22 Photos That Prove Why Babies Need Pets

A child’s development can often be accelerated by daily interactions with the family pet. Their young minds grow a great deal through their social and emotional bonds. Instead of providing scientific facts to backup this theory, here are 22 photos that without a doubt prove that it’s true.

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Video: Golden Retriever Eats Corn Like a Cartoon Character

Meet Coco-chan, the dog who relaxes millions of people online by calmly eating things. Coco-chan is a Golden Retriever, Coco-chan lives in Japan, Coco-chan is extremely polite (I already said it lived in Japan), and Coco-chan likes to slowly eat fruits and vegetables, which many people on the Internet apparently find soothing. Just in time for everyone's big July 4th barbecues, here's this happy pup eating some corn on the cob.

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Video: Chubby Bunny And His Feline Friend

You may think it doesn’t get any cuter than a chubby white bunny with floppy ears. But it does. How about a chubby white bunny taking a stroll with his adorable feline friend?  This odd couple is too cute for words. Check it out!
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Scientists Say Rats Capable of Feeling Regret

Rats are capable of feeling regret about their own actions, an emotion that has never previously been found in any other mammals apart from humans.  Researchers set up a test called Restaurant Row in which the rats had to decide how long to wait for food.  “It's like waiting in line at the restaurant,” Professor David Redish, of Minnesota University, told BBC Nature News. "If the line is too long at the Chinese restaurant, then you give up and go to the Indian restaurant across the street."

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Nine Brilliant Ads That Fight Animal Cruelty

Getting out the message about ending animal cruelty is essential. But depending on the method, viewers can either become engaged or get turned off. Some advocacy groups resort to shocking tactics to get their point across, but there are also organizations that run campaigns designed to start a meaningful and effective conversation. From targeting wildlife crime to circus training methods, these nine advertisements inform and provoke positive action.

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Five Psychic Animals Predict World Cup Winners

Paul the Octopus, whose extraordinary psychic abilities made him an international star in the 2010 World Cup, can rest in peace. Animal oracles around the world have taken on the mantle of predicting the winners of FIFA World Cup matches in Brazil.  From a clairvoyant kangaroo in Australia to a soothsaying sea turtle in Brazil, there is no shortage of animal tipsters sharing their predictions for the month-long tournament.

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Video: A Talking Parrot Meets A Stuffed Rabbit

Parrots crack me up. I always wondered if they knew what they were saying or if they just mimicked what they heard. This guy makes me think he definitely knows what he’s talking about!  What do you think? Is he really trying to get the stuffed bunny to play with him? First he’s saying “Peek-A-Boo,” but at 1:24 I swear he’s telling the bunny to wake up! Poor parrot. He can’t get his new friend to play with him! Lucky for him his parents are keeping him company; it’s no fun not having anyone to talk to!

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25 Pets That Take a Cute Selfie

The word "duckface" just got a whole new meaning.  While snapping a shot of your own face is still wildly popular on social media, people just can't compete with their furry friends when it comes to selfies. Dogs, cats and even guinea pigs are getting a taste of Internet fame through some self-indulgent photo session — and they like it.

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-Igor Purlantov

Surfing Dolphins Ride Waves Like Pros

Aquariums feature bottlenose dolphins for their charm and intelligence, but no Hula Hoop tank trick beats what the mammals can do in the ocean—no training required.Filmmaker Dave Riggs captured such a feat off the coast of Western Australia. Riggs’ company doesn’t just shoot footage for the awesome sights. The group has been working with researchers to document Western Australia’s marine life and bring attention to aquatic ecosystems at risk.

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Even Congress Is Worried About SeaWorld's Captive Orcas

"The interesting thing about tipping points is that you never know quite when you're at the top -- you need to keep pushing tenaciously until the momentum is unstoppable," Louie Psihoyos, executive director of Oceanic Preservation Society said in reaction the Congress' push to protect orcas. "The momentum against cetaceans in captivity is now reaching that apex -- when Congress acts quickly and unanimously on anything you know we are about to see the summit of that tipping point. SeaWorld investors should be running from the exits like rats from a ship."

http://tinyurl.com/kzj9wtj

The Dog That Went on Air Raids and Became a Hero

On a very cold morning in January 1940, Czech airman Robert Bozdech and French pilot Pierre Duval were on a reconnaissance mission over enemy lines when a German plane shot them down. Bozdech scrambled out, freeing an injured Duval from his harness and dragging him into a snowbank. In search of cover, Bozdech spotted a farmhouse off in the distance, about 300 feet away.

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Video: Baby Rhino Is Attached to Keeper

An orphaned baby rhino has bonded with its keeper after seeing South African poachers mutilate his mother for her horn. The animal was brought to the Hoedspruit Endangered Species Center in South Africa and affectionately named Gretjie by the staff. The poachers slaughtered his mother at the Kapama Private Game Reserve in South Africa on the night of May 7, according to the center.

http://tinyurl.com/pn3jxa2

-Igor Purlantov

Scientists Tagging Sharks To Predict Hurricanes

Fifty sharks, tuna, tarpon and billfish are swimming around the Gulf of Mexico right now fitted with satellite-linked tags to help scientists track water temperatures and perhaps one day help improve hurricane forecasting.The devices were put there by researchers at the University of Miami who have tagged a total of 750 animals in the past 10 years to record water temperature and salinity at different depths.  The fish had merely provided data of interest to biologists, but earlier this year scientists realized the temperature figures coming back from the animals could be crucial to humans living in the path of hurricanes.

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Why Koalas Hug Trees

The mention of a koala bear often conjures up an image of an adorable spoon-nosed creature cocking its head to one side while clinging to a tree.  Now, scientists have figured out why the iconic Australian marsupials hug trees: The trunks help the koala bears keep cool, according to a new study.  "It can be a really useful way of getting rid of heat on a hot day," said study co-author Michael Kearney, an ecologist at the University of Melbourne in Australia.

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Dog People, Cat People Really Are Different

"Dog people" and "cat people" may both fall into the animal lover category, but they're not exactly cut from the same cloth, a new study finds. Carroll University researcher Denise Guastello and her team surveyed 600 college students and found cat lovers to be more open-minded, sensitive, and non-conformist than the dog-fancying majority, which, besides being more outgoing, was more inclined to follow rules. 


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-Igor Purlantov

Do Animals Get Drunk on Purpose?

In South Africa, local legend has it that the elephants like to get drunk. They seek out the marula tree, overindulge on its sweet fruits, and enjoy the intoxicating effects of the slightly fermented juice.  Tales of the tipsy pachyderms go back at least two centuries. In the 1830s, a French naturalist called Adulphe Delegorgue described stories from his Zulu guides of mysteriously aggressive behaviour in male elephants after they fed on the marula fruits. "The elephant has in common with man a predilection for a gentle warming of the brain induced by fruit which has been fermented by the action of the sun," wrote Delegorgue.

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Bear in a Hammock Relaxing

One black bear in Florida prefers to bring in the weekend not by raging, but instead with a nice, relaxing lounge in a hammock.  Local resident Rafael Torres caught this totally chilled-out bear climbing into a hammock on Thursday night in Daytona Beach, Florida.The bear really did, apparently, just want to relax. When asked about approaching it for the photo, Torres told local NBC affiliate WESH that he was about 60 feet away when he took the photos and the bear didn't seem to care. Instead, it just kept lounging.

http://tinyurl.com/m43lpkj

-Igor Purlantov

Does Your Cat Love You?

With sloppy kisses and swishing tails, it’s hard not to notice how much dogs love their owners, as if their only purpose is to love, love, love you and sometimes eat. That’s because we’ve been breeding dogs for tens of thousands of years, selecting the cutest and waggiest pooches for pets. Young pups even respond to human gestures.

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Abandoned Dog in Las Vegas Gets New Home

A puppy abandoned on the Las Vegas streets found instant luck when she wandered straight to the side gate of an avid dog lover - a woman who also happens to have a surveillance camera affixed to her house, which taped an SUV driver dumping the dog and driving away.  Graci, a mixed-breed lab, is seen following the SUV for several feet and appearing confused.
http://tinyurl.com/k3vxuzc


-Igor Purlantov

Video: A Burro and Goat Love Story

It’s the story of an unbreakable bond between two unlikely best friends whose equally unlikely reunion has gone viral.  Mr. G the Goat and his female friend Jellybean the Burro are truly inseparable.  Where one goes, the other is sure to follow.  “He does not let her more than 10 feet,” said Jan Galeazzi at Animal Place. “His eyes are glued on her at all times."  The unlikely pair spent a decade in a 12-by-12 dirt plot with little food and water with no shade, shed or barn.

http://tinyurl.com/qj8mf6z

-Igor Purlantov