Dog Howls with the Wolves in Zootopia
This German Shepherd feels for his comrades. When the wolves in the new Disney movie Zootopia howl, he joins in.
Appropriately, the scene is about a mass howling that started accidentally.
-via Pleated Jeans
Storytime with Abraham Lincoln
The following article is from the book Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Nature Calls.
These true accounts of President Lincoln’s animal encounters show that the Great Emancipator’s compassion wasn’t limited to humankind.
LITTLE ABE AND THE WILD TURKEY
Lincoln learned at seven years old that he was different when it came to animals. Most boys his age didn’t think twice about hunting wild game during the frontier days of the early 19th century. But one day, young Abraham Lincoln shot a turkey on his family’s farm. According to biographer Thomas Keneally, “The experience of destroying animal life, of seeing the gush of blood, repelled him, and he would never become the dead-eye frontier marksman of American myth.”
WHAT THE SHELL? 
When Lincoln was a teenager in the 1820s, a common pastime among his classmates was to catch terrapins (freshwater turtles) and then turn them over on their backs to watch them try to right themselves— usually unsuccessfully. Lincoln would have no part of such games. And when those games took a more sinister turn, the teen refused to stand idly by. This story comes from the 1909 book The Heart of Lincoln, by Wayne Whipple:
Birds Demonstrate How to Dance to EDM
There are more kinds of electronic Dance Music (EDM) than we can keep up with. Using various YouTube videos, several different kinds of birds show us the proper dances for each.
These birds can dance like nobody's business! Here’s part two of the demonstration.
You may have noticed that the music here is not original to the videos, because we’ve seen some of these birds dancing before. You find a list of the original videos and music tracks at the YouTube pages. -via Laughing Squid
How Dogs React To A Voice Actor Barking
Some voice actors are so good their mimicry abilities can fool anyone, even animals.
Rudi Rok is one of these incredibly gifted voice actors, and he's so good at barking, panting and other dog vocalizations he drives those poor poochies wild in this video by Jose Ahonen.
It seems dogs who hear a perfect imitation of a dog bark start barking, I wonder what they're saying to Rudi...
-Via Dorkly
Dogs Playing on Slides
Some dogs understand what’s supposed to happen on a playground slide, while others have yet to grasp the concept. It doesn’t seem to matter much, really; they all are having the time their lives! -via Tastefully Offensive
Bulldog Doesn't Need Water to Swim
It's hot in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Arnold the bulldog wants to cool off in the kiddie pool. Even though it's empty, he's good. He'll just swim around in the air, dragging his body along the bottom.
-via Tastefully Offensive
The Animal Version Of "Brother From Another Mother"
You're probably familiar with the “brother from another mother, sister from another mister” concept regarding people you meet in life who look like they could be your next-of-kin...or you.
This spooky similarity often goes beyond merely looking the same, as you discover you share interests, taste and mannerisms in common with your doppelganger.
The same thing can happen with animals, only their “brother from another mother” similarities can cross species, making a dog and a cat look like they were separated at birth.
Perhaps this doppelganger effect exists so every animal species on Earth will learn to get along with each other, whether we're hairless apes or hairless critters.
Dog Shuts Cat in Cabinet
This dog probably didn’t think much about it ahead of time, but when the opportunity arises, he takes advantage of the moment.
His parting words are the icing on the cake. I’m sure he said, “And stay there!” -via Arbroath
Boomer The Bengal Cat Shows Off His Skateboarding Skills
We've all seen dogs who are really good skaters, but as it turns out cats are totally rad thrashers too, and they were either too lazy or too cool to show off their skills for the sake of human amusement.
But in this video Boomer the Bengal finally relents and shows off his sk8 or die side while his famous skater sister Didga, as well as a few dumbfounded dogs, cheer him on.
Boomer is definitely the laid back beach cruiser type, and unlike those easily sidetracked canines he looks like he'd be happy to push that board around all day long!
-Via Laughing Squid
See more videos of Boomer and his sister Didga.
Found Cat
This Craigslist ad originated in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, where this kind of thing probably happens more it than does where you live. If you had a picture like that, you’d be tempted to do the same thing. I wonder how many responses they got. -via reddit
Another New Scottish Wildcat Kitten
Earlier this month, we got to see three new Scottish wildcat kittens at a British zoo. Now there’s one at the Chester Zoo in Chester, UK, as well. The single kitten was born in May to mother Einich, but had only recently emerged from its den for the first time. This event was caught on camera as the kitten heard its mother warn people away.
She’s letting you know she’s definitely a wildcat -but the two-month-old kitten is adorable. The cats, Einich and her mate Cromarty and the kitten, are not on public display, but zoo visitors can watch them on a webcam feed. Read more about the Scottish wildcats at the zoo’s website. -via mental_floss
Cat Found Hanging by Head in Grate
(Image credit: Winchendon Fire Department)
Passersby noticed a cat stuck in a grate over a storm drain in Winchendon, Massachusetts, last Thursday. The Winchendon Fire Department responded and found the cat with its body hanging inside the grate, and its head stuck. They believe the cat was inside the storm and drain and was trying to get out. However, it’s also possible that cat’s body slipped through from above. The fire department reported:
When we arrived the cat was barely breathing and moving as she was hanging from the grate. Lieutenant Peters, Firefighter/Medic Harding, and myself removed the grate and uprighted the grate so the cat could breath.
When the owner arrived we had him get some dish soap from his house and we applied it around the cats neck, we slowly worked his head back into the grate and within a couple minutes we freed the cat.
(Image credit: Winchendon Fire Department)
The one-year-old female cat was taken home by its owner, soapy but safe. -via HuffPo
Tiny Puppy Tries To Fetch The Newspaper
People love to teach their pets how to do tricks, and some pets love to perform tricks because they get extra treats and extra attention from their humans.
Dogs are (arguably) the easiest pets to teach, because tricks such as the army crawl, speaking and fetching just click with them on an instinctual level.
But just because they have the ability to do these tricks within them doesn't mean those tricks come easy to them!
Watching tiny Gracie struggle to fetch a Sunday edition-sized newspaper is truly inspirational, although something tells me she's going to be just fine with the death of the printed page.
-Via CountryLiving
Kids Swim with Giant Python
This is Sumatra, a giant albino Burmese python. She works with Redding Reptile Parties, an event service in Redding, California that brings reptiles to parties. In this video, Sumatra enjoys a hot summer day in the pool with two young friends.
Don't worry about the girls! They're safe. Corey Williams, Sumatra's owner, describes how gentle she is:
She has been to over 500 birthday parties and many schools, she has been around kids since she was a baby, she has never killed anything she even likes our dogs and cat. funny story I have found the most humane way to kill a rabbit or chicken is to give them a strong hit to the back of the neck with a hard object this normally kills them instantly for I don't like to see any animal suffer. Anyway I came in later to see if Sumatra had eaten and the chicken was walking around her cage, she would not touch it unless it was dead so I killed it for sure this time and she ate it right away.
-via Gifsboom
Heavy Metal Horse
James Dickson was driving a country road, windows down, music up, and the song “I’m Broken” by Pantera was playing. He pulled up next to a pastured horse wearing a raincoat who appreciated Dickson’s taste in music. The horse started head banging, then tapping his hoof, and if the car had stuck around a bit longer, we’d probably see him try crowdsurfing. Note that Dickson named the video after the 1992 Pantera album Vulgar Display of Power. -via Tastefully Offensive
