Beautiful Animals

Road hog: A mother pig stops traffic as she feeds her piglets in the middle of a road. The sow was oblivious to the waiting traffic as she stood waiting for her young ones to finish suckling. The amusing sight was captured on camera by photographer Michele Molinari in Saranda, Albania.

Picture: Michele Molinari/solent

Turning page

Can't get the page to change.

I'm sure that whatever you posted, Irish, is wonderful.

PS: I got the page to turn. I was right. Pic is wonderful. Deleted my post and lost the page again.

Sigh.

It's acting goofy for me, too...trying again...


An African white lion cub is seen at a wildlife reserve near Livingston, Zambia
Picture: REX FEATURES

Telegraph reader Caroline Broad sent us this great photo of green finches fighting in her garden. She says: "Of all the birds we get, green finches seem to be the most cantankerous - they're constantly battling each other." Picture: CAROLINE BROAD

Irish, I love the pig pic. The white lion is absoulutely beautiful. Sigh. And boids will be boids. Love that one too. Thanks, kid.

Denise pygmy seahorse amongst the coral:

A capybara keeps warm under a warm shower of water during a cold, snowy day in Saitama children's zoo in Higashimatsuyama, near Tokyo ....Photograph: Koji Sasahara/AP

A red squirrel looking for food in the Rothiemurchus estate, Scotland. There are currently around 120,000 red squirrels left in Scotland, and only 20,000 in England .... Photograph: Danny Green/Rex Feature

A coot chick at the WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre, Merseyside, England. ... Photograph: Robert Falcon/WWT/PA

Aw, that coot chick is beyond cute!!


This orangutan at Moscow Zoo gets his five a day. Olga Dmitrieva, 51, of Moscow, has spent a lot of time photographing the apes and observing their play. Miss Dmitrieva, a martial arts teacher, said: "I enjoy photographing them because they have such human characteristics. A lot of the animals in the zoo are given apples and the orangutans have found different ways of playing them. Sometimes they use them like a ball, throwing them and catching them. One this occasion I found one of the orangutans with his mouth crammed full of fruit. He seemed to be doing it as a bit of fun and it made a funny shot."

That's some coot!

the daily B & O

A one-week-old Hoffman’s two-toed sloth clings to its mother today at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo. The youngster was born on Feb. 15 to the 20-year-old, first-time mom. Despite being an inexperienced new mother, animal care staff reports that she is being very attentive and caring to the youngster.

Half-a-day-old baby rhinoceros Lara explores her enclosure at the Serengeti Park zoo in Hodenhagen, central Germany.
Picture: AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Animal lovers, get ready to waste the rest of your day: http://siwild.si.edu/index.cfm

These photos were captured by the 200,000 motion sensitive camera traps set out by the Smithsonian.

AMAZING!

A hibernating black bear with a three-month old cub


Everyone remember the story of "The Three Little Pigs"?


Hey, come on in, the water's fine!

Zorrilla
I'd stay far away from this cute looking fella. The zorrilla (Ictonyx striatus), or Striped Polecat, is considered the smelliest animal on earth. It is found in savannahs and open country in sub-saharan Africa excluding the Congo basin and west Africa. A member of the weasel family, The Columbia Encyclopedia reports that the zorrilla closely resembles the North American skunk... but may be even smellier. The zorrilla secretes a pungent fluid from its anal glands when it must defend itself from predators. A nocturnal animal, it lives in rocky crevaces and feeds on small reptiles and rodents. It's scent deters many animals. The Guinness Book of Animal Records claims a zorilla once kept nine lions at bay while it was scavenging their kill, to illustrate the claim it is indeed the worst-smelling animal.

That wouldn't bother me, I've a poor sense of smell. On the other hand, I'd then keep other people (ooh, and maybe ants and spiders and cockroaches) at bay very effectively. Alas, I usually like people around.

You guys have been busy posting one wonderful picture after the other. I have to do some work, so I can't respond to each one. But I appreciate each one. And I did a lot of smiling. Thanks muchissimo.

That coot is cute! And so are the others (even the smelly polecat!)