We thought the herons did not return. We have not seen them at the duck pond. Here they are enjoying the lovely weather at a lake just a little further away.
No cat photos on this Friday, but my cats would like the herons. They taste like chicken.
This photo was shamelessly ripped off borrowed from my sweet patootie.
In a lab at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, hibernating arctic ground squirrels pose medical mysteries. The species can lower its body temperature below freezing and avoid serious head injuries while in hibernation, which lasts seven months.
Photograph by Joel Sartore
Credit: National Geographic
While I find my cats extremely beautiful and endlessly fascinating, on this sappy cat Friday, the blog is featuring deep sea life. I really like the little creature at the start of this video. There is so much more to know about our oceans. Some say it should take precedence over space travel. I don’t think so. Why not do both.
Kermit the Frog’s distant live-action cousin has just been discovered in the jungles of Costa Rica. The new species, Diane’s Bare-hearted Glassfrog (Hyalinobatrachium dianae), is most remarkable for its translucent underbelly (hence the name “glassfrog”) and its bulging white eyes, which look just like Kermit’s!
The frog evaded discovery as long as it did because of its remote location in the tropical Caribbean foothills of Costa Rica and because its mating call sounds just like an insect’s call – the scientists who discovered the frog described its call as “a single tonal long metallic whistle-like note.”
Brian Kubicki, Stanley Salazar and Robert Puschendorf discovered the frog living between 400m and 800m up in the mountains. Kubicki, the senior scientists, named it after his mother, Janet Diane Kubicki.
Credit boredpanda
Hello Kitty Dim Sum Restaurant in Hong Kong
If you love dumplings as much as you love Hello Kitty, it’s time to book a flight: the first Hello Kitty dim sum restaurant in the world is now open in Hong Kong.
Hello Kitty Chunanoki opened in Yaumatei on April 16 and fans waited for hours to snag one of the 80 seats so they could enjoy some of the 37 Hello Kitty dim sum options. Every part of the restaurant is themed, from the tables, glass chandeliers, to the wall artwork. Even the chopstick holders are shaped in the form of Hello Kitty’s iconic hair bow.
For devoted fans, Hello Kitty decor simply isn’t enough, sometimes you just want to eat her face. I say that in the most adoring of ways. The restaurant serves traditional dim sum items, all with a Hello Kitty twist. Rice and noodle dishes come family-style in the shape of her head, while traditional dim sum options like custard-filled steamed buns and pork bao are irresistible when adorned with Hello Kitty’s wide-eyed expression.
Cuteness knows no bounds when you open up the lid of a bamboo steamer and see steaming Hello Kitty manju staring back at you. Even the popular dim sum dish har gow gets the Hello Kitty treatment. The thinly wrapped plump shrimp dumplings somehow taste even better when embellished with tiny pink edible bows.
The restaurant will only be open for a 2-3 month trial period so Hello Kitty fans will have to act fast to get their kawaii dim sum fix. Check out the video above for an up close look at the interior and unabashed kitty-adorableness.
Images via Jetsoclub and Kotaku
Credit: Jenn Fujikawa
And Cynthia Moore
Lancelot , a North American Porcupine, is a recent addition to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History’s live animal program. He is round and cute, but hardly cuddly. And he drives a car!
This is Hobbes, backlit by early morning light.
It looks as if he has grabbed the brass ring.
Hobbes is one of the three super models I am privileged to live with.
You have probably seen this, but it is worth another look. The pelicans are for you, Sweet Patootie!
Firearms, fibers, any news or behaviors that make me say, "hmm, let me take another look at this."
I still miss my man, but my aim is getting better.
Gunsmoke and Knitting 
