Bills, traffic, mean bosses, the news… So many things can ruin our mood every day. Luckily, there’s also an antidote: animals. Whatever’s happening, there’s something about a goofy dog, a tiny kitten, or a fluffy duckling that clears the mind and warms the heart.
So, if you need a quick pick-me-up, you’re in the right place. We went on the hunt for the cutest, funniest, and downright silliest animal pics the internet had to offer and put together a collection that lets you hit the reset button. Go on, try not to melt.
#1 A Leopard Was Sneaking Into A Village At Night To Visit The Cow That Nursed Him As A Cub
#2 A Puma Cub Admiring His Mother
Paying attention to animals can teach us not only about the wonders of other species but also about ourselves.
“For centuries, philosophers and scientists have tried to understand what makes us unique. But people often forget that humans are not alone in being unique. Every species on the planet has some features that it shares with other species, and some that make it stand out,” Dr. Tom Smulders, Director of Education and Reader in Evolutionary Neuroscience at Newcastle University, wrote.
“What the evolutionary approach allows us to do is to investigate which features or traits are shared with others and what that sharing tells us about the species in question.”
#3 Hello World, 15 Minutes Old
#4 I Don’t See Myself As A Great Photographer, But I Was Very Happy With This Pic 🙂
#5 I’m A Horse Vet. This Adorable Little Guy Fell Asleep On My Feet While I Talked To His People.
Species can share a trait for a couple of reasons: either they are closely related and have inherited the trait from their common ancestor, or the shared trait is an adaptation to similar evolutionary pressures.
Both of these ways of looking at similarities can be enlightening when trying to understand the nature of humans as well.
#6 Good Friends
#7 Cow Posing With Their Buddy
#8 This Little Guy Comes Over To Say Hello When I Get To Work
#9 4yo In Virginia Today Went Outside To Play Then Came Back To The Front Door With A New Friend
“Everybody expects chimpanzees (and bonobos) to be similar to us, because they are our closest relatives,” Smulders said. “So when we look at them, we usually focus on the ways in which we differ from them. After all, any traits we don’t share with them must have evolved in our own lineage and therefore be uniquely human.”
However, there are two problems with this approach.
“First, any differences between us and chimps are just as likely to be due to changes in chimps since our last common ancestor as they are changes in us. So we can only start concluding that a trait has evolved through the human lineage if chimps share their traits with other apes and maybe even other primates, but we don’t,” Smulders explained.
And second, just because humans are the only primates that have a certain trait does not automatically mean that trait is uniquely human. “One obvious example is vocal learning. As far as we know, humans are the only primates who learn to make the sounds that comprise their means of communicating with one another. We call this trait ‘vocal learning,’ and it is the basis for human speech and language. However, there are many other groups throughout the animal kingdom that learn their vocalizations, for example, parrots and songbirds, seals and dolphins. So we’re far from unique in this case.”
#10 My Local Wildlife Shelter Had One Of Their Soft Release Raccoons Manage To Sneak Over The Fence And Into The Deer Pen. Adorableness Ensued.
#11 The Homeowner Said That The Buck Shows Up Every Day, So He Put Out A Bed For Him
#12 Not A Puppy Or A Kitten, But Asteria Is Still Adorable And Has Made Some Amazing Progress In A Month And A Half!
#13 Just A Valais Blacknose Sheep Smiling Back At You
According to the evolutionary neuroscientist, this framework allows us to examine evolution as a natural experiment, helping us understand the conditions under which vocal learning can evolve and how these insights apply to humans.
“In songbirds, for example, song learning might have evolved through sexual selection—from females preferring mates with complex songs. Those males who could mimic sounds composed more complex songs, which gave their genes a better chance of being passed to the next generation. Analogously, some have suggested that human vocal learning may have originally evolved as a male sexual display, in other words, singing. This is just one possibility, but it illustrates how comparative approaches can tell us more about ourselves,” Smulders said.
#14 An Ultra-Rare White Cougar Was Born In Nicaragua. There Are Only 4 Such Albinos In The World
#15 Hedgehog With Plushie
#16 Dream Come True
#17 Jabba
He also said that many animals, from pigs to bees, will act “pessimistically,” that is, respond as if they expect the worst following a bad experience.
As you may have experienced, this is a common characteristic among humans in a low mood as well.
“It’s still not clear what these animals experience subjectively, but the findings do give us a much deeper insight into why we respond to negative experiences the way we do. Increased caution after a bad experience may well be an evolutionary adaptation that increases our chances of survival,” Smulders said.
#18 This Is Willow, A Premature Longhorn Calf. She Has Been Raised By Dogs And Thinks She Is One
#19 Giraffe Saying Hello To Terminally Ill Patient During “Last Wish”-Event In Dutch Zoo
#20 Cutest Pic I’ve Seen This Week
#21 Say Hello To Jonathan
So if you catch yourself seeing a little bit of you in these photos (or in animals you meet in the wild), it might not just be a quirky coincidence. Sure, it’s easy to say it’s a stretch, but sometimes these moments can reveal something deeper about our place within the animal kingdom!
#22 Baby Deer With Kitten
#23 Deer Crashing A Wedding Photo Shoot
#24 Been Trying To Get A Photo Like This For Ages. Mother And Child
#25 Safe In Momma’s Paws
#26 My Friend’s Horse Showing Off His New Plushy. He Is Very Proud Of It.
#27 This Dog Who Just Wants People To Pet Him
#28 Just A Happy Baby
#29 I Work At An Animal Shelter That Typically Only Accepts Dogs And Cats. Today Someone Brought Us A Ferret, He Was Scared And Lonely So This Happened…
#30 You Find It In The Snack Aisle…right Next To The “Quackers” …
#31 The Turkey I Saved From Thanksgiving. His Name Is Fred.
#32 A Bird Found My Hand And Decided To Chill For A Bit
#33 Long Boi
#34 My Father Found This Owlet On The Ground While Working The Property. Took It To A Wildlife Rescue
#35 In Italy Some Kids Are Born H**h Up In The Mountains And They Need To Be Carried Down To The Delicious Grass. This Is Done Via Donkey With Special Bags!
#36 Sloth Hug
#37 Tortoise Mommy And Her Baby
#38 Red Eyed Crocodile Skinks, Definitely Not Baby Dragons
#39 My Mother Insisted We Put A Bindi On My Bird To Celebrate Diwali
#40 I’ve Heard This Owl For Years And Tonight Is The First Time I’ve Seen It.
#41 Look At This Photo Of A Rat After Getting Pasta
#42 Dari, The Memphis Zoo’s Female Sumatran Tiger, Gave Birth To Two Cubs On May 5, 2023
#43 Oregon Gray Wolf Being Released In Colorado’s Rocky Mountains
#44 My 88 Year Old Grandfather Holding A Bunny For The Very First Time!
#45 Mother Breaks Into Neighbor’s Backyard So She And Her 5 Children Can Play In Neighbor’s Pool
#46 A Polar Fox Escaped From A Small Zoo In Germany But Got Tired On The Way. A Zookeeper Took Him Back. I Hope That Didn’t Disturb His Slumber
#47 Comfy Deers
#48 Our 15 Year Old Chinchilla Just Gave Birth For The First Time In 8 Years
#49 A Clean Boy
#50 Damn
#51 Enjoyment
#52 I Am In Love With This Little Opossum! I Am A Zookeeper And She Is An Unreleasable Rehab
#53 Friendly Australian King Parrot Landed On My Book As I Was Trying To Identify It!
#54 My Pet Cow Had A Calf For The First Time Today, She Seems To Be A Pretty Good Mom!
#55 Good Job, Momma. We Weren’t Expecting 3!
#56 Baby Duiker With A Zookeeper At The Kansas City Zoo
#57 Our Florida Sandhills Cranes Had Their Tiny New Baby With Them Today!!
#58 “You Got This, My Lovely Little Potato!” Mother Hippo Teaches Her Baby To Swim
#59 Wholesome Tortoise
#60 Can’t Get Over The Fact That Cute Leopard Sharks Exist
#61 Came Across This Fella On My Camping Trip Around New Zealand…he Was Audibly Snoring As Well 😆
#62 Two Rex Bunnies 🐰🐇
#63 Say Hello To My New Boy 🙂
#64 View From My Kitchen Window This Morning
#65 Take Your Kid To Work Day
#66 A Cassowsries Eggs Are Green!!!
#67 Trash Meeka And Big Standa
#68 Birthday Boy!
#69 Small Giraffe
#70 Safety First
#71 Rescued Dove Learns To Eat By Watching Others. No More Force Feeding!
#72 My Daughter Insists On Going As El From Stranger Things, So I Surprised Her With This Costume For Her Best Friend
#73 Blue Sea Slugs. (The Blue Skin Colour Is Toxic, As To Protect Themselves.)
#74 Five Newborn Blue-Tongue Skinks Found Under A Pile Of Shoes
#75 The Foot And Claws Of An Australian Cassowary
#76 Preparing For Winter
#77 A Penguin Being Interviewed By A Moscow Journalist (1966)
#78 I Took My 96yo Grandma To The Petting Zoo Today. She Made A New Friend!
#79 I Took My Pet Ducks To Mind Games To Look Around Since They Love Browsing Stores. They Stopped And Stared At This Toy For Several Minutes. I Think I Know What They Want For Christmas Now
#80 My Hammy Yearns For The Toilet Paper …. 🤦♀️
