Beautiful Animals

Hey, Mr. Smartypants tsar. My synapses are misfiring. I'm making a lot of mistakes. Don't tease me. I may have to sic a hamster on you. She's cute, but she's got a mean streak.

Get out the cute-o-meter...

White lion cubs Niza and Nero are bottle-fed at the veterinarian university in Hodenhagen, Germany. They will be cared for by hand for approximately four months before rejoining their family at the Serengeti Park in Spring.
Picture: EPA

Swan Lake: four swans skate on ice at Brayford Pool in Lincoln. Photographer Anna Draper said: "I'm not sure they were dancing on ice but they were certainly giving it a go. They are such beautiful birds and I couldn't believe it when they all lined up for me to take the picture."
Picture: Anna Draper / CATERS NEWS

Hey, Irish, You've outdone yourself. Dangerously cute on the one hand and breathtaking on the other. What an amazing swan picture. Amazing. Thanks, kid.

Oh no no no no - your synapses are firing better than you know. Your focus was elsewhere - that's all. I can provide conclusive (well, 90+%) proof: you missed your December Nutcracker performance so much you posted mama duck and pursuing duckies thinking of Mama Ginger. That thought was so loud and intensely focused that IrishK - no mean synaptic master herself - picked up on it and posted Swan Lake. May I add the logical next element of this sequence, and note this thread proves yet again animals are the best company. Thank you

High Seas, You might be on to something. I love Mama Ginger. Miss that big ole dress.

I could go for Peter and the

Those Abby Road covers are everywhere, aren't they?

Good morning Roberta. This bunny looks tooo cute to look real. I bet it's a wood spirit not a bunny.

Look what Oprah is holding downunder, no cute bunny or wood spirit tsarstepan.

Okay, from what I have heard about koala's holding them isn't really that smart of an idea but I guess they can be tamed. Look at the claws on that cutie pie!

British wildlife photographer Richard Costin managed to get these shots of a Golden Eagle and a White Tailed Eagle scrapping over a dead fox in northern Norway. Richard, from Kent, said: "To take these images I spent nine hours a day for five days in a small wooden hide on a remote hill in Norway. The temperature outside was approximately -10 and I was well wrapped up in several sleeping bags as I wasn't able to move much to keep warm."
Picture: Richard Costin / National News and PIctures

A polar bear cub shies away from the camera, by covering his face with his paws. As visitors tried to take photos, the one-year-old polar bear rolled around in the snow. But it seems the shy bear's attempts to avoid the camera backfired and instead created the perfect photo for photographer Anton Averianov, who captured this image at Moscow Zoo.
Picture: ANTON AVERIANOV / CATERS NEWS

Guess the polar bear is like children. They cover their eyes and think you can't see them. Great pic!

The winter scenes have been spectacular this year. I could look at them all day.

I want this little guy...

A seven-week-old Border Collie puppy rests after a play in the snow in Bodice, Slovakia. Picture: AFP/GETTY

Turf war...

This eagle was given a fright when an army of meerkats chased it away. The Bateleur Eagle was sitting in the road, basking in the sun, when an army of meerkats with their tails in the air ran at the raptor, scaring him off and keeping him away from their patch. Wildlife photographer Charlie Summers captured the moment at the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa.
Picture: Charlie Summers/solentnews.co.uk

Brown bears Mischa and Mascha, presents from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to the city of Bern, play in their snow-covered enclosure in the Daehlhoelzli zoo in Bern, Switzerland. Picture: EPA

tsar, What the hell is a wood spirit? Is that anything like a ghost?

Dutchy, That Oprah has all the fun.

Irish, You've outdone yourself. Holy moley, what a collection of pictures. The eagle/eagle and eagle/ meerkat pictures are fabulous. As if flying isn't amazing enough, dem boids is fighting in midair.

The white bear is beyond cute. The brown bears aren't far behind.

Love dat puppy.

Winter scenes are pretty rare here in Louisiana so the pictures are such a treat for me!