Lickstown, USA, Population 1 Dog, 2 Cats

Via Jezebel:

An adorable video with an even cuter backstory: The puppy, Lucky, was adopted at three weeks old from a woman using him in a scam and the owner's two cats raised him as if he were their kitten.

My favorite part is when the guy in the accompanying song is talking about how he's been "hittin' the beer" and the dog is looking lovingly at the camera.

This Little Piggie Did a Nice Thing

Oh, you guys. This tale of pig friendship had me tearing up at my desk. NERD ALERT!

11-year-old pig Angie was living out her golden years on Farm Sanctuary in upstate New York. She was very social but after her pig buddies died off she withdrew, stopped eating and even stopped walking around in the pasture! Poor little gal. Oh, and she had arthritis, too. Crying yet?

The nice people at Farm Sanctuary tried introducing her to other pigs but she never took to any of them until Fiona came along. Fiona was a Babe-esque piglet full of gumption and stick-to-it-iveness, and Angie accepted her right away. And they became BFFs!

For almost a year Angie ran around with Fiona like a much younger pig, rolling around in the mud and just generally having buddy times (as evidenced below).



Angie eventually died, but in her final days Fiona stuck right by her, sleeping right up against her. (I love it when animals do that! It is their best behavior.)

Sad story! :( But also happy. Sniiiiiff.

Noah's Ark de Triomphe

Noah's Ark Animal Sanctuary in Georgia (deservedly) got a lot of attention last week because it has a lion, tiger, and bear living in a club house.



But what should have gotten way more attention was their AWESOME Flickr page. Oh my word.

The pics are great but the best parts are the photo titles. Screen grabs!:










Yeah, sippin' a CUP O' NOODLE! That can't be good for a mini-horse.

Groomsmen

So sweet!

Via Cute Overload.

BFFs: Barnyard Friends Forever

William the piglet and Charles the rabbit are buddies. They live at Pennywell Farm in Buckfastleigh, Devon, in the UK. (Doesn't that sort of look like "Breakfastleigh"? Such a place should exist.)



William was moved to a pen near the rabbit hutch and started following Charles around. Chris Murray, the pair's owner, says, "William is far keener on the friendship than Charles, but Charles is tolerant, even when his food gets taken."



Charles is really looking tee'd off in these photos, but in a bemused sort of way. These two are like a gruff, secretly-kindhearted old man and an energetic young upstart. Oh my god, they're like Babe and Farmer Hogget, if Farmer Hogget were a rabbit!

Cat Licking a Fox with HUGE Ears

Oh man, check out this fox.



He's a Fennec Fox, "a small nocturnal fox found in the Sahara Desert of North Africa which has distinctive very large ears."

Apparently they're legal to own in the US, but some vets won't treat them because they're considered "exotic."

Can your freak-ears hear me calling you, fox? Come here and be my buddy! Sigh.

Friday Foxes

Some fox vids.

Foxes Jumping on Trampoline


Courtesy Samron.

Guy Lives With a Fox



Courtesy UZOOUK. They have some great vids.

UPDATE: Fred has requested a drawing of the fox. I might draw both (trampoline foxes and pet fox). I'll post em later.

French Bulldog Babysits Baby Orangutan

I love you, internets. This was one of the first things that came up when I searched "orangutan" in Google Video.

Cat Adopts Puppies

From the Sun in- where else?- the UK.

Smaigal the cat and her newly adopted puppies

The orphaned pups were taken in by Smaigal's owner Mohammed Al-Hamoury after their mother was killed by a car. And the motherly cat was more than happy to add the cute pups to her litter.

Unrelated: Is it just me, or does "Smaigal" make you think of SMEEEEEGOL!?

A Love That Cannot Be Named

The love between a rat and a cat.



Peanut (rat) and Ranj (cat) are totes inter-species BFFs. At 1:03 in, Ranj gives the camera a look of true, unbridled snuggle ecstasy.

Adorable!

When Other Friendships Have Been Forgot, Theirs Will Still Be Hot

Tarra (the elephant) and Bella (the stray dog) met on an elephant preserve in Tennessee and became total BFFs. This is probably the biggest size difference between animal friends I've ever seen! Which makes it that much sweeter, obvs. It's like a teacup and Marmaduke became friends!

They run around together, snuggle with each other, and Tarra even gives Bella belly rubs with her giant hoof! Cuties!



And once, when Bella was sick and visiting the vet, Tarra stood watch outside the building waiting for her buddy... for three weeks! Sniiiiff. (Don't worry, Bella got better.)

Anyway, this vid is awesome. You might have to watch a crummy commercial beforehand but hang in there. Totes worth it.

Animal-archy in the U.K.

Oh British media, always with the delightful animal stories. What's that all about, anyway? The Telegraph is always on top of the latest animal friends. Like this owl and basset hound:



They always describe these creatures in the most charming way. For instance:

"Beryl the Basset Hound, who is a grand old dame at 16 years old, and four-year-old tawny owl Wol struck up a friendship when their owner realised they both loved watching television in the evenings."

This seems like an apropos time to introduce my newest theorem, which I have deemed "Gretchen's Theory of Across-The-Pond Cuteness". Inter-species animal friends + British colloquialisms ("grand old dame??") = Near-Unbearable Snuggle Feelings Inside One's Heart.

Even stories just about one animal (sans animal friends) tend to be more interesting than the ones we have here in the U.S. Lest you forget, this is the country that brought us Fat Boy, the drunk pony who fell into a swimming pool.



In a similar vein, how often do you see a headline like "Escaped Horse Bursts into Cinema" in your local American rag?

And look at how the Telegraph describes the incident:

"The horse was one of three which escaped from a farm and ran through the automatic doors at the Cineworld complex in Boldon, South Tyneside.

The incident was caught on CCTV and was put on the YouTube website [emphasis mine], but it has since been removed."

Oh, and the section of the Telegraph's site that houses many of these articles is called "How About That?"

I wonder if they even realize how adorable they're being. Sigh.

Turkey Frank

I just happened across a great, albeit tragic, story on CNN's iReport page about a turkey named Frank who thought he was a duck. It's written by Frank's former owner, Jack Scheper, who has a pretty good sense of humor.

Frank was always running into the lake and he couldn't swim, and Jack felt he should be away from water, with other turkeys. So Jack gave Frank back to the lady who ran the feed store. But guess what? The feed store lady ATE HIM!

Here are the best parts of Jack's recounting. His writing has such a great cranky old man tone.:

Frank truly believed himself to be a duck. For some reason I found this annoying. But tolerance is a virtue, so if he wanted to be a duck that was his business.

. . .

Suddenly the ducks spotted me and excitedly swam in my direction hoping for the usual cracked corn handout. Desperately afraid he'd miss his share of the snack, Frank frantically splashed toward me too. Thrashing, wheezing, gasping,with eyes bugging and tongue hanging from his beak I could tell this turkey was in trouble. I came to the rescue by shoving a leaf rake under his fat butt and maneuvered him to shore. His eyes were crossed and he was hyperventilating but he managed to cough in appreciation. It was heartbreaking and pathetic.

. . .

When I came across these old pictures of Turkey Frank I felt nostalgic so I decided to share his story and the lesson he taught me. I have yet to figure out exactly what I learned but maybe it is this: No matter how much you think you're a duck, people will still eat you on Thanksgiving if you're actually a turkey.

. . .

Every Thanksgiving, because of Frank, I give thanks for who (and what) I am and for all that I have. I also want to say Rest in peace Turkey Frank, I'm sorry they ate you.

R.I.P., T.F.

That'll do, Pig. That'll do.

Hey guys, remember how good Babe was? What a movie.

I was reminded of it last night when I was trying to think of something heartwarming and holiday-y to rent for Thanksgiving. That plucky little guy just wanted to herd sheep! So he wouldn't get butchered! Cute lil thing.

Just now, I started watching this clip of Farmer Hogget singing "If I Had Words" to Babe when he's sick and (NERD ALERT) I had to stop watching it because I was crying so much! Gotta keep it together.

The comments on this clip on YouTube are so good. A sampling:

Dallouez

People forgot this great part and children who would never know what a cool movie this is. We need more movies like this after all how many times can Jet Li save the day or get killed.

Reply: ESMR

not as many as Babe

letschill99

me jo dillon and lucy harries acted this out in our p.e changing rooms at lunch today!

QueenAreTheBest

Luv this track my favourite part of the film. It was on telly today lol so many memories

So many memories, indeed. Can't wait to watch it this weekend! I forgot it was nominated for Best Picture back in '95. Well deserved!

Also, if you've never seen the sequel, Babe: Pig in the City, you should totally get on that. It is INSANE. It's so inappropriate for children. It was written and directed by the guy who directed Mad Max. It takes place in a dystopian urban setting and it's visually stunning.

It also made me cry more than I've cried at any movie (even more than White Squall or The Man Without a Face, which for some reason really struck a chord with my loser 10-year-old self). I know how pathetic that sounds, but here are two things that happen in the movie:

1) a dog almost hangs himself (by accident)!
2) a Jack Russell terrier named Flealick who ALREADY CAN'T USE HIS BACK LEGS and has a TINY WHEELCHAIR gets dragged down the street by an 18-wheeler. It is so upsetting. I had to turn it off and compose myself. (It's on YouTube if you must see it but it's very upsetting.)

Anyway, you should totally rent that too. Mickey Rooney is CRAZY in it. And there are some really good orangutans.



Happy Thanksgiving all!

Panda ATTACK!

"Panda Attacks Man Who Wanted a Cuddle"? Ugh, best headline ever.

I love this quote:

"Yangyang was so cute and I just wanted to cuddle him," Liu was quoted as saying from his hospital bed. "I didn't expect he would attack."

I totally sympathize with this kid. I mean, obvs jumping into a panda enclave at a zoo is all kinds of stupid. But they look so SOFT!

Dead Duck

Oh dear. Normally great animal friends stories don't come with video, so this one really takes the cake.

This vid tells the tale of a beagle puppy named Toby and an old duck named Sheila who meet on a farm and become buddies.

Sheila dies of old age, and the MacKenzie family, who own the farm, have her stuffed. You know, as you do.

This video shows the moment when Toby sees the taxidermed Sheila for the first time. So cute! So sad! So gross, frankly. But sweet!

Welcome to the Snuggle Factory!

Hi all!

I'm not sure what this blog will be just yet. Right now it's a half-baked idea that will definitely evolve (into who-knows-what!), but I hope you'll join me on this little adventure!

As I started shopping for holiday gifts, I started to get so excited about some of the items I was seeing that I felt like I had to share them. So, come back for news on my favorite shops and sales in the NYC area and online, and gift ideas.

I'll probably also talk about foodstuffs I want to snuggle. Lord knows I want to curl up with some bacon right now.

Also, speaking of snuggles, I love it when animals are friends. Especially different species that shouldn't be friends! So I will probably post some of those kinds of things as well.

Cheers (and snuggs),
Gretchen