Share Animal Pictures: For Animal Lovers

[Klystron]

Big stingray:

View attachment 324758

Learning to snorkle and dive in that part of the world, we practiced "twinkle toes", AKA "Fred Flinstone*" technique. Before standing on the sandy bottom, the diver tucks in their feet aiming the flippers normal to the bottom. Gently tickle the sand with flipper tips to warn buried critters of your descent into their space before landing on a startled skate, sand shark or stingray.

I encountered one buried skate (small) and a camouflaged ray (medium) using this method. The adrenalin surge left me a true believer in tickling the sand before landing feet first. I still do this even in swimming pools, just in case (JIC).* Cartoon character Fred Flintstone improved his bowling form by studying ballerinas dancing en pointe. Fred rose up on his bare toes and pirouetted down the alley accompanied by high-pitched piano notes before releasing the bowling ball.

 

[BillTre]

Sandy areas are interesting environments.

For a while I collected amphioxus (a pre-vertebrate animal in the lineage leading to vertebrates) in sandy brackish water areas in Florida.

They are small 2-3 inches long, 2x4 mm in cross section. They live in the sand and filter feed things like algae from the water.
Rays and skates are their major predators. They suck up volumes of sand and filter out the amphioxus with their gill rakers while letting the sand go through.

Skates, rays, and sharks ("cartilaginous fish") are passively electrosensitive to different degrees. This allows them to detect animals buried in the sand. Small currents generated by changes in muscle cell membrane potential when the muscles contract in gill ventilation behaviors are picked up by their electroreceptrors, giving them a target.

 

[BillTre]

Summertime: "spread your wings and take to the sky"

 

[DennisN]

It's Monday and...

 

[BillTre]

 

[BillTre]

 

[BillTre]

Gulper Eel.

 

[Ibix]

That's no trebuchet, that's a dogapult!

(Sorry...)

 

[berkeman]

That's no trebuchet, that's a dogapult!

So you're saying...

https://pictures-of-cats.org/picture-of-dog-with-kitten-in-mouth-makes-you-look.html

 

[fresh_42]

Spoiler: Cuteness Overload!

 

[fresh_42]

 

[BillTre]

 

[strangerep]

...just don't tell [the cat] what the strings are made of!

I thought that was why the cat was there in the first place: to have a ready supply of new strings at hand in case one breaks.

Edit: Oh, wait! I just now learned that "catgut" is not made from cat intestines. The "cat" part is apparently an abbreviation for "cattle". I suppose a cow is too big to stuff in a violin case.

 

[BillTre]

 

[BillTre]

 

[BillTre]

Weird view of a tapir:

 

[BillTre]

 

[berkeman]

Too funny. And notice the looks on her little mooselet's faces... "Mom, we should go now!"

 

[fresh_42]

 

[mcastillo356]

Post your favorite animal pictures here!

Her name is Pepa;she is a rescued greyhound. Is going to be 13 years old on the twenty-third of May. In the picture looks tired, but here is 03.00 am. Eats a lot, sleeps a lot, walks a lot...
Greetings!

 

[BillTre]

 

[mcastillo356]

@BillTre , that's great!

 

[BillTre]

 

[collinsmark]

The Fruit Bat!

@Evo

 

[fresh_42]

 

[DennisN]

Gosh, that's such a cool photo!

 

[pinball1970]

Look at this little fella!

https://phys.org/news/2023-05-mini-kangaroos-south-australia.html

 

[BillTre]

 

[BillTre]

 

[BillTre]