(Photo: Denise Thynne)

Man's best friend may be a dog, but this woman loves her cat especially well right now.

Denise Thynne, 66, of Mirani, Queensland, Australia went out into her yard to water her roses. When she reached down to pick up her hose, a snake lunged out of the bushes and bit her.

It was a red-bellied black snake. It might have tried for a second bite, but it didn't get the chance. Thynne's cat, Skitzo, leaped into action. ABC News reports:

"She came out stalking and it looked like she was mesmerising it and then she just went in for the kill," Ms Thynne said.

"I turned the snake over and saw the red belly and thought 'oh that's not a very friendly one'."

Recall that this incident took place in Australia, the country where nature is most determined to kill you. Thynne is highly experienced at getting bitten by snakes:

Ms Thynne said she was well versed in what to do, as it was the fourth time she had been bitten by a snake.

She is not keen on a fifth experience.

"I'm a bit of a pro at this snake business," she said.

"My mum always said it'll be a snake that kills me, so yeah, I'm not really planning on one [a fifth experience], but who knows.

-via Nothing to Do with Aborath

While many people will be out fist fighting over the best discount sweaters, you can meet a new best friend and take him or her home for free. That's because Zappos.com is partnering with a national animal rescue program called Best Friend Animal Sanctuary and the rescue's network partners to offer free animal adoption on Black Friday. Aside from Zappos covering the adoption fee, the company will also be donating an additional $150 to the rescue for every animal adopted to help other furry friends that don't get new homes that day. 

Even if you can't get to one of the rescues in your area, you can adopt a dog or cat from the rescue's Utah location, where they will help transfer any pet at the shelter to your location in any of the 50 states.

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What’s not to love about snow? It’s deep, and cool, and slippery! It can be hard or it can float on air. You can jump on top of it or dig underneath it. And best of all, the kids are playing in it! The drawbacks are that it’s cold and hard to drive in, but if you’re a dog, you have a fur coat and nowhere to drive anyway. -via Tastefully Offensive

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Junior is a French Bulldog. Walter Ledermüeller is his human. They like to sing together and have a YouTube channel filled with their car-based performances. They're often joined by Walter's partner Emanuel.

In the past, they've made covers of hits such as "Let It Go" and "Love Is an Open Door" from the movie Frozen. In their latest music video, the duo sings a version of the song "Diamonds in the Sky."

-via Tastefully Offensive

What more is there to say about this picture than hey, it's freaking adorable and perfectly seasonal. You can also buy a version of it on a card from Avanti Press if you want to send it to your loved ones. 

Via PetsLady

The guinea pig is in the cat tree, resting quietly where the cat normally parks himself. Oh, the spot doesn't have the cat's name on it. But everyone knows that that space is for Cat, not Guinea Pig. So, move little piggy!

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The guinea pig is having none of that. Even sitting on him is not persuasive.

-via Huffington Post

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Three-year-old Hadley teaches the family dog (who looks to be a poodle mix — possibly a Goldendoodle) how to offer his paw to shake. Her father looks on as the lesson progresses, with both teacher and student apparently feeling confident in their performances. Via Viral Viral Videos

A mother's work is never done. Jill the ferret is busy putting her babies to bed. She takes the last one from her human’s hand, but she’s not through!

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Oh, she just got caught up in the process and didn’t stop when all the babies were in. No, she does it again! Jill is adamant that it’s bedtime for her human, too. Some mothers are just bossy that way. -via Tastefully Offensive

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In this "keep a Kleenex box on standby" video, social media darling Manny the Frenchie, a very vocal French bulldog whose human is no stranger to philanthropic gestures, visits a fan of his in New Orleans. Joycelun, who suffers from cystic fibrosis, recently underwent a double lung transplant. Her stepsister contacted Manny's owner to let him know about Joycelun and her love of the canine celebrity.

In this video footage, under the guise of an interview about her disease, Joycelun is surprised and thrilled by a visit from Manny and is presented with other surprise gifts as well. Via Uproxx

Rocket News 24 introduces us to this lucky rabbit owned by Japanese Twitter user @goen0414. She won't be living a hard, cold life in the wild this winter. She's got a knitted bunny hat to keep her ears warm. And that's only the beginning of what this pampered bun enjoys . . . .

Most dogs will scarf down a slice of pizza if you let them, but some dogs actually enjoy having a pizza party with their human friends.

My hungry little mutt gets into party mode whenever I come walking through the front door with a box full of that signature pizza smell, and apparently beagle buddies Maymo and Penny are pizza party fans too.

But why does this particularly peculiar pizza pie have a face? And why does it keep talking to Penny?!

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Maymo and Penny like their pizza parties sans talking pie, thank you very much, because nothing ruins a doggone good mood like a chatty piece of plastic pretending to be a pizza!

-Via Cute Overload

This kitten is in training to be a badass. And she thinks she already is. Watch her whip up on this big old Siberian husky and show her who’s the boss.

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The perspective from the canine side is a little different. This dog obviously has extensive experience with youngsters. Maybe she’s had puppies. Anyway, it takes practiced patience to tune out the annoyance so it won’t interfere with dinner. A dog has priorities. -via Tastefully Offensive

Raccoons are one of the most playful animals on the planet, and their odd sense of humor makes for some really funny footage when humans are lucky enough to catch their antics on camera.

They're also one of the most curious critters in the world, so it's hard to tell whether they're playing or satisfying their curiosity or both in this funny video.

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The video was shot by Shaun Hart, who says he's entertained by their silly behavior every time he rides his motorcycle to the river by his house.

This family of raccoons are my Tuesday morning entertainment. They put on this little show every time I park down near the river.

-Via Laughing Squid

Melanie Hill of the WILD Foundation lives close to nature. A camera trap in her yard near Boulder, Colorado, caught this photograph on November 4.

"I got this camera trap to document the bear activity in our yard (unsuccessful at this point, of course), so I was incredibly surprised to see this regal bobcat casually stroll through! Pretty amazing."

It’s as if this guy is posing for his picture! Some commenters tried to identify the cat as a lynx. They specifically meant a Canada lynx, as bobcats and Canada lynx are both in the genus lynx. It’s true that Canada lynx have been reintroduced to Colorado, but bobcats are all over the US. And this cat, with his relatively small feet and low butt, is a bobcat. A Canada lynx looks like this. -via reddit  

(Image credit: Melanie Hill)

(Image credit: Feline Care Cat Rescue)

They named this cat Brian after the man who found him, but they should name him Captain Kirk. See, he’s got a left ear, and a right ear, and then a final front ear. (badum ching)

(Image credit: Mel Kind)

Feline Care Cat Rescue in East Harling, Norfolk, UK, took in a cat that has three ears.

Miss Farrar, 38, said: “He’s obviously very distinctive with his extra little ear so someone must be missing him or recognise him.

“He’s in a bit of a tatty and skinny state. He’s been in the wars a bit and has a fractured canine tooth and ear mites so he obviously needs looking after.

“We see all sorts of cats here but Brian is by far the most unusual, he is something special.”

If Brian’s owner doesn’t step forward, he will be put up for adoption. -via Arbroath