Just hanging around ... on meat hooks

Police in the Florida Keys are mystified by a bizarre new pastime — young people dangling themselves from meat hooks on a popular sandbar.

The Key West Citizen newspaper reported on Sunday that the Monroe County sheriff’s office and U.S. Coast Guard were called on July 12 to the sandbar off Whale Harbor in Islamorada where locals say wild behavior is becoming a tradition.

They found that five young people had erected a bamboo tripod and hung meat hooks from it. A young woman, her feet brushing the surface of the shallow water, dangled from the frame, hooks embedded firmly in her shoulders.

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According to a Coast Guard video, she did not seem to mind the hooks.

Lt. Tom Brazil of the Coast Guard said a young man, who also had hooks embedded in his heavily pierced and tattooed skin, told him the group was “just enjoying the afternoon.”

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There were no laws against sticking meat hooks into yourself and hanging from a tripod on a sandbar, Brazil added, according to the newspaper.

The Coast Guard passed the video on to federal justice authorities to decide if action ought to be taken.

A Coast Guard spokeswoman confirmed the report but could provide no further details. No one was available for comment at the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.