Beautiful Animals

@cicerone imposter,

cicerone imposter wrote:

Looks like an airplane.

Maybe it's the other way around, c.i. A plane looks like a bird. BTW, good to see you here again.

Banded mongoose and babies:

http://imagecache6.allposters.com/LRG/21/2143/XVQED00Z.jpg

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@Roberta,

You know what they say... a family that stacks up upon each other... well I can't remember the rest of the saying.

Cute family though the poor mother looks exhausted and that she wishes she get them off of her back.

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@Arella Mae,

Arella Mae wrote:

Cycloptichorn wrote:

I don't know what kind of bird this is.

Cycloptichorn

What an unusual picture. Amazing.

I just realized why I am so fascinated by this picture. This little guy kind of looks like an Osprey (not the bird, the aircraft) in flight.

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@Roberta,

Roberta wrote:

Phenomenal puffin pic, cyclo. Thanks. Throwing in a wow. Wow.

The fastest flying bird in the world--the spine-tailed swift. (The peregrine falcon is faster in a swoop, but not in actual flight.)

That is one looooooooooooong wingspan. There are so many beautiful birds. I am not a real bird fan but some are soooo breathtakingly beautiful.

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@tsarstepan,

tsarstepan wrote:

Cute family though the poor mother looks exhausted and that she wishes she get them off of her back.

They teach "looking exhausted" at mother school, which is not restricted to humans.

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@Roberta,

Roberta wrote:

cicerone imposter wrote:

Looks like an airplane.

Maybe it's the other way around, c.i. A plane looks like a bird. BTW, good to see you here again.

Banded mongoose and babies:

Those are so cute! Isn't the mongoose the one that can kill a cobra? If I remember correctly they are immune to cobra venom? They do not look anywhere near vicious enough to even think about attacking a snake.

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Baby otters!

http://www.zooborns.com/.a/6a010535647bf3970b013486952cb7970c-800wi

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Arella Mae, Mongooses are able to succeed in battles with venomous snakes because they are very quick (snakes aren't) and because they have thick coats which offer them protection against bites. No immunity.

http://img2.photographersdirect.com/img/91/wm/pd178438.jpg

littlek, I'm forced to provide the following for you otter baby pic:

CUTENESS ALERT! VIEWER BEWARE!

Omigod. Dem babies are illegally cute. Thanks, kid.

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@Roberta,

Thank you Miss Roberta. It's hard to imagine something that fast! Wow!

Illegally cute is right. What precious babies those otters are.

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@Roberta,

Roberta wrote:

Arella Mae, Mongooses are able to succeed in battles with venomous snakes because they are very quick (snakes aren't) and because they have thick coats which offer them protection against bites. No immunity.

Mongooses also survive by exploiting a mannerism in the way Cobra's strike. Cobra's can only strike by "standing" tall and then falling forward. They can not coil and strike out laterally. This is very different from the way a rattlesnake strikes, and if you put a Mongoose against a rattlesnake, the mongoose will lose immediately, every time. Cobra's also have very small fangs and need to get a good grip to deliver much venom. Rattlesnakes on the other hand have very long fangs which function as hypodermics to deliver the dose. Much more efficient.

Snake handlers also exploit the Cobra's strike method by approaching the snake with their hand above the snake's head where the Cobra can't hit.

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@rosborne979,

I was wondering how snake handlers did that with cobras. I always thought they were hypnotizing them or something. Animals are so amazing. I love this thread!

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@rosborne979,

rosborne, Thanks for the additional and very interesting info.

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@littlek,

Baby otters!

They are the single most cutest things in the known universe!

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@tsarstepan,

Mebbe, and then again, mebbe just one of the cutest things in the known universe.

WARNING! The following pictures are too cute. Protect yourself!

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01551/panda_1551518c.jpg

http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kq2dvuUSh81qzou5ko1_400.jpg

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@Roberta,

Miss Roberta, I think you are right! Baby pandas! They look like little stuffed animals. I want one of each. I wish some baby animals would stay babies because they just tear your heart out with cuteness.

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@Arella Mae,

Arella Mae, Both the babies are kinda sorta pandas. The black and white is your regular panda. The other one is a baby red panda. The grown up version is mighty cute too: