Here’s a little something we never have to contend with in New Jersey. But even in Florida–willya look at the size of that gator!
Note that the alligator, for all its bulk, walks with its belly high up off the ground. The man with the camera might have a few anxious moments if he reflected that even very large gators are capable of short bursts of real speed. At that distance, the gator could catch the man if he really wanted to. Just a little somethin’ to think about…
I’m not recommending you actually try this, but on rare occasions, cats and mice can be friends. Yeah, if I tried it, I’d wind up with half a mouse. But cats and mice are both extremely intelligent and highly adaptable, and can do things you don’t expect. I am assuming the animals in these videos remained friends off-camera.
I once had a mouse who liked to groom my mustache. Think about that. What did she see when she saw me, besides a mustache that needed grooming? But mice do learn to relate to you on a personal level, and I’m blamed if I can fathom how that happens.
Oops! That video just didn’t pan out. Cool headline, though. Madja look!
Anyway, here are some ordinary little sloths demonstrating cuteness, and I hope you like them.
Snapping turtles have a reputation for being ornery; but check out this 40-pounder having a cozy time with his owner. The turtle is, in short, a pet. And far from biting your fingers off, he likes getting petted.
I’ve always found snappers among the easiest turtles to tame. Although they are water turtles, they’re pretty much at home on land, too. So you can let them stroll around.
The point is: almost all animals respond to love, gentleness, and affection. Even some of the animals that you look at and say, “Oh, no way!”
This is an aspect of God’s creation–a distinguishing mark of His handiwork.
We call it love.
It’s not a rabbit at all, but a pika–furry little animals that live on mountainsides, amid the rocks. We have some in North America.
This is the “Ili Pika,” from a remote region of China. Until these photos were taken, it hadn’t been seen in 20 years. Please ignore the narrator’s blather about Global Warming causing this animal to go extinct. They only say that to make you believe you have to give the government a lot more of your money and expanded powers to trouble your lives.
Yes, it would be a tragedy to lose such an adorable little creature. Maybe a captive breeding program could ensure its survival. If it lived in America instead of China, something like that would already be happening.
Hi, Mr. Nature here–with the friendliest chameleon that I ever saw. You’d swear this lizard loves its owner! And is totally at ease with him.
Many years ago, we had a gorgeous pair of Jackson’s chameleons. The male of that species has three long horns on his head: most impressive. They were bursting with good health when we got them, ate crickets dusted with vitamin powder, zapping them at long range with their tongues… and in a few months, sickened and pined away. We then learned that was the experience most people had with pet chameleons. But much has been learned since then about keeping chameleons healthy, and now a lot of folks can manage it.
Meanwhile, dig those colors! I never saw a chameleon put on quite as gaudy a display as that. I wonder if selective breeding played a part: even years ago, chameleons bred readily in captivity.
When my Jacksons crawled up my forearm, their grip was very, very powerful and it sort of hurt. My iguana, who in other respects was quite friendly to them, hit the ceiling when the male tried to use his back as a ladder. Apparently the chameleon in this video has a gentler touch.
Chameleons never fail to fascinate me–another little bit of God’s stuff that He must have very much enjoyed creating!
No,it’s not an animated pine cone. It’s an animal some of you have never heard of–the pangolin.
Hi, Mr. Nature here, with a look away from the news–basta, basta! as they say in Italy–and toward some more of God’s cool stuff. Pangolins live in Asia and Africa, eat insects, and are protected by an armor of keratin scales. Keratin is the stuff your hair and fingernails are made of. The pangolin is the only animal in the world that has such scales.
The pangolin in this video is a pet enjoying a nice mud bath. In the background you can hear the owner muttering about what a job it’s going to be to clean him. Ah, well, it’s one of the things we do for our pets. Because we love them, and then love us, and the Lord Our God loves both them and us.
This is about as close as you’re going to come to getting a lizard to play, and I consider it cheating to put a nice, fat, tasty caterpillar inside the ball for the lizard to eat. These, by the way, are Australian bearded lizards, which have become popular pets in recent years. I don’t doubt the lizard enjoys the challenge of extracting din-din from the rolling ball, but it’s not really play as cats or dogs or birds or bunnies know it.
I’ve always wanted to have a bunny as a pet, but never managed it. Now I guess the cats would veto it. I don’t know about you, but I loved watching this little guy romp around with his ball. As much as I love them, lizards and turtles just don’t do stuff like this. It would probably be shocking if they did.
Animals can have embarrassing moments, too. See the poor tortoise trying to mate with a flip-flop. (To Linda: Notice this turtle vocalizes! Just like yours.) The cat who hasn’t quite mastered the art of unrolling a roll of toilet paper. The dog who honestly doesn’t want to fetch the ball out of the water. (Maybe he just saw Jaws.) Anyway, here they are–with all their charm intact.