Animals that Drag People Around

While a team of Saber-tooth tigers would be a fun ride, I don't happen to own any Saber-tooths at the moment.

I DO have a sheltie, though.  So my style is probably more like this:

Okay, I had to post this gorgeous photo of REAL dog sledding. Dogs can sled 90 miles in one day!

Dogs pulling people around is as old as time, but you have to check out these other animals that pull, or even carry, people!

Riding a buffalo!Who knew you could do that?

Did you know you can ride the Texas Longhorn?

Now, wait! People can actually ride a moose?  
Ha ha, I didn't know that.

A really good reason for riding animals is racing them, and there are some interesting races going on in the world...

Believe it or not, England has both ostrich AND zebra racing!

In winter, it's fun to race reindeer:

And no, the reindeer aren't in distress...they tend to run with their tongues out  :)

In the hotter parts of the world, look for camel racing!

What fun! There is also yak riding and elephant riding.  

But I had to dig deep in the archives to find improbable animals pulling carts. Take a look at these old photos!

Pigs pulling a milk cart! And just where was the mother of those kids in the lion cart?  

Then there's this:


What kind of animal do you want to ride? Leave me a comment!

Creatures In Your Easter Basket

I'm not talking about poodles that look like cotton candy...though they're really cute, aren't they?

I'm talking about real creatures. Made by God. 

That look like candy!

How can this be real?  Look at that fuzzy yellow fur.  And pink and yellow wings. 

Let's see if his face is just as sweet:

Awww!

But what kind of candy is he like? I'm thinking those marshmallow "Peeps"... like maybe this guy belongs in your Easter basket. Let's see what that would look like:

See him in there? It could happen!

Below, you see the Candy Betta fish... and they definitely look good enough to eat!

So these colors must help the Candy Betta fish hide in... jelly beans?  Maybe the speckled jellybeans you might find in your Easter basket.

Aha!  The Candy Betta fish hides in jelly beans!

Then there's the Jewel Caterpillar...

I know, I know, it looks like a gummy!

What if there were Easter candy gummies out there? 

There are...little bunny gummies.  And the perfect place for our Jewel caterpillar to hide in.  Can you see him?

Okay, we need one last candy-looking creature for our basket. 

The Chocolate bunny!

by Mesa Terasita

Yes! It's all coming together!

There are four different candy-looking creatures hiding in the basket above. 
So check your Easter basket carefully... and say a friendly "Hello" to anything unusual in there!

The Wild Pig That Never Was

What animal sweats pink,


...has skin that cracks easily in the sun,


...only comes out at night,


...and is only 30 inches tall?

Jelly You'd Never Find in the Fridge

They aren't fish, so their name has been changed...
›
...to Sea Jellies

Which I like better than their old name... Jellyfish.

A sea jelly is made of the top part, called the umbrella, and the bottom part, called the bell.

Many live upside down, looking like plants on the ocean floor.

Does this Fur Make Me Look Fat?

The answer is... um... yeah.  You look fat, kitty.  

But that's not your fault.  You have the heaviest coat of any cat, because you live in some of the coldest places on earth; Mongolia and Siberia.  Brrrrr.

In Mongolia temperatures can fall to -57 degrees and kill millions of livestock animals.

But cold doesn't kill Pallas' cat.

Photo credit: Terry Whittaker

Though the size of a house cat, this cat is made for winter.  It is stocky, small-eared, and fuzzy.  And its tail is thick enough to be a muff, sheltering its face from the icy blasts.

So what does the Pallas' cat find to eat out in those snowy wastelands?

But it's a bit strange-looking.  I mean, check out this picture below... there's a little bit of monkey in that face, don't you think?

Can you pinpoint why it doesn't look quite like a cat?

Let's compare face to face: 

• The ears are small, roundish, and way low on its head
• And check out the eyes...the Pallas' cat's pupils are round, not slits like in a regular cat.  
• And where's that cute little line that goes from the nose down to the mouth?  

Want to see Pallas' cats in action?

They don't make good pets...think of the vacuuming!  But check out exotic cats that do make good pets here.

The Mane Thing About Lions...

Photograph by Natalie Manuel

The King of the Jungle...the lion.  

Surveys tell us that most people, though they have trouble naming many other animals shown to them, can identify a male lion.

That's a relief!

There are eight types of lion, most of which live in Africa. 

Asiatic lions, like the ones pictured below, live in the Gir Forest in India:

Most lions are varying shades of color, but there are some white lions living wild in Tambavati. 

White lions are not albino, but leucistic; their normal tan coat color is suppressed with the chinchilla gene, but their eyes are gold-brown, not red like a true albino's.

And that big lion mane? Lions are the only big cats where it's easy to tell the males from the females.  

Except in Tsavo, where the Maneless lions live.  

Did you know that some maneless lions are man-eaters? Check those out those bad boys here.

As for lions WITH manes, let's take a look at the different colors their manes can be: 

Amazing variety, isn't there? You know, I bet Simba was a black-maned lion from Kenya...like the one on the bottom left. There's a  resemblance, right?  :)

Can female lions grow manes, you ask? 

Well, it's rare, but they can! Look at this couple in Botswana:

You can read more about this crazy pride of lions here:

https://roaring.earth/lionesses-grow-manes/

Got something to say about this?  Leave me a comment!

Strange Cattle You Never Knew Existed

You see them by country roads; in dairies and grazing in the fields.  They all look the same.

They're just COWS

But I bet you haven't seen some of the hardiest, strangest cattle in the world.

Let's take a look:

Cattle in Africa have to be sturdy and heat-resistant. 

And give milk as well as meat. The Ankole Watusi fills the bill perfectly.

I love Longhorns!  Did you know that there are English longhorns as well as Texas ones like the above? Below is an English longhorn:

Record holder for the longest horns in the world?   

Poncho Via, a Texas Longhorn in Alabama, currently has horns 10 feet, 7 inches...and they'll just keep getting longer! 

Then there's the very shaggy Highland cow, below, which can now be found in Australia as well as in other climates much colder than Scotland.

Above, the Schwarzenegger of all cattle, the Belgian Blue! It has double the muscle of other breeds.  Belgian Blues weigh one ton... about 700 pounds more than most other breeds.

Thought to be descended from the extinct Aurochs, the Zebu, above, is essential in tropical countries for meat, milk, and as a draft animal. Zebu makes me think of the Veggie Tales song :)

Mini-cattle?  Actually, these little guys are much cheaper and easier to raise than the big ones... kind of makes you want to put one or two in your backyard, doesn't it?

So which of all these amazing cattle is your favorite?  

Me? I kind of lean toward the Belgian Blue... always hoping, of course, that he won't lean back! :)