For starters, there’s the guy who’s a professional “lab rat.”

Cnn.com set out to find strange ways people are making money after getting laid off. Here’s a sample of some of the more far-out:

Lab rat
When 30-year-old Paul Clough found himself out of work and out of money, he decided to get into basic medical research — really basic medical research.  Clough is a professional laboratory rat.

He says he got the idea from a homeless man who mentioned applying to be a subject for occasional clinical trials. Clough took that to another level by taking part in several such trials this year alone. He estimates he’s given blood about 500 times and taken at least a dozen experimental medications.

His salary: $28,000 this year.

Clough says he sees a different type of “co-worker” these days than he did when he first got into the lab-rat business. Used to be that most of his lab-rat colleagues were students. Now, they come from all professions, especially realtors, Clough notes.

By the way, if you’re interested in joining the profession, Clough has set up a how-to Web site — JustAnotherLabRat.

Golden locks
This isn’t for everybody. To start with, you have to have hair. Desiré Henriksen does — or did — lots of it.

And when the 27-year-old mother of two lost her job, she decided that she had a choice: keep the hair or make the rent. The hair went. Henriksen sold it to an Internet hair trader (and therein is another story about weird ways to make a living) who supplies wig-makers.

Henriksen’s take: $1,200 for 27 inches of her hair. That’s a bit more than the average price — $300 to $900.

Considering a clipping-for-cash? A couple of tips:

• The longer, the better. Traders tend to pay more for lengthy locks.
• Go natural. Treated hair gets discounted. Traders want the product to be as natural as possible.

Tags: HR, Money, work