Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love my ordinary boring rescue tabby cats if no particular breed. And really big chill domasticated dogs/cats/rabbits. I also have a family inherited soft spot for sheep — my granny has a sheep farm — although that’s a different vibe than a pet. Working sheepdogs also have a special place in my heart.

For wild animals, I love many but I think the North American tundra ecosystem is my favorite. Moose, polar bears, bison, ermine, seals, etc. Love them all.

OP we have a boring rescue tabby also and love her to pieces - visitors are amazed by how friendly she is.

Interesting about your granny having a sheep farm! Don’t know much about them but they do seem to enjoy each others’ company.

I can’t get over the size of moose - just their foot prints are big enough to sit in. We would like to visit the NA tundra system (in a safe low impact vehicle) and see these animals in their own element. Do you recommend anywhere in particular?

Sheep are the most pack animals. Anything one sheep does, no matter how dumb, every other sheep will do too. They’re kind of evil and mean too but I’m fond of them (and I love wool).

As for northern animals, I visited this wildlife sanctuary when I was in Whitehorse. https://yukonwildlife.ca/ I loved it because we were only able to see about half the animals — the enclosures were so large they could choose to be far enough away from visitors we could barely spot them if they wanted. Also apparently the deer can jump the fence of their enclosure and sometimes leave to go on adventures but they like coming back because it’s safe and there’s food. (I also saw two lynxes just hanging out by the road while we were up there which was pretty cool too.)

I like Great Pyrs but they drool and need a job.

My miniature donkey serves as our livestock guardian. He’s fierce if anything threatens our animals!

I, also, have a big soft spot for Great Pyrenees Mountain Dogs, and, really, any goofy fun loving dogs. Also a huge fan of cats, horses, burros, and all the wild critters.

Pigs scare me. They will devour anything.

Anonymous wrote:I love Great Pyrenees dogs.

For wild animals, I love lizards, quail, and hummingbirds. Also hippos but not when they’re angry.

OP - that is a very eclectic range of choices there. Will have to look up Great Pyrenees dogs.

Hummingbirds are extraordinary - there is a cloud forest in the Ecuadorean Andes where there are over 25 species of hummingbirds and they are all so beautiful.

Agree with you about hippos - I like them fine at a distance but not when territorial males are chasing your boat … interesting that a mostly vegetarian species can be so aggressive …

I always take lizards as good luck omens when they scurry by … just a silly superstition …

Anonymous wrote:Puffins

OP - they are my fave European bird as well! So much character …

Puffins

I love Great Pyrenees dogs.

For wild animals, I love lizards, quail, and hummingbirds. Also hippos but not when they’re angry.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Obviously, kangaroos

Yep, a kangaroo would hold all these other animal nominees underwater until the roo was top dog.

😂 Folks here are terrified enough of Roos as it is.

I think the elephants, giraffes and moose will do fine against the Roos! Our mutts may need a little assistance though …

🐘

Anonymous wrote:Obviously, kangaroos

Yep, a kangaroo would hold all these other animal nominees underwater until the roo was top dog.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am an underwater photographer specializing in macro. Nudibranchs are so diverse! I have some really cool Shaun the Sheep photos that are the size of a grain of rice.

I also love photographing Pygmy seahorses, mantis shrimp, and flamboyant cuttlefish. My favorite has to be the bobbit worm. They are SO AMAZING!

Wow - what a cool job. May I ask where you go to film these under water delights ? Do you scuba dive to get the shots?

What are under water Shaun the Sheep photos ?

Shaun the Sheep are a type of nudibranch that are 1-3mm in size and photosynthesize from sunlight. Amazing creature!

And yes, scuba is required because you have to be extremely still to shoot macro that size.

https://www.boredpanda.com/leaf-sheep-sea-slug-costasiella-kuroshimae/

OP - thanks - that is fascinating. They look like a combo of cartoon like sheep faces surrounded by peacock like leaves. You are right - beautiful and odd!

Amazing that they can photosynthesize - had no idea there were any animals that can do that.

“How do Leaf Sheep Photosynthesize?
What’s fascinating about the tiny cute animal is that they are one of the only sea creatures in the world to perform photosynthesis (the others all belong to the sacoglossa sea slug clade).
When these weird animals eat algae, they suck out the chloroplasts and incorporate them into their own bodies in a process called kleptoplasty. This process, which otherwise can only be performed by single-celled organisms, essentially makes them solar-powered slugs!”

Thanks again for fun info about a unique marine animal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am an underwater photographer specializing in macro. Nudibranchs are so diverse! I have some really cool Shaun the Sheep photos that are the size of a grain of rice.

I also love photographing Pygmy seahorses, mantis shrimp, and flamboyant cuttlefish. My favorite has to be the bobbit worm. They are SO AMAZING!

Wow - what a cool job. May I ask where you go to film these under water delights ? Do you scuba dive to get the shots?

What are under water Shaun the Sheep photos ?

Shaun the Sheep are a type of nudibranch that are 1-3mm in size and photosynthesize from sunlight. Amazing creature!

And yes, scuba is required because you have to be extremely still to shoot macro that size.

https://www.boredpanda.com/leaf-sheep-sea-slug-costasiella-kuroshimae/

Anonymous wrote:Fave domesticated are big mutts. All of them. Although I have fallen in love with a neighbor shiba inu and a corgi.

Fave wild are crows and ravens. I hear magpies are fascinating too but we don't have them here. Our crows all live in green worlds of plenty so they don't seem able to be tempted by feeding or else I would try it. They have their raucous days where they all seem to be up to something. It's amazing to think of them and all the raptors flying and able to see the detail on the ground.

OP - Nice choice

Yes big and little well adjusted mutts are wonderful. I usually prefer mutts to purebreds as they tend to be less neurotic and often have fewer health problems as long they get lots of love and adequate training.

Yes sometimes the crows are deafening along the canal. And, I often see raptors such as hawks, Turkey vultures and vultures near the canal. That is a major reason why our cats are indoor cats (plus we have foxes and coyotes near us).

I agree that carvids are super interesting.

“Crows and other corvids (a family of birds that includes ravens and magpies) “know what they know and can ponder the content of their own minds,” according to a 2020 study in Science. This is considered a cornerstone of self-awareness and shared by just a handful of animal species beside humans, such as monkeys and great apes. Crows can also use their complex brains to find creative solutions, such as dropping nuts on the road so passing cars can crack them open …

Crows are extremely intelligent. They can use tools to get what they want, like New Caledonian crows in a single South Pacific island of the same name, which shape twigs into hooks to catch grubs from rotting logs. And according to new research, crows are even smarter than we thought”.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a34165311/crows-are-self-aware-like-humans/#

Dogs and giraffes

Anonymous wrote:I love my ordinary boring rescue tabby cats if no particular breed. And really big chill domasticated dogs/cats/rabbits. I also have a family inherited soft spot for sheep — my granny has a sheep farm — although that’s a different vibe than a pet. Working sheepdogs also have a special place in my heart.

For wild animals, I love many but I think the North American tundra ecosystem is my favorite. Moose, polar bears, bison, ermine, seals, etc. Love them all.

+1