Beautiful Animals

Frank, the cross-eyed jaguarundi, is pictured in a zoo in the town of Delitzsch. Germany's famous cross-eyed opossum, Heidi, faces competition, as another German zoo tries to steal her limelight by introducing their cross-eyed star to the public.
Picture: REUTERS

Monarch butterflies line a branch of a bush in the Pedro Herrada butterfly sanctuary on a mountain in the Mexican state of Michoacan.
Picture: REUTERS

the daily B & O (& S)



while sitting in the car waiting for someone, this starling kept me entertained with his little tune, turned out he and his friends were also waiting, waiting for the Mc Donald's across the street to start serving fries


earlier in the morning, while taking a shortcut behind a Lowe's i almost hit a skunk (sorry no photo, i wasn't quite brave enough to go searching for it in the pile of pallets it disappeared into)

Francis, The collie-kitty pic warms the cockles of my heart. And during the winter, warm heart cockles are a great relief.

firefly, Three wonderful pics. The donkey almost did me in.

Irish, I had no idea that cross-eyed-ness was a competitive event. The possum wins, IMO. The butterflies are breathtaking.

dj, I'm awed at at the unlimited cuteness of bunnies. Less awed at the wonderful faces of otters. Thanks mucho for the starling. You could hardly guess it's a fast food fan. I'd suggest that the boid watch it's waistline, but I don't think boids have a waist.

Green scarab beetle:

This is Frank's competition...so cute...I agree she wins hands down.

Heidi, the Virginia Opossum currently in residence at the Leipzig Zoo in Germany.
First, it was Knut, the overwhelmingly cute polar bear. Then, it was Paul, the World Cup oracle octopus. Now, the latest German zoo resident to gain massive fame is Heidi, the cross-eyed opossum, currently in residence at the Leipzig Zoo.

Zoo officials speculate that her crossed eyes might have been caused by a bad diet early in life, Der Spiegel reports. The eyes might look off, but they cause the animal no pain, and don't affect her ability to get around, according to the zoo. She is, aside from her looks, a normal opossum.

A red squirrel looks for food in the snow at Rothiemurchus Estate, Scotland. There are currently around 120,000 red squirrels left in Scotland, with only 20,000 in England. Scientists believe that if nothing is done to halt the decline of the species then the red squirrel could be extinct in the UK within 30 years.
Picture: Danny Green / Rex Features

Irish, Love the squirrel. Sorry to hear they're not faring well in the UK.

I remembered Heidi's face. That's a face for ya. Definitely the winner.

Speaking of winners, here's the winner of the Westminster Dog Show, Hickory the Irish deerhound. A gawgeous dawg.

Gouldian finches with three different colored faces:

I just read the article on that.

That's quite the accomplishment. And I agree Heidi wins hands down!

This photo seems to show that compassion for another might not just be a human emotion, as a hippo tries to save a wildebeest which broke its back while crossing the Masai River in Kenya during the annual migration. Wildlife photographer Mitchell Krog captured a hippo trying to help the wildebeest which became stuck on a submerged rock in the river. He says: "One of the more mature hippo bulls eventually came very close to the wildebeest and tried nudging him a few times to see if he could free the animal from the rocks.

This proved useless and eventually this same hippo grabbed the wildebeest on his back using his mouth and dragged it clear of the rocks and into a deeper section of river where he then released it into the river flow. Due to the fact the wildebeest's back was broken from the fall he could not swim and took his last few breaths and disappeared underwater. It was tough to watch a struggling animal, it always is, but it was consoling to see the animal put to rest humanely by the hippo."
Picture: MITCHELL KROG / CATERS NEWS

the daily B & O

So cute! Especially that second one!

We used to have finches in a big cage in the land arch studio. Their names were Tindo, Tando, and Yang. That was long ago - now I'd rather see finches in the trees in my yard..

Seagulls fight for a piece of bread in Prague, Czech Republic.
Picture: AFP/GETTY

Irish, Amazing stuff--hippo and wildebeest. I had no idea that such a thing was even possible. Animals are a source of constant amazement to me. Dem seagulls is always looking for trouble. Fighting over a piece of bread.

dj, The bunny and otter today are outstanding.

A friend of mine reported seeing several of these--horned larks:

I've never heard of them, but then I've never heard of a lot of birds..
very elegant.

Some colorful critters...


Eastern Collared Lizard--A male, in full breeding colors.


Butterfly Lizard


The rare Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum)


Tokay Gecko


Panther Chamelion

Gambel quail. I love these little guys. They waddle all over the Arizona Sonora desert, often with a little train of chicks behind them. That feather on their forehead bobs up and down every step they take. Their call is sort of a burbly gurgle. When I was a kid they used to have these little plastic pipes that had a liitle reservoir with water in it and if you hummed thru them they'd gurgle like a gambel quail.