animals

Stressed? Anxious? Worried? It’s quite common to be filled with existential dread this time of year, what with the holidays and New Years and all. It can be a lot. 

Well, it’s time to get back to basics and remember what it’s all about. Take anywhere from 10 seconds to the rest of your life checking out the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam, which is live right now on YouTube.

This should be enough to chill you out and get through the rest of this hellhole of a year.

Councilman John Filion believes that the squirrels are behind this. He said the city will be installing some squirrel-proof lights so citizens can get “the warm fuzzies.”

The free press marches on.

Journalists speak truth to power — no matter how nuts their subject might be.

via CBC

That’s the case here, when a Canadian reporter tried to talk to a squirrel regarding some damaged Christmas lights. Apparently, squirrels have been chewing through the lights in Mel Lastman Square in Toronto, leaving the area in a holiday blackout. Finally, the citizens of Toronto and Whoville have something in common. Still the pen is mightier than the tooth, and one brave journalist vowed to get to the bottom of this. Watch below as CBC reporter tries to get some answers from this "furry grinch."

via CBC

If you spot a python on the golf course, you should probably go to the next hole.

Someone should’ve told this wallaby that there's a snake in the grass.

According to Yahoo, a 13-foot python was spotted on a golf course wrestling a wallaby on the 17th hole of the Paradise Palms course in Queensland, Australia on Saturday. The days of the golf clap are over. Now is the time of the golf hisssssss.

via Esquire

"It had (the wallaby) in a vice-like grip and it was swallowing it," said Robert Willemse, golfer and witness, who later heard that the python finished the job.

Willemse went on to say that while wildlife is common in the area, giant snakes were not. 

"It looked like it might have dropped out of a tree, got a hold of (the wallaby), then there was a bit of a struggle and it rolled into the middle of the fairway."

Is no place safe from these monstrous snakes?

via VH1

Nature is a cruel beast. If you aren’t doing the eating, you’re the one being eaten.

Wish someone had told this lizard that, though.

Another one doing the eating that night was Melanie Jade Ottaway, who sat down to eat dinner when she noticed this gigantic huntsman spider about to chow down on a gecko. The spider sat patiently on a glass door with the lizard hanging out of its mouth. Nature is terrifying.

via A Total Misreading Of

She told The Daily Mail, “'We just sat down to have dinner at the dining table and noticed something massive on the glass sliding door. I got up to have a closer look and there it was, a huge huntsman with a gorgeous little gecko in. It was too late to save him, so we let nature take its path.”

Nature, your cruel ways are a mystery to us all. We march on in fear.

via Popkey

Webster’s dictionary defines hero as a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability.

We define hero as someone who punches a kangaroo in the face to save their dog.

Welcome to Australia. The harsh reality of living down under includes worrying that a kangaroo is going steal your dog, and sometimes you have smack a ‘roo to get the dog back. That’s exactly what happens in the video above, which some are calling the most “Austrailian video of all time.”

via Gifbay

According to The Daily Telegraph, the footage is of zookeeper Greig Tonkins, who rescued his dog Max from the clutches of a mean old kangaroo by showing the animal what for. This was actually a hunting trip from last June put together for a “sick young man called Kailem who passed away from cancer,” the trip’s organizer Mathew Amor told The Telegraph.

“Basically Kailem wanted to catch a boar,” he said.

The video has been viewed by millions already, but those on the trip had a different interpreation of the event.

“It was funny because the guy who did it is the most placid bloke. We laughed at him for chucking such a sh*t punch.”

Now, that’s the most Australian thing ever.

via Huffington Post

The idea of a giant lobster should send a shiver down your spine. It should have you sharpening your pitchfork and lighting a torch to get this monster as far away from the countryside, where its reign of terror knows no bounds, as possible.

But that’s not how they do things in Canada. When they have a monster lobster problem, they do the nice thing, the polite thing, the Canadian thing: They set it free.

King Louie, the giant 23-pound, 100-year-old lobster, was just lucky enough to be caught in Nova Scotia, and because of his local celebrity, he was purchase and freed yesterday. Never to be glazed in butter nor kill innocent victims with his hefty pinchers, King Louie returned to the deep to stalk.

Costing roughly $230, King Louie was purchased by a compassionate woman who wanted to see this lobster go free. It was polite, yes, but also dangerous. For somewhere, out in the deep, this ancient beast waits for his next victim.

Move over, “Man,” because dogs have found a new best friend, and it’s polar bears.

Yup, in spite of everything happening to polar bears right now, such as losing their homes and attempting to jump from one melting ice sheet to the next, this polar bear took time out of its busy schedule to comfort a dog.

via GIPHY

Putting aside their differences for even just a few moments, this polar bear and dog, who we will now refer to as “The Power Friends,” sat and enjoyed each other’s company in Northern Manitoba, Canada last weekend. Local hero David De Meulles caught the whole exchange on his phone.

"I had no idea what was going to happen, and then sure enough he started petting that dog, acted like he was a friend," David De Meulles said. "I just so happen to catch a video of a lifetime."

"It was a beautiful sight to see, and I just can't believe an animal that big would show that kind of heart toward another animal."

via GIPHY

There’s a lot we can take away from this monstrous beast repressing instinctual its urge to kill long enough to take in the natural beauty and splendor of another living creature. Even if it’s unable to put together rational thoughts or express its feelings orally, on some level this polar bear thought, “I fear not this small creature but understand it has wants and desires like me.” So to the dog must think, “This is my friend, and I want to play with my friend.”

And play they did.

Run free, “Power Friends.” Run free and may we all learn from your connection

The animals are always the first to know.

In what some are considering a bit of symbolism for our country going down the drain, two bald eagles in — you guessed it — Florida decided to hammer home that metaphor by getting stuck in a drain. With their talons feet from being washed away by the waste water below, the two eagles cried out for a help as a nation looks on in horror, powerless to do anything.

Many are probably wondering, how did those eagles get in that storm drain? What were they doing so close to that storm drain? Don’t they know that storm drains are dangerous? Don’t they know that just because a storm drain hosted a reality TV show that doesn’t make it a qualified world leader? Questions that, you know, could only be applied to a situation in which two bald eagles get stuck in a storm drain.

via Gawker

Luckily, authorities from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission intervened and rescued the trapped metaphor. One of the eagles was taken to Audubon Center for Birds of Prey in Maitland to treat its injuries. The other was released, presumably to search out more storm drains because no matter how perfect this metaphor is, it’s worth repeating over and over.

There’s a lot to worry about in the world, but if you live Sri Lanka, meet your worst nightmare. The Wildlife Department found a huge, HUGE crocodile in Matara, Sri Lanka, and it could probably swallow you whole. Lucky for you, it would probably chew quite a bit, making this thing all the more scary.

Weighing close to a ton, this croc was found stuck in a canal off the Nilawala River, all 17 feet of it. That’s right, 17 feet. How tall are you? 5’5? 6’5? Even if you were Shaq reading this — which if Shaq is reading this: Hello, Shaq — you’d still be about 10 feet smaller than this bad boy.

The Wildlife Department pulled the crocodile out and sent it on its way. So long, gigantic crocodile. May your next meal not be a person.

Pictures by Krishan Jayaruk

While not the holiday tradition in America, in England, the British department store John Lewis crushes it with the Christmas commercials. You’re probably thinking, is this better than the Hess Truck commercials? Yes. Or maybe you’re thinking, what’s a Hess truck commercial, because that might be a regional reference. Anyway, this is a Hess truck.

That’s not how this was supposed to go. John Lewis, right.

This year’s John Lewis ad continues the store’s legacy for delivering holiday cheer at discount prices. The price today? Free. For no money at all, you can watch this commercial that features a bunch of really cute animals bouncing on a trampoline.

In these despondent times of confusion and uncertainty, isn’t that we’re all looking for, a couple of computer-generated animals bouncing on a trampoline? There's a really cute boxer pup named Buster. Buster.

For starters, what about that dang headline doesn't scream legend! I'm not saying I understand where he was coming from when he decided to go live amongst mountain goats for a few days in the Alps, but I respect the initiative and the fact that he saw that sh*t through.


image: Tim Bowditch

UK-based designer Thomas Thwaites has written extensively about his experience in a novel, GoatMan: How I took a Holiday from Being Human. Thwaits was presented the award for Nobel Prize in biology alongside naturalist and fellow Briton Charles Foster. The awards obviously a spoof, are meant to honor people that make grand achievements that make others laugh and think at the same time.

'Watership Down' is a terrifying movie based on a book by Richard Adams about a community of rabbits finding their way in the world.  It usually has cute rabbits on the cover so it's usually mistaken for a children's book but the world of Watership Down is brutal and not all of the happy little bunnies survive.

But... its about bunnies so that makes it a great Easter film, right? That's what someone at Channel 5 in England must have thought when they scheduled the movie to run in the afternoon on Easter day. 

Naturally, some families were outraged but others just enjoyed the irony of the programming. 


via @ChronMark, @TheBruthaVoodoo, @parkerfoye, @Alrightpunk

Others support the movie and think parents these days are too sensitive. 


via @barefootmower, @SamHodkin, @cjpaterson

We can only guess that whether they'll show it next year depends on how many parents called complaining of nightmares. 

What should have been a magical encounter went wrong when a 400 pound pony dressed as a unicorn escaped from her photoshoot. The fugitive, named Juliet, led the California Highway Patrol on an intense, 3-hour chase. Eventually, according to the video description, police were able to let everyone know that, "The unicorn was in custody". 

via @ABC30

A wildfire broke out in Waroona, in south western Australia, leaving behind damaged property and lives.   The adorable photo has attracted a lot of attention.  The veterinary clinic that is taking care of him mentioned that the burns on his tail aren't affecting his balance so they are hopeful. They also released additional information after a massive response. 

I have had a lot of messages about this little man - yes he is a boy. Yes he has some bad burns but has taken this long to catch. We will definitely keep you updated on his progress! Nurse Frosina x

This little guy got some terrible burns but he wasn't the only one.



Pets, farm animals and wild animals alike have been affected by this tragedy. 



According to their Facebook page, all animals at this clinic affected by the fires are being treated for free. 

In this world right now there exists a lamb that desperately, fiercely, wants, needs to be a dog. Meet Little Dorrit.

Despite all manners of determined attempts Little Dorrit has failed to surmount the most crucial hurdle— convincing the farmyard cat on the whole matter.

Here she is responding to her owner's call like a loyal dog:

Sometimes she'll hit up her fellow canine homies to play around for a bit:

When duty comes calling and her dogs need backup, she's there in a jiffy.

And she never passes on the opportunity for after hours drinks with her comrades:

Sadly though, Simon the cat sees this all as mere silly business.