Geophones and Golden Moles

Wildlife expert Steve Leonard travels to the desert to try out some of the ground breaking technologies employed by conservationists in their effort to monitor animal behaviour on the sand dunes. LINK, Via: Youtube

Orange Baby Baboon

Check out this bizarrely-colored baboon baby from Israel. LINK: Youtube

Dancing Goat!

"QUOTE" We have a little 3 week old orphan Nubian goat kid that thinks he is a human! His mother rejected him so he follows us around and likes to copy our movements! LINK: Youtube

TOP 10 ANIMAL LOVERS : Tasmanian Devil

The "devil" in this little critter's name may be due to its rather rough and tumble approach to courtship. On top of having a mating call that could shatter glass, the Tasmanian devil also has a nasty temper and will throw down with anything that gets in its way — even a potential mate! Good thing this dalliance only lasts three days, at which point the she-devil has finally had enough and kicks Mr. Wonderful to the curb. Guess it comes as no surprise that these charmers tend to live alone. LINK

Dramatic Eagle

Another addition to the dramatic animals family (dramatic chipmunk, cat, lizard, hamster, prairie dog. LINK: Youtube

Mimic Octopus

Octopuses are thought to be one of the most intelligent invertebrates and can change the color and texture of their skin to blend in with rocks, algae, or coral to avoid predators. But until now, an octopus with the ability to actually assume the appearance of another animal had never been observed.

"Having studied many octopus species in the wild, I am never surprised by the color and shape change capacities of these animals," said Mark Norman of the Melbourne Museum in Australia. "However, this animal stood out as it was the only one we've encountered that goes beyond camouflage to take on the guise of dangerous animals."

Norman and fellow researchers Julian Finn of the University of Tasmania in Australia and Tom Tregenza of the University of Leeds in England describe the octopus mimic in the September 7 issue of Proceedings of the Royal Society of London.

"This," Tregenza said, "is a rather dramatic animal."

Talented Impersonator

Mimicry is a fairly common survival strategy in nature. Certain flies, for example, assume the black and yellow stripes of bees as a warning to potential predators. But the adaptable octopus is the first known species that can assume multiple guises. LINK: Youtube

Wood Chucks throwing Wood

Remember back in the day saying this tongue twister. LINK: Youtube

Honey Badger-The Most Fearless Animal on Earth

Guinness Book of World Records have named this specie the most fearless animal on earth. Just watch this video to see why. This unbelievable animal can take on the deadliest animals on earth without fear. Amazing animal. LINK: Youtube

The Sand Dollar - An Animal that can Clone Itself

The Sand dollar is well named – it looks like a coin after all. However, this denizen of the Pacific coast has a trick up its sleeve. It can clone itself.

Bizarre, but true. A few years ago scientists discovered that the larvae of the Sand dollar are able to clone themselves. When they were exposed to the mucus of their natural enemies – fish – they demonstrated a unique defense mechanism. They cloned themselves which meant more or less that they halved their size. It is thought that this new smaller size helps them to avoid detection by fish and so increase their survival chances.

Link, Via: Neatorama

20 Animal Pictures That Will Make You Smile

Animal pictures are sometimes both strange and funny. The photographers have to choose the right moments to capture their action.
Here are 20 funny animal pictures that will make you smile. LINK: The Presurfer

A Scary New Breed of Canine

Cryptozoologist, Ken Gerhard, investigates strange animal sightings in Texas. LINK: Youtube

Kangaroos On the Loose in America

Read about four different sightings of wild kangaroos in the United States. Not surprisingly, some people believe that the mystery animals of North America are paranormal manifestations of some kind. But that might be jumping to conclusions.

Various theories have been put forward in an attempt to explain the bizarre phenomenon, but to date no satisfactory answers have been found. Some commentators suggest that kangaroos in the United States are the shy descendants of animals that, on some unknown occasion in the past, escaped from a circus or zoo. One rational explanation is that they are native marsupials not yet officially discovered or classified; however, the only evolutionary ancestors come from South, not North, America.

Link, Via: Neatorama

From the Upcoming Queue, submitted by MrGhaz.

The Most Painful Animal Bite on Earth

Image: nebarnix

Remember how whiny you were when your parents made you get a job or mow the lawn or whatever it was you had to do to “become a man/woman?” Feel like a sissy looking back on how “hard” you had it then? If not, you will.

The Setere-Mawe people of Brazil have found something far worse (albeit less humiliating) than your first job at McDonald’s.

Meet the bullet ant. So named because those unfortunate enough to have been stung by one compare it to a gunshot wound – very unfortunate people; apparently, they have also all been shot. It reportedly has the most painful sting of any insect on Earth.

LINK: pictures.blogspot.com

Snail with vanishing spots

The flamingo tongue snail Cyphoma gibbosum appears to have a shell decorated with bright spots (top of image). Amazingly though, the spots aren't actually part of the shell, but rather the animal's flesh! When the animal retracts into its stark white shell, so do the spots (bottom of image). The Cyphoma gibbosum is the star of the latest CreatureCast video from Dr. Casey Dunn's laboratory at Brown University. RISD animator Chris Vamos, who was also a student in Dr. Dunn's invertebrate zoology course, created the video. LINK, Via: Vimeo

The Carved Leather of Mark Evans

Mark Evans carves images onto leather with knives. He’s deliciously unpretentious about his craft:

Art doesn’t get more primal than etching animal skins with a big knife. I don’t do ‘pseudo intellectual’ I make art.

And that’s it: no postmodern angst, no childhood issues. Just a guy with a knife and a sheet of leather. At the link, you’ll find a gallery of his amazingly-detailed work.

Link, v\Via: DudeCraft, Via: Neatorama

Hedgehog was as drunk as a skunk

A hedgehog had to be rescued in Braunton after getting drunk by eating fermenting apples. The animal — now named Tipsy — was discovered in an orchard on his back and squealing loudly last Wednesday.

Tipsy was taken home by Ann and given painkillers, antibiotics and some non- alcoholic apple juice. Ann said: "The next morning I came in and turned the light on and she squealed really loudly. She obviously still had a big headache."

Tipsy, aged about six months, is due to be hibernating for the winter now but is currently underweight and without sufficient body fat to keep her warm. Ann will feed Tipsy to a healthy size of 600g and release her in the spring. LINK

Largest. Animal. Ever.

The largest known animal in our Earth's history is the size of a basketball court and weighs as much a 8 DC-9 airplanes.

This article attempts to put some astonishing facts about this creature into perspective.

The Blue Whale’s tongue weighs around 2.7 metric tons (5,952 pounds) about the size of an average Asian Elephant.

Its mouth is large enough to hold up to 90 metric tons (198,400 pounds) of food and water which is equivalent to 420,560 Big Macs

Its heart weighs 600 kg (1,300 lb) and is the largest known in any animal.



Link, Via: Neatorama , Via: Youtube

Vegetables That Look Suspiciously Animal

The biodiversity on this planet is just astounding. Even with loss of habitat and the threat to flora and fauna, there is still so much to uncover and appreciate.

Image: Martin_Heigan

Sometimes timing is everything. The photographer of this great shot found the sun hitting this Ceropegia monteroiae flower just so, to create a smiling face with eyes slightly shaded by what look like long, lovely lashes. LINK, Via: Neatorama

Beautiful Animal Photography By Tim Flach

Professional photographer Tim Flach takes photos mostly of animals that includes horses, bats, pigs, monkeys and others. Renowned for his highly stylized animal portraits, design and detail dominate his visual style. Tim Flach’s work has been featured in publications such as Creative Review and Stern Magazine and won many international photography awards that includes the Association of Photography and British Design & Art Direction Awards.

All images copyrighted to Tim Flach

35 more pics of animal photography by Tim Flach at this LINK.

Habitats!

"Prairie Habitat" LINK
Footage of prairie and grassland habitat and animals courtesy of Pronghorn Productions.

"Amazing animal habitats!" LINK

Wild Trakka Chris Humfrey takes us on a field trip in his mate's back yard! It's amazing what habitats mankind has created for 'creep-crawlies'