5 pictures of not-human creatures make a post

[capri0mni]

"Cuteness" may, or may not, have been my filter of choice.

1. A Sun Bear

2. A Lumpfish

3. Virginia creeper -- Hey, plants are creatures, too! (Sorry about the human photo bomber).

4. Have some conventional cuteness, if you must, with a guinea pig.

5. And a Rose Breasted Grosbeak couple... Not sure what she thinks of his moves. Is this a mating display, or just an awkward landing?

Comments

[spiralsheep]

All lovely, thank you! I especially liked the sun bear.

[capri0mni]

A lot of the sun bear photos via Google search were great. They kind of look to me like someone decided that a black bear needed just a dash of shar pei. ;-) (I almost went for this picture, but decided that was too much cute for anyone's health).

[jekesta]

Oh my god. That's genuinely too cute. I didn't know about sun bears, they're love, thank you.

[capri0mni]

I knew about sun bears, but only in a vague corner of my brain, you know?

And it may just be my emotional state, today, but every sun bear face I came across reads to me as: "Oh, dear... The world... again!"

[jekesta]

Yes, that's very much their face. It's a bit like they were evolutionarily close to being sloths but instead they're stuck doing things, so their face is like 'ugh, I might have to go over there and deal with that'. (They look silly standing up is mostly what I've learned from google.)

[capri0mni]

Well, to be fair, so do humans, when you think about it. We try to pretend that we're dignified, but really, we're not.

[spiralsheep]

I actually find the sun bear pic you chose to post more adorable, although admittedly less cute, than the baaaaaaby animal.

[capri0mni]

Well, the adult face reads to me as "concerned" or "bored" or "lonely," each of which elicits feelings "Been there, too, bb," and a desire to offer comfort (although I know it's because I'm mapping human expressions onto an ursine face, which is not exactly fair -- may be accurate, may not.)

The baby's face is just a generic "Baby".

[redsixwing]

A fishy fishy fish!
It's a very cute one. :D

That creeper is stunning.

[capri0mni]

I agree on both counts.

There are deliberately cute pictures of young lumpfish, that have clearly been staged. But I already had one human infected picture, so I went the adult route.

And many people consider Virginia Creeper a weed. But I can't help but admire its gumption and intelligence.

[redsixwing]

I've gone and found some of the staged ones. Those really are adorable.
Sucker-bellied fishes are interesting, and I didn't know there were marine ones, too. (Or that they were cute! Butterfly loaches are also cute, but they have a different sort of appeal.)

...huh. Virginia creepers are one of the few ornamental vines that can survive the climate here, so I've always admired them for sheer persistence.

[capri0mni]

I remember watching a documentary on plant intelligence, a little while back, that showed time-lapse photography of a young V. creeper searching for tendril-holds on a fence rail as it grew ... And it sure appeared canny.

[redsixwing]

That is really cool.

[capri0mni]

I think so, too -- that's why I included the creeper as a "creature."

[vilakins]

That creeper is amazing! I love the look on the female grosbeak's face.

Have you seen ​​this bearcat saying hello?

[capri0mni]

Yes... that grosbeak couple are just crying out to be macro'd.

No, I hadn't seen that picture ('til now). But it looks like s/he might be friends with the fellow in my icon.

[vilakins]

Yes! I'm sure they'd get on well. :-D

[capri0mni]

I'd like to think so.

... Is your tiger cub chewing the head of a teddy bear?

Not sure if that's cute, or terrifying...

[vilakins]

He's chewing his plush tiger cub! He's one of the two white tiger cubs I fed and played with on my birthday almost 10 years ago. I have photos of them:
First lot (scroll down for the cubs but all the tigers are beautiful)
Second lot, including the one I made the icon from.

And the boy was cute and adorable (but a bit bitey).

[capri0mni]

Ah, yes... I can see it more clearly in the full sized picture.
Cuteness indeed!

[pebblerocker]

Oh, sunbear, you look so worried!

The bird is pulling out his Travolta moves at a really inappropriate moment and she has to pretend she doesn't know him.

[capri0mni]

The sun bear looks worried... But I think that's just the consequence of being a nocturnal creature in a diurnal world.

Female grosbeak: Really?! You're going with that... awkward.