Beautiful Animals

dj, The B&O today are definitely thud-worthy. I'm recovering from a thud as I write.

Chameleon:

This family of three striped yellow-eared bats appear to pose for the camera as they huddle together in a palm tree. Photographer James Christensen stumbled across the rare creatures during a holiday in Achiote, Panama.
Picture: James Christensen/ Minden/solent


A close-up picture of a caiman underwater in Pantanal, Mato Grosso, Brazil. While scouting the Amazon basin for wildlife, Swiss photographer Franco Banfi spotted a caiman and decided to take a dip with it in the hope that he could take some incredible pictures of these mighty reptiles in their natural environment. Little did he know that there were in fact three of the beasts in the water and as he became aware of the two behind him he wisely retreated from their home as soon as he could.
Picture: Franco Banfi / Barcroft Media

the daily B & O

bright lights, big city
gone to my bunny's head

A monk kneels over a tiger at the Tiger Temple in Thailand, November 2011.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-18/a-monk-kneels-over-a-tiger-at-the-tiger-temple2c-thailand/3780208

That is simply awesome.

Yes, isn't it, roger?

Beautiful.

Irish, Truly amazing pic of bats. And an awesome shot of a caiman. The reptile appears to be flossing regularly. Mercy bow coo for both.

dj, Tell the bunny to come for a visit.

olga, Awesome pic. I'm hoping the tiger is well fed.

Baboon trying to open a car door:

the daily B & O



Thanks to Randy Finley, who writes:

I was waiting to go on a pontoon boat cruise in Elkhorn Slough checking out the docks when I saw what looked like a dog on the dock. I almost walked by, but when I looked a little closer it wasn’t a dog, but an entirely dry sea otter hanging out right in the middle of lots of human activity.

We just got back from Hawaii -- here's a few of the beautiful animals I saw there:

Aardvark baby takes its first steps at Antwerpen zoo - video

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2012/jan/20/aardvark-baby-antwerpen-zoo-video

In Australia these f*ckers are a complete pest (Indian Mynah birds) - they push natives out of their habitats - they are aggressive and destroy other birds' nests - one of the few animals I would have little compulsion in culling.

dj, I'm assuming that the bunny has snow on it--not dandruff. The otter is dignified. Not a common look for an otter. Love it.

boomer, Thanks for the gawgeous pics. Not sure what I'm looking at in the second one.

HH, Enamoured of the wee aardvark. Thanks, kid. Sorry to hear about the Indain myna. We've got some problems in the good ole US of A with nonnative species. They wreak havoc on the native species. Current problem: pythons in the Everglades. The native species don't stand a chance.

Stunning, boomer!

Alligators in the sewers

Barry, The snakes in the Glades--real problem. The gators in the sewers--not so much.

Secretary bird and chick:

beautiful!

That otter reminded me of an actor and I finally remembered who - John Houseman:

Hinge, loved the aardvark video, thanks for the link.

from sf chronicle Day in Pictures (comments are by sfgate):

Nighty-night: The newborn daughter of Pengpeng the polar bear lies down on her bed at the Ocean Aquarium of Penglai, China, and ... HONK-shewwwww.
Photo: Str / AFP/Getty Images




Water spout: The world's second largest whale, the Fin whale, sprays some seawater about six miles off the coast of Long Beach, Calif. The whale grows to 88 feet long and weighs as much as 270,000 pounds. Like all large whales, it was heavily hunted during the 20th century and is now considered an endangered species. Recently, however, numerous sightings of Fins have been reported off Long Beach.
Photo: Frederic J. Brown / AFP/Getty Images




Every time a bell rings ... an angelfish gets its fins. This one at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium is called a Rock Beauty.
Photo: Mark Duncan / Associated Press