Beautiful Animals

Thinking of Saturday Evening Post magazine cover...Norman Rockwell-esque!

A Corgi in Coeur d'Alene? Carumba!

I'm a bit warped, I know, but if they could make that a jewelry piece ... say a brooch..it'd be a big seller. (Of course, they'd copy it - not use the actual critter.)

Time for an eagle or a few -

Triple eagle on 13: A bald eagle delivers a fish to its young in a nest on the 13th hole of Bobby's Golf Course near Brainerd, Minn.
Photo: Steve Kohls / Associated Press/

I agree with you--it would be a stunning brooch. I love jewelry like that.

osso, I love the expression the face of the eaglet that didn't get the fish. Ma likes you best.

Ragman, Warped is good. I like warped. But I don't know if I could wear a whole dead animal as bling. You may be warped, but I'm a hypocrite. I wear leather. It's just not recognizable as an animal.

I'm so ashamed.

I aspired to be warped.

Arabian oryxes:

Christmas tree worms (Spirobranchus giganteus).



The Christmas Tree Worm (Spirobranchus giganteus) is a colorful marine worm with beautiful, spiraling plumes that resemble a fir tree. These animals are colorful, and can be red, orange, yellow, blue and white.

The "Christmas tree" shown here are the animal's radioles, which can be up to about 1-1/2 inches across. The rest of the worm burrows into a tube in the coral, where it can withdraw to protect itself.

The Christmas tree worm's plumes are used for feeding and respiration. Christmas tree worms use their plumes to catch plankton and other small particles passing in the water. Cilia then pass the food to the worm's mouth.

There are male and female Christmas tree worms. They reproduce by sending eggs and sperm into the water. Fertilized eggs develop into larvae that settle on coral. The Christmas tree worm lives on tropical coral reefs throughout the world.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/photo-of-the-day-baby-birds-in-india-a-837837.html

firefly, I encountered Christmas tree worms when I was hunting around for stuff to post here. They are wonderful looking. Make me smile. Thanks for all the info. I appreciate it mucho.

Hey tsar, That's a big bug and three big mouths. I wonder who got fed. Thanks for great pic, kid.

Eel (sorry, I don't know what kind. All the info provided was that it's rare.):

Here's a wonderful video of a cute little pug....

Thanks, Chai. Cute, cute. I confess I'm a little worried about that dog. However, she's clearly in a family that loves her so I assume they're taking good care of her. Yes, I am a pain in the ass.

Great barracuda:

A fawn breasted birillant at the private reserve of Paz de las Aves (Peace of the Birds) near Nanegalito, Ecuador.
Photograph: Rodrigo Buendia/AFP/Getty Images

olga, A brilliant little bird called a brilliant. Who knew? Thanks mucho.

Ragman, Thanks for the musical interlude.

Zebra huddle:

I wonder why zebras have a rope tail. Maybe an adaptation so it's harder for predators to get a hold.

Two of the pound-for-pound baddest critters on the planet: the Honey Badger, and the Wolverine

I just noticed at the end of that video there's a little explanation that comes up. It says the vet says she has a slight brain disorder, surgery would be risky with no guarantee of success. Nothing else is wrong and it won't effect her health or longevity. It goes on to say the dog doesn't realize anything is wrong, the other dogs protect her, and she's spoiled rotten!

snood, Wolverines are fierce, intense, and relentless. I know less about honey badgers, but I take your word for it. Two doozies.

Chai, Thanks for pointing that out for me. I thought it might be a brain problem. I was thinking epilepsy. Glad to know that cutie can live a good life. I like spoiled rotten. ALL of my pets were spoiled rotten.

Leopardus (aka margay), wild cat of South America:

I think my fascination with the extraordinary toughness of some animals (and insects) started long ago - when I started trying to figure out more about some of the creatures that my comic-book heros (and villains) were designed based on.

Hope y'all don't mind - here are some details about those two little bad-asses in my previous post:

A member of the weasel family, the honey badger has few natural predators because of its thick skin and ferocious defensive abilities. Their eyes are small, and their ears are little more than ridges on the skin; possible adaptations to avoiding damage while fighting.

The feet are armed with very strong claws, which are short on the hind legs and remarkably long on the forelimbs. Honey badgers are notoriously fearless and tough animals, having been known to savagely attack their enemies when escape is impossible. Bee stings, porcupine quills, and animal bites rarely penetrate their skin. If horses, cattle, or Cape buffalos intrude upon a honey badger’s burrow, it will attack them. They kill and eat snakes, even highly venomous or large ones such as cobras. They have even been known to dig up human corpses in India.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey_badger

The wolverine has a reputation for ferocity and strength out of proportion to its size, with the documented ability to kill prey many times its size. It is a stocky and muscular carnivore, more closely resembling a small bear than other mustelids (weasels).

They have thick, dark, oily fur which makes it resistant to frost. Wolverines, like other mustelids, possess a special upper molar in the back of the mouth that is rotated 90 degrees, towards the inside of the mouth. This special characteristic allows wolverines to tear off meat from prey or carrion that has been frozen solid. They have been recorded killing prey such as adult deer that are many times larger than itself.

There is at least one published account of a 12 pounds (5.4 kg) wolverine's apparent attempt to steal a kill from a black bear (adult males weigh 400 to 500 pounds -180 to 230 kg).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolverine

I would like to add mongooses to the list of those beautiful and ferocious critters:

When I was stationed in Hawaii (1995-98), those little guys were as numerous as squirrels are in the other 48 states.