You know those machines filled with stuffed animals where you dump quarters in and fish around with a claw that has serious grip problems? While you may not be able to catch an animal to save your life, I think we now know how the machines replenish their supply of prizes. Apparently they lure passing toys into a chute at the bottom. The chute has a trapdoor that only swings one way. And every once in a while, they catch a child, too. Like this two-year-old who climbed inside and then waved to her distraught grandmother. (Thanks to daddytypes for alerting us.)

So since this has happened more than once, how come people don't get rid of the machines? Probably because those things are cash cows. I think someone actually wins a toy with about as often as Haley's comet comes around. Plus it gives the firefighters one more thing to practice in their training: child machine extraction. Fortunately the kid in this case was okay. But I ask you, who is gonna save those stuffed animals?