What a load of boules!

Little-known pastime: Naked petanque
David Harding|Metro13 April 2012

Interested in walking with woodlice, the rules of naked petanque or even monkey origami?

Probably not, if a list of the least requested topics on the Internet is to be believed.

The little-known hobbies appear among the 20 least popular searches from Microsoft's Net portal MSN.

While millions log on to learn the latest on Baghdad or Beckham, the survey found that walking with woodlice has notched up just one search - making it number one in the Top of the Flops chart.

A Web search for walking with woodlice takes surfers to a site of the same name, introducing them to the wonderful world of woodlice in which they are invited to discover the 'biodiversity on their doorstep'.

'Sausage calories' (No.2) also fails to inspire the nation while 'monkey origami' (No.3) takes surfers to a site in which a simian cartoon character tries to teach children this absorbing art.

Also struggling to generate interest are the Queen's Blue Peter badges (No.4) and black pudding throwing (No.5). It takes place annually at a pub near Ramsbottom, Yorkshire.

Also in the top 20 are 'static caravan club', 'washing crystal balls', 'toe wrestling' (yes, it really does exist) and tropical fish euthanasia.

And naked petanque? The rules of this minority sport, played with boules and apparently wildly popular with naturists, entered at No.8.

A few clicks on the Web takes surfers to a picture of naked Essex grandmother Jean Moss wielding a petanque boule. As the blurb states, the only thing the keen naturist wears on holiday is a smile.

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