Sunday, December 19, 2010

Doce Animales

For those of you who don't speak Spanish, that would be said DOE-SAY AH-NEE-MAH-LAYS.

It fit the necessary cadence better than twelve animals or twelve favorite animals. So there we have it... my favorite animales!!!

Note: this list, in several cases has been influenced by zoo experiences, though I should note, I love many OTHER animals... I pretty much think all of them are cool.



Meerkats: These guys I like so well because they sit and look at you like little old men... or stand up and look around... but they have those faces... no fear, just curiosity—they have a way of making you feel like YOU are the zoo display.

Lemurs: I might think these were just another cute animal if not for a particular zoo experience. When I was in college my best friend asked me up to Portland for the weekend to help take her grandpa to the zoo. She and I, and her brother took it in turns to push the wheelchair through the Portland Zoo (which is technically Washington Park Zoo, but nobody ever calls it that). We got to the Lemur cage and looked and looked... nothing... all of a sudden there was a loud noise and 20 heads popped out of this... gray ROCK. It was hysterical... they'd all just been clustered together sleeping. I've been enchanted ever since.

Orangutan: I've told my orangutan story here before... It's at the bottom of this post. I always liked them before... had one play peek-a-boo with me... but that kiss at Thing 2 won me over forever...

Hippos: This is TOTALLY because of the Toledo Zoo. They have the best Hippo display EVER. There is a viewing area where you can see the hippos underwater, doing their hippo ballet thing, but the first time we went, there was a mama hippo laying on her side, half in the water, and her baby bobbing there in the water nursing. It was WAY cool...

Giant Anteater: Is this the coolest looking animal you ever saw, or what? In all my years of zoo-visits, I had never seen a real one until about six or seven years ago when we went to the Detroit Zoo. The Detroit Zoo is a MARATHON... it's huge and inefficiently set up (say, compared to the Toledo Zoo which is about the same distance from us if measured in hours instead of miles—one, in each case), but the giant anteater made it worth the miles and miles we had to walk to see everything.

Giraffe/Elephant/Penguin: These are animals I always loved, but I love them even more because I have good friends who are somewhat obsessed. Giraffes and elephants are just cool and penguins are amazing to watch, because they are so playful.

Cat: I love cats. I like dogs too, but I like dogs more like I like children... I love them if they are cute, well behaved, clever, and especially when they are MINE (or belong to someone I love) but if they are annoying or out of control, I lose patience quickly. Yappy, in-your-face ones in particular make me want to smack the adult responsible. Cats on the other hand, I ADORE. I love them unconditionally... cute, ugly, cuddly, bitchy. I've been called a cat whisperer... even mean cats like me, given enough time. If I lived alone, I'd probably have three cats. More strains what I am willing to do litter-box wise, but one seems lonely when I'm gone, and two, they end up liking each other better than me (at least if they are litter mates). Whatever the case, I will always have at least one, and if our money situation were better, I'd probably argue for a second (but at the moment we've put a moratorium on new pets)

Hedgehog: Have you ever SEEN anything so cute? Seriously. Have you? I dare you to find something and declare it impossible! I watched a video on a bookstore owner by Boston who had a Hedgehog named Stanley that she sometimes brought to work—she says she sells more Hedgehog centered kids books than any other store... not surprising!

Otter: Not just otters... River otters... they are so playful and fun. I was once a white water rafting guide and on one of my training trips we woke up one morning to CRAZY splashing and came out to find river otters doing this hysterical chase game. They do it at the zoo, too, but I was delighted to find it in nature. And look at those faces!

Wombat: You know... I wasn't even entirely sure what a wombat looked like until I first met my Aussie friends and got edjumaketed. But they've become a symbol of my honorary Aussieism, which I love. They look so cuddly! (though I hear their claws are pretty brutal). I actually love all the marsupials and could have put Wallaby here, but the wombat is sort of symbolic...

The dolphin would be my patronus... erm... if I were a witch and powerful enough to MAKE a patronus, I mean... I love the playful, helpful all rolled into one thing... In fact it MIGHT even be my animagus form, though there are pretty serious limits to only being able to transform in the water...

And of course, you all already know THIS... LLAMA!!!

So there we have it...

I was terribly productive yesterday, but need to be today, too... editing fool... card sending maniac (I think I am only going to manage family at this late date)... and the endless laundry...

17 comments:

ViolaNut said...

Hedgehogs and otters and wombats, oh my! Okay, you hit all my faves, my work here is done. ;-)

The Words Crafter said...

I love, love, love this list!!! And I completely agree with it....except, don't EVER go swimming with a hippo.

I'd have to add a sloth, a seahorse, and maybe a falcon....

This made me smile and feel all fuzzy, thanks!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I'd add wolves - beautiful and smart predators.

Hart Johnson said...

Leanne- you note I had the collective for Mari, Natasha and Stacy, but all YOUR favorites are also on MY list...

WC-Oh, yeah... that sounds like a bad idea... hippos are pretty aggressive, especially where their babies are concerned. Don't want to stand either in front or behind them on the land, either... And sloths are pretty cool, too--yeah, I like all your additions.

Alex-I really like wolves, too. I'm sort of an animal nut all around, but they aren't so cuddly--though I had a friend with a dog that was half wolf and he was really cool (other half Malamute--he was GORGEOUS)

Al said...

Good to see the wombat there!
All great creatures.
Hmmmm, I'll have to think of my own list.

I Must Be Off said...

I love all doce. That little hedgehog wins, though. I once had a hedgehog who made its nest right outside my laundry room. I thought some perv was getting amorous out there, but it was just the hedgehog getting comfy . . . and grunting like a large man rutting.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I believe the proper word after viewing all of those photos is SQUEEEE!!!!
Cats top my list.

CA Heaven said...

A couple of these animals I hadn't even heard of before (anteater, wombat), so can probably guess I'm not a zoologist.

My favorite animals are the turtles. I like the way they live their lives at slow pace, and kind of see things on a longer term >:)

Cold As Heaven

Hart Johnson said...

Al-looking forward to your list!

Chris-that's hysterical a little hedgehog can be so loud! I've seen then at the zoo, but they are completely enclosed, and I saw one at a magic show--he was an albino--but none of them made any noises... I like that they're noisy!

LDiane-teehee--I like cats best as PETS.

CaH-the giant anteater (in fact I think ALL forms of anteaters) are South American--rainforest dwellers though I want to say the aardvark might be African, and they have a lot of similarities. (just looked it up--they ARE African). And I really like turtles, too--I actually considered them, but my list filled up. As an astrological cancer (the crab) there is some history of some places noting us as turtles instead--hard shell, soft on the inside..., but terribly determined.

Old Kitty said...

Yay!! All my favourite ones are here too!! Awwww I love this post -thank you!!!! That baby hippo compared to mum - now that really has the "aaaaaaaawwwwwwwwww" factor!! Take care
x

Helena said...

Cutest pictures EVER of a hedgehog and wombat. Otters are like the fun side of ADHD -- always playing and hyper. Did you know that of all the animals, it's the dolphin's brain that most resembles the human? So cool.

Thanks for such a sweet, fun post.

mshatch said...

the hedgehog is definitely the cutest - now if there had been a pic of a kitten, maybe I'd argue but it would have to be a really cute kitten, like super cute. Thanks for these awesome pics :)

Jan Morrison said...

oh man, if there is anything cuter than men's bottoms it is these animals! Wow - what a week on the tartlette side...
I like river otters - in fact that's what my sweet patootie is - really! And I love whales and I have a car hippo named Bev. Of course I'm mad for chickens - are they animals? Well they are if penguins are. I want a hedgehog and have you heard of these tiny little critters sort of like miniature opossums? Can't remember their names but they fly through the air like flying squirrels and I know someone who has them and she loves them. I'll find out. Right now.

Jan Morrison said...

Sugar gliders - that's what they are. I love google.

Cheeseboy said...

Ha ha - - I used the same exact picture of a hedgehog for a post recently.

Our zoo only recently got rid of their one and only hippo. It was old and the cage smelled like death. Hippo death. I suppose I should visit Toledo's.

Natasha said...

Elephant- that's definitely my patronus, and if I ever become an animagus, that's what I am sure to become.

For some strange reason, I always thought of hedgehogs as prickly creatures, but that picture makes me go squeeee. I want a hedgehog as a pet. Also a panda, and a cheetah if he learns to behave. And otters are super cute, aren't they? Though I never learnt to become a catwoman....

Hang on, this is not my list. Maybe I should make one of my own.

Sarah Ahiers said...

i'm a big elephant fan. I even have an elephant tattoo. Good times