Results tagged “animals” from The official blog of Vat19.com

I know that nothing can ever compare to the traditional Rubber Ducky as the perfect tub toy. However, these Floating Ducks are a cute alternative for those who prefer something a little more modern and designer-y. Yes, that's a word.

Besides being a fun floating bath toy for your kids, they can also function as room decor. The baby rests on the mom's back (so cute), and they gently rock together, exuding a calm, almost Zen-like feel. Adorable!

By the way, for those of you who just can never get enough ducks, check out the ducky selection at Vat19. We love our feathered friends!

I think this is taking the Snuggie a little too far, don't you? I'll freely admit that, despite its laughable looks, the original Snuggie for humans is not a bad idea. It would be nice to be all cozy and warm while still being able to read a book or change the channel on my TV.

But dogs don't read, watch TV (well, most don't), sew, make coffee, dust, cheer on sports teams, drink coffee in the woods, or do any of the other crazy things going on in the video below. So why do they need a Snuggie? That poor dog up there looks entranced, like he was hypnotized into wearing the thing. As soon as he snaps out of it, I have a feeling he's going to try and rip that sucker off.

Anyway, for a good laugh, check out the new Snuggie commercial below. High-fives all around and a little sofa dancing at the end. These people have to be making fun of themselves ... right?

Yes, we all know that picking up your dog's poo is not the most pleasant task in the world. I mean, it's poo. No one wants to pick that stuff up.

HOWEVER, if you have any compassion whatsoever for your dog, you will not make him wear the PooTrap. I mean, just look at the thing! Do I really need to explain why this is ridiculous? I actually think this might be worse torture than dressing your dog in sweaters and shoes. How embarrassing for your poor dog (and you too, honestly). And it cannot possibly be comfortable.

Your dog is your best friend. It's always there for you, through thick and thin, giving you completely unconditional love. The least you can do is spare him the PooTrap and pick up his poo yourself.

This shark-shaped tent is really neat for kids. It isn't scary looking and also isn't too cute.

How fun would it be for kids to camp out (even if it is only in the backyard) in one of these? You could bring a portable DVD player along and watch Shark Week DVDs inside the Shark Tent!

Named after the novel 1984 by George Orwell, this futuristic fishbowl by Danny Cheung provides a little bit of well-deserved privacy for your gilled friend. The glass areas are magnified, so you can get a good look at your fish whenever he or she decides to make an appearance.

Plus, it just looks awesome, and it would go with almost any decor. You and your fishie may have to sacrifice for a while to afford it, though. It costs $430.00.

After some serious deliberation - in that, I thought about it for maybe 3 minutes - I've decided that the Pet's Eye View Camera is, sadly, trash.

Don't get me wrong. I love my dog, and I've often wondered what the world looks like through her eyes. However, I'm thinking that if you strap the Pet's Eye View Camera on your dog's leash, you're going to get a lot of pictures of grass, their bed, their water/food bowl, and, dare I say it, the private areas of other dogs. You know it's true! And if your dog or cat does happen to be doing something exciting, like chasing a ball or a mouse, the picture's probably going to be blurry.

Save yourself the 30 or so dollars and follow your dog or cat around for a day, snapping pictures with your own camera. They'll come out a lot better, and you and your best friend will have some great bonding time.

I'm a sucker for pretty much anything that has deer on it, and these Fawn Coasters by Joshua Stone are no exception. They're made of industrial felt, which seems to be all the rage right now, and the fawn is hand silk screened.

What else can I say? They're simple, peaceful, and completely adorable.

You can never have too many coaster sets, by the way. It's important to have one for every occasion. Be sure to check out the awesome selection of coaster sets and other barware over at Vat19!

Maybe kids will actually be willing to hang up their own clothes if they're able to do it with these super-fun Apehangers. The clothes hang off of the ape's legs and his upright arm serves as the hook to hang him up. See?

Cute, no? The trouble here is the cost. At $20 per hanger, you could easily get 20 regular hangers for the same price. But those are regular hangers, and this is an eco-friendly and organic monkey hanger that can also be used as wall decoration. So, there you go.

So, I'm a big fat fan of AFV (that's America's Funniest Videos to you non-dorks out there) from way back. I'm talking Bob Saget (aka Danny Tanner) days. I took a brief hiatus from watching the show during the whole Daisy Fuentes/John Fugelsang era. Seriously, it was awful. It's bad when you're more annoying than Bob Saget. But I digress...

Some of my favorite videos are the ones featuring animals. What's great about animals is that they are, for the most part, completely shameless. They will do things in broad daylight that humans - normal ones, at least - would not be caught dead doing in public. For example, take a look at this gem:

Or there is the indecent kangaroo, completely oblivious to the fact that he's being filmed. Or is he?

Ah, fresh boogers. Tasty.

I was bumming around the Internet last week when I ran across this:

That's an axolotl. What, you've never heard of an axolotl? (And if you have, I commend you.) They hail from Mexico, and although they are commonly kept as pets, axolotls are actually near extinction in their natural habitat. Cute, isn't he?

But the axolotl made me wonder, what other crazy species are out there that we've never heard of, much less seen? Nature is one big, curious place, after all. Here are a few of those bizarre animals that you may have never known existed, and I'm pretty darn sure you'll never encounter in real life...

The Star-Nosed Mole

You can find this fun guy in eastern Canada and the north-eastern US. His nose is made up of 22 mobile, fleshy tentacles that are used to identify food by touch. These tentacles are covered with about 25,000 minute touch receptors called Eimer's organs. That's a lot of touch receptors.

The Blobfish

When I first saw this, I thought it was a fake photo. I mean, really? But the blobfish does in fact exist. It inhabits the deep waters off the coasts of Australia and Tasmania. Its gelatinous build is only slightly less dense than water, so it can remain buoyant in the high pressures of the deep. It reminds me of Jabba the Hut.

As a bird lover and owner, I may be a little biased when I say that a yawning bird is one of the cutest things you'll ever see. But really, it is. Below, I've compiled a number of images and clips that show birds (including babies) yawning.

This baby cockatiel looks a bit like a yawning, uncooked chicken wing:

Judging by the fact that he can't stop yawning, I'm guessing this adult cockatiel is probably viewing this thread. If it hasn't made you yawn yet, this video will do the trick.

Even yawning, these bald eagles look kind of terrifying.

This Rose-Breasted Cockatoo looks awfully alert to be yawning.

This may be the laziest sun conure ever.

This image of Bluebell yawning comes from The Bird Forums.

The yawning seagull comes from this site.

This yawning cockatiel comes from a feature on yawning animals over at Let's Go Bandito.

Looking at a typical rat up close, it's difficult to imagine how anyone could ever be frightened by one of these adorable creatures.

Of course, all bets are off when it comes to rat kings. If you're not familiar with the concept, a rat king is the result of dozens of rats getting tangled together at the tail (perhaps by blood, excrement, or other debris). The specimen pictured below is a mummified rat king currently on display Altenburg, Germany at the Mauritianum.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, if you're into creepy stuff like this), the concept of the rat king is believed to be nothing more than a hoax. There has never been a verified sighting of a real, living rat king.

What makes it OK for some cartoon characters to be naked and not others? How come some animals don't have to wear pants but others do?

Clearly, cartoons aren't held to the same dressing standards as humans. That's fine, but I am curious about how a decision is made about which articles of clothing a character will and will not wear.

Both Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck have a significant piece of an outfit missing. Mickey Mouse wears shorts and gloves. He doesn't wear a shirt, but he's a guy so it's no big deal. However, Donald Duck wears a shirt and hat, but he doesn't wear any pants. Are mouse "parts" more vulgar than a duck's or something? It can't be based on sex because Daisy Duck also only wears a shirt and Minne Mouse wears a dress. Is it because duck butts are kind of cute and the animators wanted to show them off?

It can't be based on what type of animal the character is because Goofy is some sort of dog, and he wears a complete outfit, including a vest and hat. You can look to the Winnie the Pooh characters for more examples. Winnie the Pooh wears a little baby tee and Piglet wears a striped bodysuit, but Rabbit, Tigger, and Eeyore are naked.

Whether to be a naked cartoon or not isn't based on age either. Kanga (the mama kangaroo) doesn't wear any clothes. Roo (the little boy kangaroo) wears a shirt. You wouldn't want to cover up a kangaroo's pouch, but why give the little boy a shirt and not the adult mom? How backwards!

Even within the same type of animal, there are differences. Chip 'N Dale are totally naked, whereas Alvin, Simon, and Theodore are totally covered with long sleeve boy-dresses. Are Chip 'N Dale naked because their names can also refer to male strippers? There is a Chip 'N Dale movie where they are dressed in tuxedos like Chippendales. I haven't seen this movie, but maybe, just maybe, they are wearing clothing for once just so they can take it off. Oh Disney, you just might be the pervert people think you are.

There's tons of videos on YouTube about hidden messages in animated Disney movies, but here's a very short one that includes some of the most commonly talked about instances. If you prefer a video with actual movie clips and like "E-pro" by Beck, watch this one.

While humans certainly have some odd courtship and mating behaviors, that's a much larger topic than I care to tackle. Animals, on the other hand, are a lot easier to figure out Below, I've highlighted some of the more entertaining courtship behaviors from the animal kingdom.

Bowerbirds - Male Bowerbirds in New Zealand and Australia spend the majority of their time building impressive abodes for the purpose of attracting as many lady friends as possible. Below, you can see how one male bowerbird has created a place worthy of an HGTV special. He's assembled moss, berries, and even snail shells to create this earthy little love shack.

Seahorses - Seahorses get things started in the same way that a lot of humans do - by dancing. The pair will wrap their tails together, swimming and dancing for as long as 8 hours until the female deposits her eggs into the male's pouch. From there, the male seahorse will complete the process, carrying as many as 2000 baby seahorses until their birth. 10 to 25 days later.

Pond Turtles - Some male pond turtles flaunt their "fingernails" in hopes of attracting a female. If the lady isn't taking notice, he'll swim in front of her and wave his nails in her face. Imagine if human men did that...

It's also interesting to note that female Spotted Pond Turtles are able to save the male's sperm for up to 5 years and use it later to lay eggs. That sounds like a paternity suit waiting to happen.

Prairie Voles - Male prairie voles are, without a doubt, great husband material (assuming you're a vole, anyway). When the male vole finds a hot, single female vole, he hangs around for a few days until the female is ready to proceed. Once they have mated, they are nearly always monogamous until one partner dies. Researchers who set traps in the wild to catch prairie voles frequently find pairs in the same trap, due to the fact that they spend so much time together.

Elephant Seals - If the male elephant seal could talk, he'd probably say something like, "Dem's mah hoes!" while referencing a small herd of lady seals. Some of these prolific lovers claim seal harems of as many as 50 females, and they defend their territory viciously.

When approached by a male on his territory, he barks out the seal equivalent of, "I'll cut you, fool," and proceeds to launch into a fierce and bloody battle for the ladies in question.

I've never been much of a rodeo fan, but I'd pay good money to get a first-hand look at this dog-riding rodeo monkey. According to the video, the 21-year-old capuchin monkey, Whiplash, is a complete natural when it comes to dog-riding. He's been riding his canine friends for over 18 years now, and they're currently on tour in Texas.

For more pictures of Whiplash, check out his homepage, Whiplash Rides. I've gotta say, he's a pretty snazzy dresser.

And if you still can't get enough of Whiplash, check out his performances in the Taco John's commercials 20/20 Tacos, Nachos Navidad, and Ride Little Monkey Ride.

When we saw this story, our first thought was that there is no way that a snake could be a cuddly pet that you would hug and love and RIDE ON. The video below proves otherwise. Apparently, the young boy and the python have grown up together and they're best friends. The fact that the snake lets the boy play with him so roughly is completely mind-blowing.

Pandas are well-known for their low sex drives, especially in captivity. The couple below has figured out how to keep the fire burning, though, and they're proving to be quite an attraction at the Tokyo zoo where they live. Apparently, they kiss for roughly an hour each day. Their mushy behavior is particularly interesting in light of the fact that Red Pandas are typically solitary animals who seek partners only during the mating season.