Porcupine Christmas

How about this. A lady treated a young porcupine to a holiday meal.  Fun.

Here is the link to this prickly little critter chowing down.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDG2cwsndhk

Juggling Otter

Otters are fun. One of my favorite animals. When I was young, I used to tell my parents I wanted have an otter farm.  Silly, Huh? Actually, I got the idea from an article I read about a real otter farm down in Louisiana.  No, it was not about raising otters to make fur coats. The purpose was noble. They were raising them for reintroduction to areas where they had been trapped out in darker times, when otter skin coats were a fashion statement. Anyway, I thought being an otter farmer would be a really cool thing to do.  I actually acted on that impulse later in my life. That's story I'll tell in another blog.

Earlier today, I came across a video of an otter in a zoo amusing itself, juggling two rocks at the same time.  With the exception perhaps of a few particularly gifted primates, you don't often see small animals demonstrating manual dexterity. Now I know. Otters can juggle. In this case, not just one, but two rocks.  Fun.  Impressive.  A hoot to watch.

Moreover, as I was preparing this blog entry, I found out that juggling otters are not at all uncommon.  See another one below.  Type in  'juggling otter' on your search engine. You'll be surprised at how many links are there.

Here is a very amusing video link to a juggling otter... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0r6Qvz3Eoo

Tickling a Hedgehog

Hedgehogs are funny little creatures. They appear to be some kind of rodent that has armored fur covering much of its body.   In fact they are not rodents. They belong in a mammalian family known as Erinaceidae.  If you want to know more than that, click on this link.

Despite their prickly armor,  some people seem to like having Hedgehogs as pets.  It's not hard to understand when you see the sweet interaction between this little 'Hedgie' and its human tickle giver.

Here is a link to tickling a hedgehog...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIEdetUheyI

Cat Meets Snow for First Time

This video is delightful.  A kitty leaves the house and experiences snow for the first time.Fun!

The video link is   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW1j7lzX0dw

Snoring Dormouse

This video is precious. A tiny creature asleep in the palm of a man's hand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlS3w1GGE8g

Simian Delight

Human interaction with wild gorillas was pretty much unheard of until Dian Fossey's enchanting, but ultimately tragic story was told in the movie, Gorillas in the Mist. The mountain gorilla is one of the most critically endangered, large animal species on Earth. As of January, 2011, there were just under 800 of them in the world. They can only be found in a few protected areas in the Eastern Congo, Uganda, and Ruwanda. These days their best hope may come from the tourist dollars generated by foreigners, who travel to Africa to experience wild gorillas, up close. These intelligent, peaceful, and mostly vegetarian creatures share about 99% of their genetic identity with humans.

I love this video. Partially because it is reminiscent of a scene in Change Agents, my most recent screenplay. The large male patriarch, also known as the silverback, weighs in the range of 400 pounds. In this amazing moment of human-gorilla interaction, the silverback pays an unexpected visit to a tourist camp, accompanied by his wives and their kiddies. 

The best part begins just over a minute into the video. It is magical. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvWjBlzArII