Animals are Magical

[onawah]

This dog is an Einstein wannabe. She's also hilarious.
8,983,470 views Jun 13, 2021
199K
GeoBeats Animals
574K subscribers

"This dog is an Einstein wannabe. She's also hilarious.
Follow this story on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dutchandlola/ "

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=pvws6jJsH9U

[onawah]

The Armadillo girdled lizard (Ouroborus cataphractus), the tiny dragon of the desert.
Also known as the Armadillo spiny-tailed lizard or the Golden-armadillo lizard, this species is endemic to desert areas along the western coast of South Africa.
This reptile is light brown to dark brown in color and has armor-like spiny scales covering the neck, tail, body, and limbs, but has a soft, vulnerable yellow underside.
When feeling threatened or frightened, the lizard curls into a ball and takes its tail in its mouth.
In this formation, it is protected by the thick squarish scales along its back and the spines on its tail.
It obtains its common name from this particular behavior which bears a striking resemblance to a frightened mammalian armadillo.
This defense mechanism also allows the lizard to spend most of its time basking in the South African sun.

[mountain_jim]

[mountain_jim]

Perhaps not so magical, rather some inappropriate training?

https://twitter.com/TheFigen/status/...YWXSMHjHPYwq8g

[Orph]

Posted by mountain_jim (here)
Perhaps not so magical, rather some inappropriate training?

This is not the place to post videos of Joe Biden.

[Eva2]

An impressive catch:

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=izjOYnRPYZw

[Eva2]

Amazing - like a condo development!
'The Sociable weaver (Philetairus socius) is a species of bird in the weaver family found across South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. This species construct large compound community nests that resemble huts, complete with a sloping thatched-grass roof that sheds rain. These nests are the world’s largest and most populated tree houses, with some weighing up to a ton or more and measuring up to 20 feet wide and 10 feet tall.

Built around large and sturdy structures like acacia trees or sometimes even telephone poles, the nests provide shelter from direct sunshine, rain, drought, and cold. They are large enough to house over a hundred pairs of birds, consisting of several generations at a time. Each breeding pairs tends to its own compartment with its private entrance and line the interior with soft downy plant material. These entrances are packed closely together and when seen from below, the communal nest has a honeycomb appearance. These birds are constantly making home improvements, adding new nesting chambers, and some nests have remained occupied for over a century!'

[Matthew]

It's hard to resist a moving ball. I walk across the local park to get to town, people kick balls it makes that iconic sound that's forever wired in the brain... a quick look to see if the ball's gone astray for them and is coming my way to kick it back to them. Yes that's right, this post is about how amazing humans are at playing football, and that we are football machines. Right up until the elephant bursts in and steals the show

https://www.sunnyskyz.com/happy-vide...To-Play-Soccer

[mountain_jim]

[wondering]

He looks like he's feeling a little sheepish, what with the camera and all...

[Eva2]

'A giant (right) whale approaches an unsuspecting paddle boarder, and the incredible encounter was captured by a drone'

https://fb.watch/cosyw_vbHq/

[gini]

Look to the octopus to understand how aliens might think--Octopuses are incredibly smart, yet the majority of their neurons exist in their arms and suckers, and not in their brain, making them as close to alien intelligence as we can find on Earth. Imagine: What if our hands and fingers could think for themselves?
--

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=t_R7QKmC0ug

[gini]

Follow the life of this adorably rare western hoolock gibbon ape, as she climbs through India's forest and interacts with a group of local residents. -----

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=qxQAB5C3Glo

[Johnnycomelately]

Posted by gini (here)
Follow the life of this adorably rare western hoolock gibbon ape, as she climbs through India's forest and interacts with a group of local residents. -----

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=qxQAB5C3Glo

Love the vid, thank you. ! wonder if she (Gibbon) is not just endlessly fascinated at how few bugs humans have in our hair. We must seem like aliens! That would be a serious Easter egg hunt. ~8Q

[Kryztian]

[Tintin]

Posted by Kryztian (here)

Oh wow, I was just about to post this one up

[Matthew]

Posted by Kryztian (here)

Butterfly 1, Puppy 0

[DeDukshyn]

So I thought I'd post this here and ask if any other members know anything about what might be going on here ...

My cat has recently had several interactions with a fox that must live in the area - keep in mind this is very rural Canada, this isn't a city fox, and foxes in Canada are fairly large, compared to say one that might live in the UK.

My cat, while seemingly not too friendly with dogs, has no fear of this fox. Mind you my cat is large, ~17lbs and not fat, just a big cat. Last evening the cat was in the backyard, sitting out on the bricks, and within 3 feet of him was this big fluffy golden fox. So, I'm trying to read animal body language to figure out what was going on ...

The cat didn't appear too stressed at all, no arched back, no puffy tail, but the fox took on what I read as a defensive, submissive response, with head down low, back arched tall and tail straight down, trying to not make much direct eye contact with the cat.

Cat then tried to move in closer, no hissing or anything - one of them was making low grunting / growling noises, but I am unsure which one, I think it was the fox, but not 100% sure. The fox then slowly tried to creep away, while watching the cat carefully, and the then cat went into stalking mode - down low, creeping, sneaking, like he was stalking prey. This went on until they went across the neighbours property, where the fox finally turned toward the cat and started barking, with the cat still in slow pursuit.

After watching this for many minutes, I finally wandered across the neighbours yard in my pajamas and got my cat, who seemed quite relaxed, turned toward me when he saw me coming, and let me just pick him up and carry him back to the house.

I'm trying to figure out what the heck my cat was doing ... he is a very avid hunter, and has a defined territory, one which the fox did encroach on, yet my cat wasn't aggressive to the fox at all ... and nor was the fox aggressive toward my cat. I am wondering if my cat was trying to befriend the fox (is that normal)? "Hunt" it, lol? chase it away (defending his territory)?

This interaction has been witnessed twice now, but the first time the fox was more agitated, and was doing a lot of barking / screaming, but the cat was unfazed then as well and also pursued the fox until it was far out of the yard, but then the cat came back right away after the fox was gone.

My first idea was that the cat was protecting his "hunting grounds" as fox and cats hunt a lot of the same prey, but the lack of aggression toward the fox, made me rethink that. If anyone has any input or ideas what my cat was trying to do here, I'd like to hear it.

I wish I had some video of it ... next time.

[onawah]

Wild Dolphin does something unbelievable!
426,643 viewsDec 1, 2021
9.6K
E Pender
1.14K subscribers
"Freediving with an amazing Dolphin off the West Coast of Ireland!"

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=KOXZYvDg1ck

Posted by DeDukshyn (here)
My first idea was that the cat was protecting his "hunting grounds" as fox and cats hunt a lot of the same prey, but the lack of aggression toward the fox, made me rethink that. If anyone has any input or ideas what my cat was trying to do here, I'd like to hear it.

I wish I had some video of it ... next time.

I would say the cat was probably letting the fox know that, just because he wasn't being aggressive (he probably didn't actually want to tangle with the fox), that didn't mean he was going to let the fox get off easy for encroaching into his territory...and maybe next time he would be more aggressive.

[Frankie Pancakes]

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=n_VoMhw7Psg