Gator Claus is on his way!

Sick of cute animals in holiday outfits? Here, have an alligator instead. More on Buzzfeed. Happy Holidays!

Pugdorable!

 

Have broken my wrist and am a bit handicapped for blogging, but couldn't miss this baby echidna. Check it out:  Perth puggles leading the breeding program for Perth Zoo.

New species of skinny, bug-eyed snake

Headline from Scientific American - how could you need to know more to be thrilled? But go ahead and click if you do. Don't miss the links to photos of its cool relatives, but maybe don't scroll down too far unless you want to know a little too much about the horror of snake sex organs.

-Wombat (No Relation)

Ugly animals in the mainstream media

Check out this article about the new vultures at the National Zoo in the Washington Post.

Tired of turkey?

Why not try some of these? It's Urechis unicinctus, a marine spoon worm also known as the fat innkeeper worm, or, if that doesn't sound delicious enough, the penis fish. And you don't even have to cook it! In China you might find them in a stir-fry, but in Korea, it's eaten raw. A little salt and sesame oil and you're good to go, a nice light meal after all that heavy holiday fare.

These guys have an interesting cuisine of their own. They secrete their own slime net to catch particles of food. And they're hospitable, hence the "innkeeper" name: they share the tunnels they dig with small fish and other marine animals, which also eat their leftovers.

All in all, a perfect symbolic animal for this holiday, right?

Happy Thanksgiving!
-Wombat (No Relation)

Ugly Cuisine and Conservation

Poster for the Tokyo Bug-eating Festival. Wish I was there (but just to watch).

Also relevant to our interests is this article at the BBC: Are these animals too ugly to be saved?

Your Monday.... ugdorable?

OK, even I am not sure about this one... That is a baby tentacled snake, resting on the hand of one of my sometime colleagues at the National Zoo.  Tentacled snakes are aquatic (see some pictures of them in the water here) and spend their time hanging on by their tails to a branch and lolling about underwater looking uncannily like a dead branch. This clever method of disguise makes it easy for them to catch unsuspecting prey that swims by. Convenient for them, but less convenient for the keeper who is wondering how she would know if that dead-looking snake was actually dead.

-Wombat (No Relation)

Ugdorable baby weathers the storm

A little bit of good news: The New York Aquarium in Coney Island was flooded during Hurricane Sandy, with the entire facility reported to be under water. But staff remained to care for the animals, including orphaned baby walrus Mitik. The baby has had some health problems because of his history (you can read more of Mitik's backstory and see more photos, if you didn't before, at Zooborns) and what's described as his "around-the-clock" care was not interrupted.

We salute the staff's dedication to their ugly charge.

-Wombat (No Relation)