anyone through their doors ... yep, it's Pottery Barn.

The guy's name is Scott Stone, and he served in North Carolina's House of Representatives a few years back -- now, he's an angry old man yelling at his local in-mall PB for standing firm on their by-appointment-only policy, which is super inconvenient to him.

Rep. Stone writes, "Dear @potterybarn (and other retailers) : I am NOT shopping by appointment. You're allowed to be open, so be open." He had another must-hear gripe ... "And why close at 5 when mall is open until 7? Do you actually want to sell anything?"

Pottery Barn's sign here reads, "We're Open 11-5 by Appointment Only! Call 704-442-9493 to schedule! Important Note: We Will Begin Taking Returns on 5/25. We Can't Wait to See You!!" They're in Charlotte's SouthPark mall, which reopened its doors a couple weeks ago.

We tried calling them up for comment ... but the staff there didn't wanna talk. At any rate, Rep. Stone had some follow-up thoughts on the mockery he's receiving, saying ... "Love how lefties are so worked up about my last tweet which highlights the frustrations so many have about how slow NC economy is reopening - slower than most states. Maybe they believe govt should continue to write checks forever and keep the entire economy closed?"

The big question we have over all this ... what did the guy so desperately need at Pottery Barn???

'Guardian' Dog Stands By & Protects Sister Pup's Body ... On Side of the Road

A loyal dog was found standing guard over another fellow pup's dead body after it was apparently hit by a car and left on the side of a road in Texas.

The Catahoula mix was found by Kingsville-Kleberg Health Department Animal Control & Care Center officials, who responded to a call Friday for a dog carcass that'd been left along what looks to be a stretch of a highway. They came upon this little guy, whom they named Guardian, as he was standing beside the deceased dog, seemingly protecting it.

The Animal Control workers took photos of Guardian as they tried approaching, and it appears he was dead set on not letting anyone near -- at least not at first.

The agency says, "This was the scene our Animal Control Officers drove up to. This boy wasn't going to let anyone mess with his sister. Our ACOs had a hard time convincing him everything was going to be alright and they were there to help him." They added, "This call was one of the most heart wrenching for our staff, but we thought we'd share some behind-the-scene images of situations they are faced with on a regular basis."

Eventually, Guardian came around and let the humans take care of him and his apparent sibling. He's now hanging out at the Animal Control facility there, and is set to be put up for adoption if no one claims him by next week. He's a youngster too -- just 6-12 months old.

It seems someone might've already seen this story and shown interest in taking Guardian home -- 'cause later ... Kingsville honchos said they'd already scheduled an adoption -- assuming a rightful owner doesn't come forward before Friday. The dog is currently listed as a stray -- but he's certainly being taken care of now, and seems to be happy at the moment.

Pretty sad that one dog died here, but it's incredible to see how another one responded to its passing. Just goes to show ... these animals have extraordinary capacity for emotion.

Nature Gone Wild Our Benz Got Bear-Jacked!!!

An industrious bear is drawn to the finer things in life ... and if you don't believe it, watch the video of the majestic animal deftly finding a way into a fancy Mercedes.

The video is hysterical. It appears the people narrating were occupants of the car, until they went for a hike and noticed the very large brown bear rooting around for food.

@madlyexplore

The audacity... ever seen a bear try to steal a car? 😳 ##bear ##nature ##tiktok ##fyp ##foryou ##foryoupage ##viral ##trending ##gay ##ileftchickfilainthecar

♬ original sound - madlyexplore

The bear then spots the Mercedes and beelines it for the whip. Check out how he/she opens the door. This isn't his/her first rodeo ... or bear-jacking.

Then the question ... how do you scare a bear away? Experts are divided, although the prevailing view is quietly stay clear.

These folks were anything but quiet, and guess what ... it worked!!!

Fear not, brown bear ... there's a Honda in your future.

Conor McGregor Chased by Gators, Attacks Fans ... In Dana White Spoof Vid!!!

Conor McGregor was chased by alligators, before he went on the attack against a runner, people in a crowd and then, of all people, Dana White -- but obviously, there's a catch.

The UFC honcho posted the parody, and it's hilarious!!! Conor glides across a river as a gator gives chase, but the UFC star is unfazed.

Cut to Conor going on a tear ... attacking runners, spectators and even a bullfighter, before turning on Dana himself and opening a can of whup-ass.

It's a little life imitating art ... what with Conor's past hijinks where he threw dollies into tour buses, smashed cell phones and even punched an old guy who didn't want to drink his whiskey.

Conor's rehabbing his image of late ... showing a softer, more charitable side, which is probably why Dana dropped the vid.

Boater Rescue A Cooler Saved Our Lives!!!

Two men may have some ice-cold drinks to thank for their survival, because they were rescued in the deep blue ocean after clinging to a styrofoam cooler.

It went down in the Gulf of Mexico. Adam Vetter says he was heading to shore in his boat at around 6:30 PM when he spotted 2 men in the ocean, clinging to the cooler. They were spotted 12 miles offshore from Hudson Beach, Florida.

Adam spotted a sinking boat, and then -- in the distance -- spotted the 2 men in the water, clinging for life and waving their hands wildly in the air.

The 2 men say they were holding on for dear life for nearly 4 hours. Adam and his crew pulled the 2 men up on their boat to safety.

This could have gone much worse. Adam and crew didn't spot the boat when it was in front of them ... they were 1 1/2 to 2 miles away from the sinking boat and the 2 men, but someone saw something and the 2 men are alive as a result. The fact the cooler was white helped, because it stood out in the water.

Good job.

Carole & Howard Baskin Signed Trading Cards Sell Out ... In 24 Minutes!!!

Carole Baskin sees Joe Exotic's sold-out fashion line, and raises him a sold-out trading card collection!!!

The 'Tiger King' star and her loyal, and very much alive husband, Howard, autographed 400 official Leaf collectible trading cards plastered with their smiling mugs. That's all it took for a bunch of cool cats and kittens to clean out the entire collection in a matter of minutes!

The autographed trading cards, which feature CB and HB rocking matching big cat costumes, went up for sale this week at $99 a pop ... and they disappeared faster than Carole's previous hubby, Don. We're talking just 24 minutes.

It's a pretty impressive debut for Carole and Howard ... the trading cards were the Baskins' first ever signed collectibles.

If you missed out on the signed cards, there is a small consolation prize available.

As we first reported ... the Baskins partnered with Leaf for some good, old-fashioned trading cards, and the non-autographed versions are still selling for $8 each or $200 for a pack of 50.

Carole's nemesis, Joe Exotic, saw his fashion line sell out within hours, but the Baskins have him beat ... for now. Joe's always got something cooking.

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