Beautiful Animals

That's more like a sand fifty dollar bill!




http://www.csmonitor.com/CSM-Photo-Galleries/Photos-of-the-Day/2010/Photos-of-the-Day-01-22/(photo)/3

Love that dik-dik, tsar. Love it. Thanks, kid.

De rien!

The very endangered pygmy hippo--mother and baby. BTW, there was a pygmy hippo at the Bronx Zoo named Morton. He and I were pals--sorta.

from a thread i started a few days ago

Cat-crazy crib

Recently, in my late-night perusals of the "Interwebs," I stumbled upon the cat's meow of all homes: The Cats' House, designed by Japanese architecture firm Fauna + Design, was built for the enthusiastic owners of 16 cats. It is truly a feline family's fantasy, showcasing every climbing, playing and perching structure imaginable, beautifully and artistically integrated into a super modern interior. The layout is open and airy and each room is awash in natural light.

Notice the amazing attention to detail, including rounded corners on the climbing shelves:




Circular cutouts and stairs double as play areas for cats and a means for people to access upper perching areas for easy cleaning:




Endless shelves and catwalks give way to secret tunnels and passageways:




And check out this floor-to-ceiling sisal-wrapped scratching post:



View additional photos and videos at CatsHouse.jp. http://www.catshouse.jp/

from twitter, some animal videos

a bengal cat and her kittens



scampi likes to drink from the shower head



suki and puppy hope playing

dj, You've outdone yourself today. Love the cat architecture. I once bought (back in the days when I had a little money) a feline apartment building. Three levels with an "apartment" on the top floor. How did it go over? My late lamented cat Mikey didn't fit on any of the levels or in the apartment. (He was a big guy.) So much for good intentions.

The videos are charming. I would have loved to see more of the newborn kittens.

I once had a black cocker spaniel puppy. Major looked a lot like this:

I smiled at Latin George when he did a funny about this sea creature.



"when you step on an eel and it bites at your heel
That's a moray."

Oy Letty?!

Bacteria aren't technically animals, I suppose. But I enjoy the way they can look like abstract art under an electron microscope. (Especially when someone adds some false colors to them.) Here are three examples:

Meningitis-causing bacteria. These suckers almost killed my sister A. when she was little. On the other hand, aren't they pretty?


Next, Clostridium difficile bacteria -- a hospital-acquired infection causing diarrhea.


Chlamydia bacteria just give you a cold. Funky colors, though!

mmm, Neisseria meningitidis attacking the cells? Nice photo, whatever they are. Haven't looked at slides since 1980 - I miss it.. somewhat.

I'm throwing in another, "Oy, Lettie." Good pic of the eel, though. Thanks.

Thomas. Fascinating and beautiful stuff. I tried finding some microscopic fauna a few times. I don't think I was very successful. Thanks, kid, for expanding the collection here to include what we can't see but know is there.

Now there's an awwwwww.

Italian horses



That was Latin George's way of doing a pun on Dean Martin's song "That's Amore."

Never saw a black cocker spaniel, Roberta, but I have heard crickets guard against intruders in a cricket box, Tsar.

Thomas, odd that something so deadly can be so lovely.

Roberta, the black cocker spaniel reminds me of Parker, so named because he was found by my business partner in a grocery store parking lot surrounded by honking cars with no idea what direction to go in. She scooped him up, of course. Told the people in the store. Put signs all over the neighborhood, called the "pounds" in case they got calls, probably put it in the newspaper classified section, cut his long hair that made his paws like footballs, gave him a bath. Took him to the vet. (No calls re all that searching.) Turned out he was very deaf, no doubt from ear infections, and not well looked after.

So, he imprinted on BPartner. He was a dear, just a dear. Too bad I stepped on him so often. Or did I? (he squealed at the merest footfall). When she would go on an errand, he'd settle by the door she left by.. Well, he had a happy end of life. We did wonder about the owner and the story, probably sad.

Our studio could be a zoo much of the time, with Pacco, plus the dobie, Parker, and the two turtles, and music on....

Letty, I couldn't see the horses until I clicked on the blue box with an X (that's what Imacs have instead of a red box).
Found the link -
http://image46.webshots.com/47/2/59/75/393525975hbIOiP_ph.jpg, which people can copy to put in the URL space... I think.

Blue-winged kookaburra:

In honor of Australia Day, I posted the kookaburra yesterday and this today:

One more:

Thanks, Francis, for the epitome of cute from down under.



And I once had a white spitz named Mitzi: