Beautiful Animals

Sister Mel!!!

Ding, ding, ding..a winner (I think). Plus I think they're sensual creatures..and the wind blowing at you at 60 mph is pretty massaging and thrilling.

and sometimes the air is filled with sand, especially around here.

Malayemys subtrijuga : Snail-eating Turtle

Comments: This small and beautiful turtle is rare in the wild and extremely rare in captivity. This species has the reputation of doing poorly long-term in captivity which may be a result of heavy parasite loads and its unusual diet.

Distribution: Snail-eating Turtles are found in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Java, and Sumatra.

Adult Size: Adults of this species reach 8” (11 cm), but 5” to 6” (13 to 15 cm) specimens are most commonly seen.

Feeding: In nature, these turtles feed almost exclusively on freshwater aquatic snails.

A hen warms her chicks in the rain, on the outskirts of Bangkok.
Photograph: Sukree Sukplang/Reuters

Gannets nest on bass rock in the Firth of Forth, Scotland. Every January, Atlantic gannets arrive at the rock, with 150,000 or more making it the largest single rock gannet colony. They return with the same mate and often use the same nest each time, spending most of the year on the rock until the end of October, when the last of the chicks travel down to the west coast of Africa. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

On google. Where else?

firefly, A stunning reptile. And a snail eater. Crunch.

olga, Wonderful mudder boids. Thanks mucho.

Betta yellow pearl:

Frill Shark:



Whale Shark:

That frill shark looks pre-historic.Never seen one before .

Golden Pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus)

Originating from the mountainous regions of China. The male has a golden crest and bright red body, the female is less colourful, both have yellow legs and beaks and the tail feathers are long. They can fly, but prefer to run, and they feed on the ground on grain and small insects.

Funny you should say that...

Exhibiting several "primitive" features, the frilled shark has often been termed a "living fossil". It reaches a length of 2 m (6.6 ft) and has a dark brown, eel-like body with the dorsal, pelvic, and anal fins placed far back. Its common name comes from the frilly or fringed appearance of the gill slits, of which there are six pairs with the first pair meeting across the throat.

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

snood, Whale shark--largest fish in the woild. Eats plankton.

Frilled shark--I've seen these when I've been hunting for pictures for this thread. Definitely a holdover from prehistoric times. But that applies to all sharks. This one just looks more prehistoric than others. Fantastic to see. Thanks.

Birds from the pheasant family are spectacular. Golden pheasants especially so. Thanks for the glorious pic.

I googled "majestic animals" to see what would turn up. Some wonderful stuff. I landed on this one:

Red wolf:

Love that red wolf!

That's a wonderful photograph of that chick, Roberta.
Chirping its little heart out.
Awwwww!

At first (till I checked out the nostrils & ears more closely) I thought this might be the winner of 'the most beautiful otter' contest ... But not so ....
Anyway, I think its title is thoroughly undeserved!




http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-24/mugly-named-world27s-ugliest-dog/408870o
.

I'm sure Roberta is totally over cute animal babies, and for all I know this has been previously posted. So forgive me for posting this video of a wolf pup and a grizzly-bear cub.

Thanks - great!

olga, Those Chinese cresteds usually win the ugliest dog contest. I think they've got their own kind of beauty.

Thomas, OK. Smelling salts were handy. I'm fine. Very cute and wonderful video. Thanks mucho.

Oncilla (small wild cat of South America):

Giant Anteater at chow time: