This relatively famous photograph of Dali was a collaboration between himself and artist Philippe Halsman. It’s part of a series of photographs called “Dalí Atomica” inspired by Dali’s own painting Leda Atomic. The photograph of Dali with the flying cats and water attempts to capture the dynamic weightlessness of Leda Atomica’s image of a floating woman entangled with a swan:

For a period he was obsessed with the form of anteaters. Many of his paintings feature long slender figures with strange proportions that seem both alien and organic. To achieve this he studied live anteaters and was even seen walking around New York City in the ’60s with an anteater on a leash.

Dali even observed how the forms of animals match the work of others. In this movie, he notes how the shape of the woman in Vermeer’s The Lacemaker mimics a rhinoceros’s horn:

It’s a real shame he died in the ’80s, before the Internet’s obsession with animals came to fruition. Who knows how high he could have soared with Keyboard Cat on his side. As fellow animal lovers, Snuzzy salutes him!

It’s a boy! This little guy – a lesser anteater or tamandua – was born just days ago to mom, Cypress, at Discovery Cove, in Orlando, Florida. The youngster will hitch a ride on mom’s back for the first part of his life until he’s able to walk and find food on his own. Tamanduas are native to the forests of Mexico to South America. They use their sharp claws and 16-inch-long tongue (41 cm) to eat up to 9,000 ants in a single day. Discovery Cove is an all-inclusive experience in Orlando where guests can swim with dolphins, snorkel among tropical fish and interact with animals. Find more at DiscoveryCove.com. Photo by Jason Collier, Discovery Cove

Click the pictures below for higher resolution:

The mom kind of looks like the “Migrant Mother” in this one.



It’s hard to tell he’s smiling because his eyes are so far apart from his little mouth!



This one looks like it’s from a Variety photo shoot.

Max has been a bit not-so-energetic lately with the seasons changing. African pygmy hedgehogs are not fans of winter, so I’ve been making sure he gets all the rest he needs. Not that he doesn’t sleep 90% of the time anyway (the other 10% is spent running a marathon on his wheel every night at 6 am and then going back to bed) but he’s been especially pooped lately.

So I’m going to give Max a break this week and instead focus on other adorable exotic animals. Some of them can be owned as pets, but most of them are more fun to just admire on the Internet. Here we go!

Species: Tasmanian Devil
Can I own one? Nope, they’re non-domesticable and endangered!

Tasmanian devils are adorable but they’re not really pet material. A lot of times you’ll hear that animals are nothing like how they appear on TV, but the Looney Toons character Taz is a pretty good representation of Tasmanian devils. They’ll eat pretty much any animal including cats, dogs, fish, birds, and even sheep.

They’re cute, but they’re endangered! Unfortunately, as of the mid-1990s, tasmanian devils have been slowly going extinct due to a rare form of transmissible cancer. You can’t own them as pets, but you could help save them! (via OMG Blog)

Species: Giant African land snails
Can I own one? They’re illegal in the US but they’re popular pets in the UK.

Giant African land snails make great pets! They’re super smart and affectionate to people. They don’t leave slime trails (at least not all the time) and grow about the size of a kitten. You can see more pictures and videos of pet snails on this older Snuzzy post.

Species: Anteater
Can I own one? Though legal in some areas US, you probably shouldn’t!

Anteaters are surprisingly adorable. Apparently they’re totally different from ‘aardvarks‘, the kings of jokes about the dictionary, and the idea that ‘aardvark’ is a synonym for ‘anteater’ is a common misconception. They’re related to sloths and armadillos, and have weird sloth-like arms. They’ll sometimes stand on their hind legs and wave their arms around for attention. They make for weird pets, in fact, Salvador Dali owned one, and he’s super weird:

The above picture of the anteater in a sweater is of Pua, a rescued anteater living in Oregon (via Telegraph). The sweater keeps her warm, as she’s used to living in a tropical climate. Her owner says she smells badly and eats weird things and releases weird odors and fluids. But she’s so cute! Here’s a video of Pua begging for treats in her own weird anteater way:

Creepy! And adorable! Exotic animals can sometimes make fun pets, but they’re exotic for a reason. They usually have special needs like being out of commission most of the time (Max) but they’re often adorable! Do any Snuzzy readers have weird pets, or a favorite weird animal?

This aquarium in Japan has been welcoming a new little ray of sunshine. The baby anteater has been shown to the public with it’s mother. She’s famous around Tokyo as she’s managed to open her cage and escape. Once, she was missing for a whole day, but she’s certainly staying around for now.

It takes one year for anteaters to reach maturity. They don’t have teeth but use their long sticky tongues to lick up ants and juice out of fruits. Some species eat up to 35,000 ants and insects every day.

Thanks to reader Delph for the link!

In a reader and can’t see the cute anteater? Watch it here.