Put on a Happy Face

This Japanese dog smiles. Like, LEGIT smiles.



So good.

Domin-OMG

I present to you a Japanese game show in which people coax different animals (including an anteater, who are my FAVES!) through a walkway surrounded on both sides by precarious dominoes. SUSPENSEFUL and exciting. But not really fair to the tortoise, since he's so big. They should have given him more room to maneuver.

Best parts:
- When they lift up the wall to reveal the animal.
- The armadillo's freaky right claw/foot/toe/whatever.
- The armadillo replay.
- Lullaby music and snoozy speech bubble for the anteater.

SEAL of Approval

This is just super cute. It's from a circus in Monte-Carlo. I'm a little worried that the seal is just out and about and doesn't appear to have water nearby, but hopefully he's OK. He sure is cute, I'll tell you that much. He's trying so hard, and he's got a mustache!

Beluga Tricks

Via Jezebel:

"Belugas or white whale pose with oranges on their heads to display like a rice cake offering at the New Year's day in Japan as part of a preparation to welcome the New Year at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium in Yokohama in Kanagawa prefecture, suburban Tokyo on December 30, 2009. Sea animals are now trained for the attraction for the upcoming New Year. YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images"

The guy on the right's not doing so hot. Don't worry buddy! Practice makes perfect!

CocoWHAT!?

This octopus carried around a coconut and made a little shelter from it, and everyone is freaking out because it's the first incidence of an octopus using tools.



I'm freaking out because it's ADORABLE. The best part is when he carries the coconut underneath him but his tentacles are still scurrying, like "dee-dee-dee-dee-dee" (twinkly music).

Red Pandas Can Stand Up

I did not know these dudes could stand up. SO CUTE!

New Yorkers, you can see a red panda IN PERSON at the Central Park Zoo. After going a few times and never seeing one, I was pretty discouraged. But the last time I went one was just hangin' in a tree eating some leaves and it was SO CLOSE! It ruled.

The zoo peeps will be giving the pandas "bamboo goodies" every Saturday and Sunday in December at 1:30 pm. Other animals get presents too. So awes. Second only to when animals get pumpkins at Halloween. That is my fave.

Thanks to Brad for the tip!

Only the Best for Griswold

Griswold the Great Dane only likes the freshest sips. My cat Ruby is the same way, with the sink! Such discerning palates.



Bonus video: "Great Danes Standing Tall," a photo montage of exactly that. With a Kenny G soundtrack.



Thanks Francesca for the tip!

Seagull Thief

This seagull really loves Doritos. Understandably!



I love how he looks when he walks out of the store with the bag in his mouth. Making a getaway!

Bunny Walkin'

This bunny does in fact walk like a person.



Thanks to Anna for the tip!

Hop to It!

Apparently there is such a thing as rabbit agility competitions. You know, like dog or horse agility. But for rabbits.

15 year old UK twins Mathew and Thomas Haslam have been training over 20 rabbits to show jump in their back garden in preparation for something called the "Ultimate Pet Show". (I'm going to investigate this thing. It's got to be full of awesome competitions that we can't even imagine. Cat pommel horse!? Hamster synchronized swimming?!)



Both twins have Asperger's Syndrome and training the bunnies (sometimes for 7 hours a day! What!?) has helped them with their condition. Kudos to Bubbles, Lilac, Cuddles, Apple, Muffin, Beefy and the rest of the warren!

Tresses for Nest-es

Let's hop across the pond and take another delightful visit to the Telegraph's hilariously named "How About That?" section.

The headline states:

THREE BIRDS HAVE MADE NESTS OF BRIAN WILLIAMS' HAIR

No, not THAT Brian Williams (unfortunately). THIS Brian Williams!:



This Brian Williams is a retired teacher whose wife often cuts his hair and then tosses it out into their yard (a little odd, yes, but stay with me).

Well, the curls have been put to use by a goldfinch, a greenfinch and a robin, who have used them to fortify their nests!

Mr. Williams says, "I am going a bit thin on top but there's still some left to help them out." Cute. Just adorable.

The Daily Mail has some more pics too, including one of the actual nests. Don't freak out. It's a little weird.

Monkey on a Goat on a Cup on a Tightrope

Before you get all sassy and ask "What cup?" just HOLD YOUR HORSES and wait. The goat turns around.



More like Monkey Doing a HANDSTAND on a Goat on a Cup on a Tightrope!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dogggggs Are the BEEEEST

You guys, dogs are so good! Ugh. This video has been making the rounds lately. It's some surveillance footage of a highway in South America. One dog gets hit by a car, and another (hobo) dog risks his life to run out onto the highway and drag the injured dog to safety.

This totes made me cry! I am a nerd.

Puppies Are Warm

And these puppies saved a kid who wandered off from his babysitter into the woods!

The family dogs slept up against 3-year-old Jaylynn and kept him from freezing to death in 17 degree temps! Yeeow!

Billie Joe Roach, another member of the search party that found the boy, said the puppies refused to leave his side.

As the child was placed in an ambulance to be taken to a local hospital for examination, "The puppies were watching where he went.

"Where he went, they went," Roach said.

CUTIES! As someone who often has two cats sleeping ON her, I can confirm: pets are warm. Sometimes I move one of the kits on top of my feet if they're particularly cold. Is that bad?

Remember that walrus????

Oh man. I can't stop thinking about her. HILARIOUS.

That's all.

Bored Octopus

Poor Otto. He's just a bored lil guy since the aquarium where he lives is closed for the winter.

Here's some stuff he's been doing to keep himself busy:
- Juggling hermit crabs
- Throwing rocks against the tank walls
- "Rearranging" his tank (not sure what this means but it's probably awesome)

But then he did something dangerous:

"At two feet, seven inches Otto had discovered he was big enough to swing onto the edge of his tank and shoot out the 2000 Watt spot light above him with a carefully directed jet of water."

"It was a serious matter because it shorted the electricity supply to the whole aquarium that threatened the lives of the other animals when water pumps ceased to work.


Oh, Otto. Anyway, the aquarium folks moved the light so he can't do his little trick anymore. And they gave him some toys.

Correction: It's a lady walrus.

Apparently her name is Sara and she can also dance the tango.



Apologies for misidentifying your gender, Sara!

(Nobody tell her she has a mustache.)

This Walrus Can Play the Saxophone

As my friend Anna said upon showing this to me, "He really gets into it!"

You know who else gets into it? His trainer. Who is also awesome.

My favorite part is at the very end, around 1:00, when he's done playing the sax and puts his fins down and his shoulders make a "hrumph"/shrug/"Yeah, I just played the saxophone. No big deal." gesture.

Again, this is an animal I would really like to hug. So fat and squishy!!!