Mi Vida Ocupada

This handsome horse (at Leben's Old Town Market) wandered up to see what I was doing and then he posed for a pic :)

If You're afraid of spiders…DON"T LOOK!
This hairy guy was crawling on the screen door but stopped to pose for me before I threw him outside.  Used the macro setting to get better details, in real life he was less than 1"

While boating on the lake my parents live on, a pair of loons came extremely close to us and I was able to get a pic of this fascinating bird.  If you are unfamiliar with loons, the are Minnesota's State Bird and make very unique vocalizations (listen here).  Too bad you can't see his glowing red eyes in this photo :(

Isn't this a cute little critter?

I came across it on Friday while helping a student look for pictures of an arctic fox.  Galagos are small, nocturnal primates that live in Africa (also known as bushbabies).
There are a few different species of this animal, they are sometimes kept as pets.


Just wanted to share these little cuties :)

There were many beautiful Koi fish in a lovely little pond at Mai Village Restaurant, had to take their picture! I have always wanted to have my own pond of Koi, I think they're cool!

I have been fascinated with the concept of hybrid animals ever since I first heard of the Liger, a cross between a male lion and a female tiger.  A search brought me to hemmy.net and a list of the Top 10 Hybrid Animals.  This entire post was taken from that website….it was so intriguing that I had to share!
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Our editors have created a list about the top 10 hybrid animals. Hybrid animals are cross-breds between animals of similar genetics. They mostly exist in captivity and are the result of human intervention.

10. Liger/Tigon
Though they are fascinating animals, they get the last of the list
because they are the most popular known among the hybrids. Ligers are
crossbreeds between a male lion while Tigons are crossbreds between a
male tiger
and a female lion. Ligers are the world’s largest cats. Tigons on the
other hand, are prone towards dwarfism and are usually smaller than
either of their parents. Male Ligers/Tigons are sterile while the
females are often fertile. Below shows a liger and its trainer Dr.
Bhagavan Antle at a Renaissance Festival in Massachusetts, USA, October
2005.

Futher Read: Truth Or Fiction

9. Wolf Dog
Dogs and wolves tend to crossbreed rather freely. The wolf is a shy
animal depending on nuances in body language, facial expression and on
hunting skills to survive. Their jaws are much stronger than those of a
dog and are often used to exert dominance. For a dog wolf hybrid, it is
not known when it will display a wolf behaviour or dog behaviour or
something in between. Obedience training is a must in order to tame the
animal.

Further Read: Dog’s Owner Guide

8. Iron Age Pig
Domestic Tamworth pigs are crossbred with wild boar to create ‘Iron Age
Pigs’. The hybrids are tamer than wild boar but less tractable than
domestic swine and generally become specialist pork sausages. Most of
them are bred for the specialist meat trade.

Further Read: Wikipedia

7. Zebroid
A zorse is the result of crossbreeding a horse
and a zebra. A zonkey is the result of crossbreeding a donkey with a
zebra. The Zony is the result of crossbreeding a pony to a zebra. All
these three are called zebroids – defined as a cross between a zebra
and any other equid. Zebroids are preferred over zebra for practical
uses such as riding because of its body shape. However it is more
inclined to be temperamental and can prove to be difficult to handle.

Further Read: Green Apple, Wikipedia

6. Cama
A Cama is a hybrid between a camel and a llama. They are born via artificial insemination
due to the huge difference in sizes of the animals which disallow
natural breeding. A Cama usually has the short ears and long tails of a
camel but the cloven hooves of a llama. Also most noticeably is the
absence of the hump.

Further Read: Taylor Llamas, Wikipedia

5. Grolar, Pizzly
A grolar/pizzly hybrid is the product of a grizzly bear and a polar
bear. Although the two bears are genetically similar, they tend to
avoid each other in the wild. During 16 April 2006, a hybrid bear was
shot dead by Jim Martell,a hunter from the United States, in Canada. It
was the first time a hybrid was found in the wild where previous
records of grolars or pizzlies have only been found in zoos.

Further Read: BBC News, Wikipedia

4. Leopon
A Leopon is the result of breeding a male leopard and a female lion.
The head of the animal is similar to that of a lion while the rest of
the bodies carries similarities to leopards. The most successful
breeding programme was at the Koshien Hanshin Park in Nishinomiya City,
Japan. Leopons are larger than leopards and likes to climb and enjoy
water.

Further Read: Wikipedia

3. Hybrid Pheasant
The Golden Phesant has commonly been crossed with the similar Lady
Amherst’s Pheasant. The result is a hybrid with distinguished colors
from its parents.

Further Read: Messy Beasts

2. Wolphin
A wolphin is a rare hybrid formed from a cross between a bottlenose
dolphin and a false killer whale. There are currently only two in
captivity at the Sea Life Park in Hawaii. A wolphin’s size, colour and
shape are intermediate between the parent species. The first captive
wolphin was Kekaimalu, which shows mixed heritage even in its teeth:
bottlenose dolphins have 88, false killer whales have 44 and Kekaimalu
has 66!

Further Read: Wikipedia

1. Ti-Liger, Ti-Tigon, Li-Tigon, Li-Liger
The top spot goes to ti-ligers/ti-tigon/li-tigons/li-ligers because it
is a hybrid among the hybrids. It is a cross breed between a male tiger
and a female liger/tigon or a male lion with a female tigon/liger. Do
note that female ligers or tigons are fertile. They are extremely rare
and are in mostly private ownership within a behavioural studies
programme. In the case of ti-ligers, they have unusual striping where
it breaks up and display a blotchy appearance. Since they are 3/4
tiger, their characteristics inhibit more of those of a tiger than a
lion.

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Do you think hybrid animals are cool or do you think they're freaks of nature?
Which is your favorite?