Along the same lines as segments that I remember from my childhood on That’s Cat and Sesame Street, let’s see if you can make your way through the photo-shopping and figure out what animals don’t belong in the following series of pix. It’s pretty tricky. Don’t get all worked up over it if you can’t figure it out. It’s just a game. ;-)
This is a story about a Beagle and a duck, an unlikely duo who became the best of friends. When Sheila passed away the owners decided that they would memorialize her and have her stuffed. This video captures the moment when Toby and Sheila meet again. I know it sounds kind of weird, but a couple bits of this vid are priceless. Pay attention to:
1. The reaction of Toby when he sees Sheila again (0:39)
2. When Toby knocks off Sheila’s beak (0:48)
3. When Toby runs after stuffed Sheila, who is being dragged on a rope by a running girl. Yeah: pretty random. But also pretty cute. (0:51)
Like I said, it’s kind of a strange way to show this relationship to the world, but I think it works. And I appreciate the dedication and sense of humor that the owners show. Thumbs up? Thumbs down? Let me know by clicking on one of the little snuzzy thumbs above.
Link: [YouTube]
Just checking each other out. Getting to know each other. Not bringing up religion or politics, yet…
Link: [YouTube]
I interrupt this normally snuzzy Tuesday morning with a bit of serious news. A dangerous pickpocketing circuit has begun making its way around many major U.S. cities, causing havoc and pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars on a daily basis. The recent reports suggest that the ring will soon be making its way overseas to terrorize the streets of Europe and Asia, so I am doing what I can to make sure that people are aware of the dangers and do what they need to do to protect themselves.
One of my reliable sources broke it down for me like this:
The gang usually is comprised of four members: one adult and three younger ones. While the three younger ones, all appearing sweet and innocent, divert their “mark” (or intended target) with a show of friendliness, the fourth–the eldest–sneaks in from behind the person’s back to expertly rifle through his or her pocket or purse for any valuables.
…at least not the one that led Vancouver Police officer Ray Petersen to the spot where her ducklings had disappeared. When the eight ducklings fell into a sewage grate on Granville Street in Vancouver, Mrs. Mensa Duck instinctively waddled over to Petersen, tugged his pant leg and led him to the scene of the crime. Petersen was a little hesitant at first, but mommy’s determination proved hard to resist. As soon as the officer figured out what was going down, he called in back up and saved the day… and the ducklings!
From the article in the Vancouver Sun:
Petersen, a community police officer for Granville Downtown South, was walking in the 1500-block Granville Street (directly under the Granville Bridge) Wednesday morning when a duck came up and grabbed him by the pant leg. Then it started waddling around him and quacking.
… “I went up to where the duck was lying and saw eight little babies in the water below. They had fallen down between the grates.”
Nice save, Petersen! To get all your facts in a row, you can read the whole article here.
The urge to mother and the desire to be mothered shine through once again, as seen in these pawesome interspecies shots found over at Arts and Life!
Thanks to Dogwater for bringing this to our snuzztention!
Here’s a fuzzy little snuzzy that popped into my inbox earlier today:
Joel is a loan officer at Sterling Bank in Spokane, WA. He works downtown in a second story office building, overlooking busy Riverside Avenue. Several weeks ago he watched a mother duck choose the cement awning outside his window as the uncanny place to build a nest above the sidewalk.
The mallard laid nine eggs in a nest in the corner of the planter that is perched over 10 feet in the air. She dutifully kept the eggs warm for weeks and Monday afternoon all of her nine ducklings hatched.
Joel worried all night how the mamma duck was going to get those babies safely off their perch in a busy, downtown, urban environment to take to water, which typically happens in the first 48 hours of a duck hatching.
Tuesday morning, Joel came to work and watched the mother duck encourage her babies to the edge of the perch with the intent to show them how to jump off! The mother flew down below and started quacking to her babies above. In his disbelief Joel watched as the first fuzzy newborn toddled to the edge and astonishingly leapt into thin air, crashing onto the cement below.
He couldn’t watch how this might play out. He dashed out of his office and ran down the stairs to the sidewalk where the first obedient duckling was stuporing near its mother from the near fatal fall. Joel looked up. The second duckling was getting ready to jump! He quickly dodged under the awning while the mother duck quacked at him and the babies above. As the second one took the plunge, Joel jumped forward and caught it with his bare hands before it hit the cement. Safe and sound, he set it by the mamma and the other stunned sibling, still recovering from its painful leap.
One by one the babies continued to jump to join their anxious family below. Each time Joel hid under the awning just to reach out in the nick of time as the duckling made its free fall. The downtown sidewalk came to a standstill. Time after time, Joel was able to catch the remaining 7 and set them by their approving mother.
At this point Joel realized the duck family had only made part of its dangerous journey. They had 2 full blocks to walk across traffic, crosswalks, curbs, and pedestrians to get to the closest open water, the Spokane River. The onlooking office secretaries then joined in, and hurriedly brought an empty copy paper box to collect the babies. They carefully corralled them, with the mother’s approval, and loaded them up into the white cardboard container. Joel held the box low enough for the mom to see her brood. He then slowly navigated through the downtown streets toward the Spokane River, as the mother waddled behind and kept her babies in sight.
As they reached the river, the mother took over and passed him, jumping into the river and quacking loudly. At the water’s edge, the Sterling Bank office staff then tipped the box and helped shepherd the babies towards the water and to their mother after their adventurous ride.
All nine darling ducklings safely made it into the water and paddled up snugly to mamma duck. Joel said the mom swam in circles, looking back toward the beaming bank workers, and proudly quacking as if to say: ‘See, we did it! Thanks for all the help!’
I didn’t think it could get any snuzzier than this video of a cat snoring:
but then Tedr sent me this snuzzy vid of a duck snoring:
If that last one doesn’t make you want to curl up on some newspaper and go to sleep, I don’t know what will.
