Animals on a McDonald's Diet

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXcetqhTKJo

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It's Hump Day

Guess what day it is? What day? What? That's right, it's Wednesday.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWBhP0EQ1lA

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Squirrel Obstacle Course

Most people use their clothesline for ... well ... clothes. Others have a more creative approach. One that allows the clothesline to have an alternate life.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u78aSsEXS68

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Cats Playing Patty-Cake

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3iFhLdWjqc

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Weird Wednesday: Like Custard - Horse Semen Shots

I don't even know where to begin. Seriously though, what the ...? Read it for yourself: Horse Semen Shots Taste 'Like Custard'   ▣
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Hilarious Animals

Here's to hoping this puts a smile on your face. I actually got a couple of good chuckles out of this. Enjoy.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7YIAWsyB1I

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Giant Rat

It's amazing how we're still discovering animals in this day & age. But to discover a giant rat? Well, that's just weird, disgusting and amazing all at the same time.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uP-kOPirdg

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How on Earth ...

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Amazing Dog Escapes Kennel

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDFrMht2wbo

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Baby Elephant Sneezes and Scares Himself

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtIz1u8g1F0

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An Amazing Parrot - Funny Bird

I totally missed Friday's post and I'm even late delivering today's one. I'm hoping this oldie but funny parrot would make it up ;)

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G9fkvBzzQE

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Parahawking: Paragliding with Hawks

Parahawking is paragliding while specially-trained birds of prey swarm all around you; including vultures, eagles, falcons but predominantly with hawks. It’s available in Nepal courtesy of a bird rescue group called Himalayan Raptor Rescue. The video is amazing. I cannot imagine the feeling. It must be truly inspirational and exhilarating.

Birds of prey have a natural instinct to conserve energy wherever and whenever possible. During a flight, a bird will burn more energy than it would if it was just sitting in a tree, this means it has to eat to replace the used energy. Sometimes birds will travel long distances to find food. To conserve energy whilst flying, birds of prey use thermals. Thermals are rising currents of warm air that are created by the sun heating the ground. Birds can gain height and travel long distances without flapping their wings by using thermals. Paragliders also use thermals when they are flying and will often use wild birds to guide them to where the thermals are. Our trained birds are no different, they will find the thermals in order to stay aloft and conserve energy whilst flying. We as paragliders harness their ability to conserve energy by following them as we fly.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06jhjML8ZE4

Our birds need to be rewarded for guiding us into the thermals. During the flight the passenger will place small morsels of meat onto his gloved hand, the birds will come and gently land on the hand to take the food, and then gracefully fly away to find the next thermal. A perfect symbiotic relationship

[via urlesque]   ▣


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21 Creative & Inspiring Photographs

I find myself constantly looking for good photographs on Flickr and around the web. I've even posted about a few that I really like on Facebook. I'm not a photographer, nor do I know if I'll ever be one. I do, however, enjoy and appreciate good photography; and know that it's an art and a skill. One thing's for sure, those who create some of the most creative photos in the world, have great passion for photography and some good few years of practice and experience. Here are 21 of some really creative photographs, granted some are digitally manipulated (obviously), which truly inspire.

Wildlife Photography

The first eight are wildlife photographs that are not digitally manipulated. Unfortunately, I've collected them over the years and don't know their authors. With some proof, I'd be happy to add the appropriate credit.

This is my favorite photograph of all.

Although a different kind of photography, the next selection of photographs is truly inspirational.

Rajala's Apple

Koen Demuynck

Alexandre Dubosc

Erik Johansson's work is my favorite in this type of photography and image manipulation. Just brilliant work.

Chema Madoz - He has many others. I chose only these three.

Creative Tempest - Definitely one of the Flickr pages I follow and look forward to. The artist has a lot that I cannot possibly do any justice in explaining. Very much worth a visit.

If you have your own or collect magnificent photographs similar to the ones above then share them with the rest of us in the comments. Also, send me an email. I'd love to see your work and may be even post about it in the future. ▣

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Weird Animals - The Star-Nosed Mole

For today's post, I was intrigued by some of the weird and unusual looking animals we have on this planet of ours. Today, I chose the Star-nosed Mole for its unique look.

These moles are not rodents but belong to the mammalian Order Insectivora. Insectivora means insect eater, and this group includes moles, shrews, and hedgehogs. The most notable aspect of the mole is its large, powerful front feet, designed for pushing soil out of its way. The mole has an average total length of 5½ - 6 inches (14 - 15 cm) and a short, sparsely haired tail 1 - 1½ inch (2.5 - 3.8 cm) long. The fur is very soft and differs from that of most mammals because it does not project toward the tail. With their fur pointing up, moles can move forward or backward within their tunnels without rubbing their fur the wrong way and trapping soil in their coats. The coat is so fine and dense that it keeps out water and dirt. The fur is slate gray with a velvety sheen. Moles living in red clay soils sometimes appear rusty in color. Their bellies may be slightly lighter in color, and some may have tan or orange blotches on their bellies.

I'm not sure about their scientific name as I've found some conflicting information, or perhaps just different species of the same type of mole (who knows?). In one instance, I found that its scientific name is "scalopus aquaticus." Other times, I found it listed as "condylura cristata."

According to Wikipedia ...

The Star-nosed Mole (Condylura cristata) is a small North American mole found in eastern Canada and the north-eastern United States . It is the only member of the tribe Condylurini and the genus Condylura.

[It] lives in wet lowland areas and eats small invertebrates, aquatic insects, worms and molluscs. It is a good swimmer and can forage along the bottoms of streams and ponds. Like other moles, this animal digs shallow surface tunnels for foraging; often, these tunnels exit underwater. It is active day and night and remains active in winter, when it has been observed tunnelling through the snow and swimming in ice-covered streams. Little is known about the social behavior of the species, but it is suspected that it is colonial.

The Star-nosed Mole is covered in thick blackish brown water-repellent fur and has large scaled feet and a long thick tail, which appears to function as a fat storage reserve for the spring breeding season. Adults are 15 to 20 cm in length, weigh about 55 g, and have 44 teeth. The mole's most distinctive feature is a circle of 22 mobile, pink, fleshy tentacles at the end of the snout. These are used to identify food by touch, such as worms, insects and crustaceans.

In my research about this creature, I found a good PBS video on YouTube that I thought was worth sharing.


iPhone/iTouch users: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m0PMcXK6XA

What do you think? Do you like being presented with weird and/or unusual looking animals on Weird Wednesdays?  ▣


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