This penguin is so terrified of water she is having swimming lessons http://t.co/eaVvkouLwJ pic.twitter.com/7YvmKYUyGP

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) July 13, 2015

Just jump in, Charlotte. You're a penguin, so you've got to swim. All penguins can and you're old enough to join them.

But Charlotte struggles to overcome her fear of the water. So this king penguin that lives at the Birdland Park & Gardens at Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire, UK, is getting swimming lessons. Alistair Keen, her zookeeper, is giving the lessons himself. The Telegraph reports that she's doing well:

Mr Keen said: "Initially Charlotte was absolutely terrified at the prospect of getting her feathers wet.

"I know penguins can't fly but she was making a pretty good attempt in her bid to avoid taking the plunge.

"In the wild the chicks only learn to swim by following their parents in to the water so I, as her adopted dad, felt obliged to get in and try to show her how it was done.

"At first it didn't seem like she was ever going to get the hang of it, she certainly hasn't taken to it like a duck to water."

If you want to score any money on the street with this classic con, then you've got to improve your skills. Hamlet the cat knows exactly where the pill is. You're wasting his time and you'll waste your money if you try to hustle money this way.

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-via Huffington Post

Who says being a mute, thoroughly furry being with a smaller brain than that of other U.S. Presidential candidates is a disadvantage in the race? One Democratic Party candidate from Louisville, Kentucky, specifically, feline Limberbutt McCubbins, has legally filed and been approved for the race. Though he can't debate or give rousing speeches, his promise as a figurehead is exciting, to say the least. 

A friend of his human suggested McCubbins run for the office. He said to NPR that he thought Limberbutt would be perfect for the job. McCubbins has since received support far and wide regarding his candidacy.  

Learn more about Limberbutt on his Facebook page and website; there you can visit and tell him what you believe to be the pressing political issues of our time (and see if he seems to give a nip about them). 

Yesterday the race for Dem presidential nominee was shaken up by Limberbutt McCubbins #Limberbutt2016 #Limbermentum pic.twitter.com/jEh9Hjr94h

— Robert Maguire (@RobertMaguire_) May 7, 2015

 

The Charleston RiverDogs is a minor league baseball team in Charleston, South Carolina. The team employs Titus to retrieve bats from the home plate after batters have dropped them. He does a fine job contributing to the team, which was smashed by 12-2 in this game against the Kannapolis Intimidators.

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-via Tastefully Offensive

(Photos: AFP/Reuters)

On the left is American actor George Clooney. On the right is Japanese gorilla Shabani. Both have sent many female hearts aflutter with their rakishly good looks. The BBC calls Shabani the "metrosexual gorilla."

Well, hello there, miss. Welcome to my cage. Would you care for a drink?

Shabani, 18, lives at the Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens. In March, he came to the attention of young Japanese women on social media. The BBC reports how women describe him:

Ikemen: It's the Japanese slang for "handsome guy". The word is a combination of "I-ke" (pronounced "ee-kay"), which is an abbreviation of a word meaning "cool" or just "good", and "men" derived from the English. […]

Dark and brooding: According to local media reports, many women who flock to see Shabani in action are using words of admiration often attributed to the likes of George Clooney or Hugh Jackman or Japan's own Ken Watanabe - "shibui" (meaning "bitter") and "nihiru" (derived from the English "nihilistic") both used to describe "dark and brooding" men.

Unfortunately, ladies, Shabani is taken. He's already married--to another gorilla 24 years his senior! He has a son, too. But you're welcome to visit him at the zoo. Just expect cold stares from his wife.

-via Oddity Central

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Open wide and say “Aah!” Dr. Cat is looking for cavities. What he finds shocked him. -via Tastefully Offensive

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Rich Wilcock was photographing the beach at Gwynedd, Wales. He was accompanied by Leia, his Cocker Spaniel. Leia kept on barking at and nudging Wilcock, drawing his attention to a spot on the beach. There, Leia had found a beached baby dolphin. The Daily Post quotes Wilcock:

“At first I thought it was a baby shark, it was only about one and half foot but on a closer inspection I could see the blow hole on top of his head and realised it was a dolphin.

“There was nobody around for miles so I did what I could as gently as possible. I lifted him gently under the belly and popped him back amongst the waves and he swam away into deeper water.

The video above shows the entire rescue.

-via Nothing to Do with Aborath

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While on his lunch break, YouTube user MrTomostan of the seaside town of New Quay, Wales taught a seagull to dance for treats.

The bird appears to be engaging in wormdancing. Seagulls do this to encourage worms in the sand to burrow to the surface to be eaten.

-via Tastefully Offensive

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Porcine protagonist Otis nearly gets himself into a bind when opting to use the doggy door to gain entrance into his home. So what if, according to his human, he'd just snuck into the garage to scam for snacks? That's neither here nor there. Someone needs to show Otis some respect and install the piggy door his fluffy self so rightfully deserves! See more adventures of Otis and his friend Bella the Pug at their YouTube channel. -Via Laughing Squid

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Melanie the raccoon may not necessarily be — as her human bills her — the "smartest raccoon in the world," but she's certainly bright enough to know that if she gets on these effeminately colored little wheeled vehicles and rides from point A to B, she's going to get some of her favorite chows. And that's good enough for her! Good onya, Mel!

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Little Neo is 25 days old in this video. She’s had her eyes open long enough to know that Mom is the bomb, and a kitten can learn by copy-catting what Mom does- even when she doesn’t understand why. Keep doing that, Neo, and you’ll learn to cat just fine. One day you’ll look in the mirror and realize that you not only act like Mom, but you look just like her, too! -via Daily Picks and Flicks

And it’s not the least bit accidental. The dog is very carefully keeping the water aimed at her owner. She’s impressively smart.

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-via Blame It on the Voices

(Photo: Unihabitat)

My Papillon will crawl onto any open lap that he can find. He’s bred to be a lapdog, so it’s what he expects. Perhaps this new bed design by the Japanese pet supply company Unihabitat will be an adequate substitute when a real lap isn’t available. It contains gel-filled packets arranged like a pair of human thighs. Think of it as the canine equivalent of this home mainstay:

-via Home Crux

“I swear, man, that monster came out of nowhere!”

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This poor cat was just minding his own business and eating his lunch. While he dined, his human servant sneaked a huge cucumber right behind him, just out of his field of view. When the cat turned and noticed the cucumber about to attack him, he justifiably panicked.

-via Tastefully Offensive

These sweet baby panda photos were captured at the Chengdu Research Base in China, a place where there's no shortage of cute around every corner. The facility also plays a huge role in the well-being of this highly endangered species.

Shown here are photos of their breeding center and nursery. With a species whose total head count is thought to be as low as 1,864, each birth that occurs and is subsequently nurtured there is precious. Female adult pandas only breed for two to three days a year, and they give birth to one cub every two years.

To learn more about the organization, see videos and more, visit panda.org.cn. See a gallery of adorable baby panda photos from them here.