It took three months for Maggie to get the hang of it, but now she can hold a paintbrush in her mouth and touch it to paper, creating abstract art.

Oh, Maggie is a sea lion at the Pittsburgh Zoo.

“It’s in a way enriching,” said trainer Kesha Phares. “Sea lions are very smart animals, and painting keeps their minds active.”

*

A South Carolina legislator wants some parents to be sterilized after a group of kids robbed a video store using BB guns that looked like real pistols.

A 14-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy were charged with armed robbery in Charleston, S.C. A 9-year-old was not charged because he was too young.

“We pick up stray animals and spay them,” said Councilman Larry Shirley. “These mothers need to be spayed if they can’t take care of their [children].”

*

A granny in India says she stays healthy by eating 2 1/4 pounds of sand a day.

Ram Rati, 80, of Lucknow considers sand an essential part of her diet and eats it before breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea.

*

A Toronto teacher who lived a frugal life left her $3.8 million fortune to an environmental charity.

Roberta Langtry, 89, who worked as an elementary-school teacher and speech therapist for 55 years, lived on the cheap but kept her wealth a secret until her death last year.

Her executor said friends and neighbors “had no idea she had two nickels to rub together.”

Langtry amassed her millions with shrewd investments.

*

A Brazilian student who admits to plotting a hit on his mom can’t be arrested yet – because of an election law.

Adriano Saddi Lima Oliveira, 23, of Sao Paulo, confessed to paying a hit man $18,433 to whack his mother, a real-estate magnate, because she was squandering his inheritance by going out with her boyfriend.

But Brazilian law says police can’t arrest anyone five days before and two days after an election, unless they are caught in the act of committing a crime.

Brazil held elections yesterday and Oliveira will be arrested this week – assuming he’s still around.