+
“A balm for the soul”
  review on Goodreads
GOOD PEOPLE Book
upworthy

animal videos

Joy

Chatty animals get 'interviewed' with a teeny tiny microphone, and boy is it entertaining

Here to answer all your burning questions, such as "may I touch your snoot?"

YouTube

Freya from Maya Higa's YouTube video.

Ever wonder what an ideal date for a lemur would be? Or a lizard’s favorite Disney princess?

Thanks to one YouTube poster with a passion for animals and an endearing sense of humor, all questions shall be answered. Well, maybe not all questions. But at the very least, you’ll have eight minutes of insanely cute footage.

In a series titled “Tiny Mic Interviews,” Maya Higa approaches little beasties with a microphone so small she has to hold it with just her thumb and forefinger. And yes, 99% of the animals try to eat it.

There’s Ginger, the pig with a lot of stored up resentment toward the big bad wolf. She ain’t afraid to talk about it, either. Or so her passionate snorts would indicate.

Then there’s Brazilian porcupine Boris (at least, I think that’s what Boris is after Googling, I’m no zoologist), who is asked to name his favorite food. For the record, it’s corn. And no, you may not touch his snoot.

Godzilla, the itsy bitsy turtle that fits into one hand, gets asked, ironically, “what’s it like being land’s fastest animal?” Though Godzilla remains stoically silent, an image of super cool speedster sunglasses gets superimposed onto his face, along with the words “I am speed.”

The best part to me is a bird, aptly named Giggles, gloriously laughing at a cheesy joke. In fact, here’s a nod to all the birds with impeccable names in this video.

Mordecai, Costello, Bartholomew (these include stars from Higa's first interview) … I’m looking at you.

Though these critters provide some top notch entertainment, there’s plenty of valuable information being thrown into the mix as well.

All the exotic “interviewees” are part of Zoo To You Conservation Ambassadors, a permitted facility in California, Higa informs her viewers. Rescued or surrendered from the illegal pet trade, or permanently injured, these animals receive permanent care and become a part of Zoo To You’s education program. Pretty sweet gig, right?

Higa herself is a wildlife rehabilitator, falconer and streamer who focuses a lot of her content on conservation. Though her online persona veers toward the upbeat and positive, she isn’t afraid to shed light on some darker facts around certain threats many species face.

"The natural world that these animals come from is being absolutely decimated,” Higa states in another video. “The UN estimates that over one million plant and animal species face extinction today. Pollution, habitat loss, climate change, the wildlife trade, exploitation, general human intervention…is causing us to lose species at rates unprecedented in human history. We’re experiencing a mass extinction.”

Wanting to be part of the solution, Higa has founded her own nonprofit organization called Alveus, which, like Zoo To You, acts as an exotic animal sanctuary and virtual education center.

If you’d like to support Higa’s sanctuary, you can do so by donating to donate@alveussanctuary.org via PayPal.

And if you’re already jonesing for more adorable “Tiny Mic Interviews,” you’re in luck! You can find even more on Maya’s YouTube channel here.


This article originally appeared on 09.02.22

From Your Site Articles
animals
Joy

'Stealthy' dog gets around the house by tiptoeing everywhere and it's strangely adorable

He started tiptoeing as a puppy to sneak things, and now he does it all the time until someone makes eye contact.

Photo by Cierra Voelkl on Unsplash

Dog gets around the house by tiptoeing.

Dogs can be weird. They've all got their own personalities and sometimes we owners have to raise an eyebrow and scratch our heads trying to figure out what they're thinking. Milton, a family's pit bull has taken to sneaking around his house for no real reason. Or maybe there is a reason, but he keeps getting caught before he can finish his diabolical plan.

Danielle Tholen told The Dodo that he started tiptoeing to get to his own food bowl when he was about 7 months old, so she took him to the vet thinking something was wrong with the puppy. Turns out, he's just really bad at sneaking...well, kinda. Milton is so quiet that you can't hear him on the hardwood floors, but he's also a fairly large dog who tiptoes right in front of people.

But shhhh...he's a stealthy boy.

"He legitimately does it to try to steal food, or make himself available in case I drop some food or he can steal it from the trash. He's sneaky," Tholen says in the video.

Milt's owner goes on to explain that the constant tiptoeing started about two or three years ago, but when he was a puppy, it was just every once in a while. It's certainly an interesting way to get around the house. I suppose if you're constantly tiptoeing, then eventually your silent movements will land you with a stray spoil of vittles as your reward.

But Milton moves so slowly while he's attempting to stealthily sneak forbidden treats that it looks like someone has accidentally hit slow motion on the remote. His peculiar behavior is adorable and seems to keep his owner laughing.

Watch Milton creep around below:

From Your Site Articles
dogs
Joy

Proud mama ferret wants her human to pet babies and isn't taking no for an answer

How could anyone resist?

Photo by Alfred Kenneally on Unsplash

Proud mama ferret shows human her babies.

Sometimes you come across a video that's just too sweet not to share. That's the case with this one of a mama ferret that has recently given birth and wants nothing more than her owner to cuddle with her babies. At first it looks like she's coming over to her owner's hand for some pets but she soon starts gently trying to get the human fingers in her mouth to pull them. After a few tries, the ferret is successful and tugs the hand over to her box that looks to be filled with material but then tiny cries can be heard.

It's full of tiny babies! The person does a quick pat and removes their hand but the ferret is having none of it. She is proud of her babies and she is determined for her human to get a good look at them. I've always heard that ferrets are smart creatures. I just had no idea they were also so persistent when it comes to things they want. This mama ferret marched herself right back to her human as if to say, "Excuse me, we aren't done here." It doesn't take much convincing for the person to give the babies another look.

But even after the human picks up one of the babies and gives it a gentle pat before placing it back with its siblings, the mama ferret didn't feel like that was sufficient. She came right back again and again to guide the person's hand to her little box of babies.

It's safe to say she's proud of the work she's done. The babies are adorable and I'm sure she is a good mama.

From Your Site Articles
animal videos
Pets

Watch this sweet video of a little girl and her dog singing nursery rhymes together

This is just the smile you needed today.

Canva

Little girl and her dog sing nursery rhymes.

There's an old saying that dogs are man's best friend and this little girl proves they're also good back-up singers. A short clip that backs this up was posted to YouTube by Linda Slater. In the video, her little girl is singing a nursery rhyme when their Rottweiler joins in to howl along. Obviously the big dog has an incredible singing voice, and if this were an episode of America's Dogs Got Talent, the pooch would've gotten the golden buzzer.

At one point in the clip, the girl stops singing, much to the dog's confusion. It doesn't take long for the little one to get the hint as she belts out more tunes. The duo's rendition of Twinkle Twinkle is beyond cute, albeit a little difficult to understand from the canine singer. But the important thing about music is that it doesn't matter who's singing it or how well its sung. It only matters that the listeners enjoy it and in this case, I think most listeners would give this performance five stars.

If you've never attended a duet with a dog and a preschooler, you're missing out. I'm sure these two will be selling out arenas soon enough. If not, there's no harm in them both keeping their day jobs. I'm sure the human part of the duo still has a bit of schooling to complete.

From Your Site Articles
animal videos
Trending Stories