Category Archives: Cute Animals

Whitney

I, with the rest of the world, was shocked and saddened when I heard that Whitney Houston passed away. I loved Whitney and wish her peace.

This is perhaps the best tribute that I’ve seen yet. :) So cute!

Egg Wonk 2

Flo or Gertie left us another mysterious egg creation. We did NOT eat this one nor did we open it. I still hope that one day we get an egg within an egg.

Cross your fingers!



Photo by Taylor Colledge

Baby Chameleon

I’m obsessed with these adorable photos by Igor Siwanowicz of a baby chameleon.

TOO CUTE!






Happy Halloween

We at the house of Blood and Friendship would like to thank everyone who came to our Spooky party this last Saturday. We had the time of our lives and even though I “unintentionally went to bed” before some guests even arrived, I’m sure they had fun too. The spook alley was a huge hit (sorry if I scared you!) and Julia, Angela, Brian were huge helpers. I love you guys!

Everyone’s costumes were intensely perfect and I really wish the night would have lasted longer. It seemed like it lasted 20 minutes; it was just too much fun. I also wish I would have taken more pics. :’(

Here are a few of the pics from the night. They’re pretty great. I wish it were Halloween every day!

Me as Lambchop and Taylor as Shari Lewis


Kristen as a scary zombie! AMAZING makeup award!


Cassie, Kaylene, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir


Erin as a porcelain doll (or Whatever Happened to Baby Jane!)


Shanthi as a wise owl. SO CUTE!


Angela as art nouvavavavavaveaum!


Jurd and Megan as pirates and Derek as a McNugget! CUTE!

Egg Wonk

A few days ago we found this wonky egg in our coop, thanks to Flo or Gertie. We kept it in our fridge for a little bit but soon realized that none of us would ever dare eat it. After a little bit of research, I found that there exists a long list of chicken-egg oddities including blood spots (seen it), double yolks (not yet seen it), shell-less eggs that feel like water balloons (gross!), and perhaps the craziest egg one might encounter which is an egg within another egg. It’s like you crack open an egg and voilà, another egg! CRAZY! Suddenly our lumpy egg doesn’t seem so weird.

But look at it! It’s so freaky!


Alfie Doo

I’d like to say that I hate being one of those people who gushes over their dog, but I’m not. I LOVE IT. Alfie seriously cracks me up sometimes. Like in this video with Taylor where he goes berserk for no real good reason.

Underwater

These lovely clips of life underwater make me really happy and I just wanted to post them here. They make me really love this amazing planet.

Gorgeous!

Alfie and the Ferry

I wanted to post these adorable pics of Alfie on the recent Ferry excursion we took him on to Bainbridge Island and back. I know I’m ridiculous.

Just after these photos, he shat on the deck. Cleaning carrot diarrhea off cement is tricky. You can quote me on that.










Raccoon Memories

Today, for some odd reason, I’m remembering the time Thom, Chang Ling, and I ended up at the emergency room until 5:00 AM because of a baby raccoon that attacked us inside of Chang Ling’s car. Before running off, the critter bit Thom a number of times and we had to wait in the ER for the doctors to show up with Thom’s shots. haha. Good memory.

Ahh, raccoons.


African Grey Parrot

I recently read this story and it made me happy and excited.

Sandra Mikolasch of the University of Vienna’s Konrad Lorenz Research Station in Austria and her colleagues first checked that seven African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) had no preference for the two types of food on offer, seeds or walnuts.

Then each parrot watched a researcher hide a walnut under one opaque cup and a seed under another. Next the researcher hid the cups behind a screen, removed one of the treats and showed the bird which one had been taken. Finally, the screen was removed to see if the parrot could work out which treat must remain, and under which cup it must be.

Only one of the parrots, a female called Awisa, was able to do this, choosing correctly in three-quarters of the tests – 23 out of 30. “So far, only great apes have been shown to master this task,” says Mikolasch. As with the parrots, only some apes could solve the problem, she says. “So we now know that a grey parrot is able to logically exclude one possibility in favour of another to get a reward, known as ‘inference by exclusion’.”

Amazing! That’s more intelligent than some humans I know!


Louis

I’ve been seeing posters everywhere for this poor lost puppy and have been dying to find out if anything has happened. Well, my friend Julia told me just moments ago that they found him!! They posted an update here and it makes me so happy I could cry:

“HUGE thank you goes out to CHS and the Capitol Hill community. Louis was found yesterday evening!

A homeless man called us around 5:30pm saying that he thinks he found Lou. We were skeptical because we’ve received several scammers and false sightings, but we had to follow up on every lead, no matter how far-fetched it sounded. The man was sincere and straightforward, and he led us to a wooded area along I-5 near Dearborn. We hiked up a steep embankment, and he pointed our a dog under a tree on a woolen shelter blanket. We immediately knew it was Louis from the white stripe along his neck, but he was so weak that he could barely muster enough energy to get up to meet us.

He immediately went limp in our arms like a ragdoll, and we rushed to the emergency vet. He lost about 30% of his body weight and looks like a sheet was thrown over an anatomical skeleton. He has a bunch of scrapes and scarring along his forehead, legs, and shoulders, and an eye infection. Prognosis is good, though—slowly reintroduce him to food and water, and some antibiotics for the eye. He should have a full recovery and slowly grow some hair back.

The man who called us about finding Lou was so kind and helpful. He wasn’t reward motivated, and when we gave him a generously appropriate gift, he, too, was over the moon. We were happy to give him a little something to help out his life which is full of hardship.

Thank you all for your help in spreading the word and keeping an eye out for our little buddy. We are overwhelmingly happy and are so grateful for the outpouring of support from strangers, friends, and family alike. Thank you again.

RE: Posters: We’re doing the responsible thing and working on taking them down. It is slow, and we apologize as it will take us some time to fully sweep the city. It took us three weeks and a team of friends and family to put them up. Thank you to all who have volunteered to grab some down while you’re out and about in your daily lives–we appreciate you alleviating our clean-up process!!!

With our deepest thanks and appreciation,
Mike and Kendall”

Where’s my pillow? :’( So cute!


Sequim 2011

I discovered the best way to recharge my batteries is to visit the Olympic Peninsula and just sit close to the water and watch the world happen. As I mentioned in my last post, I spent last weekend in Sequim (pronounced Squim) and I had an amazing time. It only takes 2 hours to get there from Seattle and I will definitely return.

Here are a few fun pics from the weekend:


















Liger Cubs

I’m a sucker for interspecies friends. Here is a story in China about two liger cubs that were nursed back to health by a brave puppy. Click here to read more. It is seriously so sweet.

Thanks for sharing, Melissa! SO CUTE!




The Curious Explorers Illustrated Poster Guide to Exotic Animals

I absolutely adore this gorgeous collection of posters by Marc Martin, an illustrator and graphic designer based in Melbourne, Australia. Check out his great website here.

My personal favorite posters are the flamingo, narwhal, quetzal, the owl and of course the panda is so cute. I love animals, I love the alphabet, and I love the combination of the two. Thanks, Cassie.


Alfie

Just look at that face! He just melts my heart.






Alfie

I forgot to post a blog about the newest member of my family, Alfie! (Alfalfa)

Alfie is about 13 months old and spent his first year of life as a stray and in a few rescues throughout the Seattle area. We got him this last President’s Day at the K9 Rescue and Rehabilitation in Kirkland and he has been SO FUN. He’s pretty skittish around other dogs and strangers (probably a habit he picked up in rehab) but he is also so sweet and fun.

The first day we met him, he ran out of his crate and jumped right on my lap and put his head on my chest. He knew what he was doing because I fell in love with him right then and there.

His interests include rolled-up socks, kisses, chickens, playing fetch, and pooing when he shouldn’t. He also loves to get in the shower with me and paw at my face in the morning.

Come meet him! He doesn’t bite, he’ll just be nervous for a little bit.

JUST LOOK AT THAT FACE!!



Chris Nelson took the photo on the left.

Babies

I watched Babies last night and it made me super happy. It is basically a documentary that tells the story of four babies first year of life. I was totally entertained and there was hardly any dialogue at all. Amazing.

My favorite baby was Bayar from Mongolia. He was the only boy out of the four subjects and I thought he was so dang cute and funny. They were all cute, but he made me laugh the most. From cows and roosters to goats and cats, Bayar kept finding himself in the most dangerous and hysterical situations. Ponijao, a young girl from Namibia, was also totally adorable.

This movie was also lovely to watch from an artistic standpoint. The cinematography beautifully captured each child’s cute mannerisms as well as the truly unique environments in which they were raised.

Check out this gem of a movie. It really is so adorable.






Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk

I just finished reading Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, the latest book by David Sedaris, and I really liked it. I realize that, according to some, this is not typical Sedaris fare. I’ve also read that tons of people are actually offended by the book. Well, I genuinely liked it. (I also liked this nymag.com interview in which Sedaris explains himself.)

For those who haven’t seen it around, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk is a collection of 16 short stories with such kid-friendly titles as “The Faithful Setter”, “The Cow and the Turkey” and “The Vigilant Rabbit”. All the characters in the book are animals and the illustrations are really cute. The stories themselves, however, are actually morbid in which the animals lie, steal, swear, cheat on their spouses, and get STDs. They personify rudeness. I actually found it kind of poignant to consider how ridiculous it is to have animals behave in the emotionally complicated, even annoying ways that we humans sometimes do.

My favorite story in the book was one called “The Grieving Owl” in which an owl befriends a zoo hippopotamus whose anus contains singing leeches. (See below.) Sound weird? Yeah. The illustrations were done by Ian Falconer who illustrated the Olivia book series and they’re a lot of fun, obviously.

Check out this book if you dare.




John Kasaona & Jane Goodall

I love animals and conservation. I also really love this immensely inspiring TED Talk by John Kasaona, from Namibia, who enlists people (some are even former poachers) in his community to help protect the land and endangered animals that they have abused in the past.

UPDATE:
I also wanted to attach this great talk by Jane Goodall about how booming African towns live side-by-side with threatened animals.

Watch ‘em!

Brian Skerry

I really really like this guy, Brian Skerry, and his photography. This TED talk is way sad in that he talks a lot about the corruption of the fishing industry. But it also features some gorgeous photography of the ocean and the creatures that live there.

National Endangered Species Day

Today is National Endangered Species Day. This year it sucks because of the recent BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the gulf. It literally makes me sick to think about the environmental impact it is having on the wildlife not to mention the people who’s livelihood are affected by this huge travesty. In any case, let’s keep in mind the millions of other living things that make our world so great. Click here to see more.

Some of my favorite endangered species in baby form:












Edith Widder

Here is a fantastic TED Talk on the incredible existence of bioluminescence in underwater creatures. Edith Widder has captured some incredible footage showing how 80-90% of all undersea animals can generate light. Way to go, Edith! I’m officially jealous of your job!

If you haven’t already seen it, then I’d also recommend watching BBC’s The Blue Planet series because it also presents some amazing footage of this phenomenon.

Fascinating!

Altruistic Armadillos, Zenlike Zebras…

If you and I have hung out in the past month, then I’ve probably already told you about my new fascination with bonobo chimpanzees and bowerbirds. Animals are seriously so amazing.

Bonobo Chimpanzees

Bonobo (bo-NO-bo) chimpanzees are incredible. They are very non-aggressive, unlike the larger chimpanzees that tear off ladies’ faces, and they are actually very gentle and loving. They are one of the only other animals in the world, besides humans, to engage in sex for pleasure. They also commonly engage in french-kissing, oral sex, and gay sex. When they encounter a new feeding ground then they have communal sex which is to allow for peaceful feeding. Maybe they’re on to something!

Bowerbirds
These birds really amaze me. Because the males are not brightly colored (sexually dichromatic) like other male birds of paradise, they instead have to impress females by creating these elaborate hut-like structures, or bowers. The more plain the bird is, the more decorated his bower will be, and the more flashy bird will have a much less decorated bower. They decorate their bowers with all sorts of things like flowers, beetle wings, stones, berries, feathers, and shells. They also change the flowers every day to make sure they are fresh. Genius.

Anyway I wanted to share on here my latest fascination with these beautiful creatures. I’ve been reading lots of books recently, but Altruistic Armadillos, Zenlike Zebras: A Menagerie of 100 Favorite Animals by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson has been one of the funnest. Check it out.

Scared kitty

Just because.


Pleix / Pedigree

I think both of these videos are extremely sexy. Birds by Pleix came first, then Pedigree ripped it off entirely. They’re both still gorgeous.