There's nothing more adorable than an animal friendship that spans species. And this one will warm the cockles of your heart. Gunner, a golden retriever, had met Delta the dolphin at the Dolphin Research Center (a non-profit organization home to a family of dolphins and sea lions) in the Florida Keys about six years ago. Back then, the dolphin had poked its head out of the water to greet the dog and was instantly attracted to his calm demeanor on the dock. Ever since the two have remained the best of friends.
Gunner's human companion, Marie Blanton, works at the Dolphin Research Center where Delta lives. In an effort to expose the dog to different things, she had introduced Gunner to the dolphins when he was a puppy and he took a special liking to Delta. Even today, whenever the dog is on the site, he heads to Delta’s enclosure straight away and the two share some precious moments. Their friendship has blossomed over time and continues to grow strong.
2. Magawa, the fearless rat
Magawa is an African giant pouched rat with a nose for detecting dangerous landmines. For his humanitarian service, the fearless rat was bestowed with a Gold medal from the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA), a veterinary charity in the United Kingdom, in 2020. The tiny creature has been trained to sniff out unexploded landmines and has discovered a total of ″39 landmines and 28 items of unexploded ordnance to date", according to PDSA. Its tiny size allows the rat to step over the explosives without setting them off and he can cover an area the size of a tennis court in 30 minutes! The award, we think, is well-deserved. Magawa, however, isn’t bothered about his medal – all he cares for is his job and snacking on peanuts and bananas.
3. When a cat accidentally became a god
Clyde, a fluffy white kitty, went viral all over social media late last year after his owner, Amanda Hyslop, posted her picture that made him look like some almighty being. Amanda was photographing clouds from her window and accidentally managed to catch the cat's reflection perfectly. Curiously, though, the cat appeared to be sitting on a throne of clouds and looking down on us earthlings. People couldn’t get enough of this pose and we can clearly see why!
4. Parrots put in time-out for excessive cursing
Parrots are good at imitating human words and sounds. But five African grey parrots at the Lincolnshire Wildlife Center in the U.K recently had to be separated for a while when they began encouraging each other to swear! The zoo authorities have seen parrots swear before but these five seemed to relish hurling the choice expletives all day long and just couldn’t get enough of it. While their antics were certainly amusing for the visitors and would often leave them in splits, the zoo had to give the five swearing birds a time-out so that they don’t start influencing children with their “bad behavior”.
5. Meet Kovu, the singing husky
Dogs love to howl, but this one likes to croon to famous tunes! Meet Kovu, the singing husky who has earned himself global praise after the clips of musical performances with his owner Tate Hegstrom, a healthcare worker, went viral all over the Internet. The pair have done several amazing renditions, including “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz and “Breakaway” by Kelly Clarkson. These two certainly deserve all the accolades for bringing some smiles and warmth to people in these tough times.
Check out Tate and Kovu singing "I'm Yours" below:
6. Octopus high-fives its rescuers
A stranded octopus found on a beach was rescued by an Egyptian couple who were spending their holidays at the sea. When the two first noticed the animal, it looked frail and on the verge of death. An octopus can only survive out of water for about 30 minutes and this one must have been outside for close to that duration. The couple quickly carried the animal into the water where he swam away after taking a few minutes to recover.
The story doesn’t end here, though.
The next day, the couple went to the same beach for a walk. As they were walking along the beach, they saw a shadow in the water coming very quickly toward them. It was none other than the octopus they rescued the day before! He recognized his rescuers and wanted to thank them for saving his life. The octopus kept following them along the beach and reached out a tentacle to “shake hands” with its saviors. It's amazing how intelligent and compassionate animals can be.
7. These coronavirus detectors are so cute
Dogs in Finland have recently been given an important job – to sniff out the coronavirus in airline passengers and alert their handler when a person has it. The city of Vantaa is convinced that dogs, who have already proven to be useful in detecting afflictions such as cancer, malaria, and epilepsy, can also be an efficient tool to ensure health and safety at airports. They have been using trained dogs to detect the coronavirus in people and, apparently, the animals have been incredibly accurate in the job. This isn’t particularly surprising.
Recent studies have shown that dogs can be trained to detect more than 90 percent of Covid-19 infections even when patients are asymptomatic. Researchers from the London School of Tropical Medicine published a report recently stating how trained dogs were able to identify between 94 and 82 percent of SARS-CoV-2 samples. They also found that using dogs to screen arrivals at terminuses such as airports could detect 91 percent of cases. This could result in a 2.24 times lower rate of transmission than with PCR tests, according to the researchers.
This suggests that the experiment being carried out in Vantaa could soon become a normal sight all over the world.
8. Naps with cats inspire shelter donations
Terry Lauerman is affectionately called 'Cat Grandpa' and for good reason. A retired teacher, Terry likes to spend some of his free time volunteering at his local pet shelter in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he often just brushes some cats while sitting on a couch. While brushing the cats, however, he would sometimes get tired and doze off. One day, the sanctuary shared photos on its Facebook page of Terry sacked out in various positions with some of the resident felines.
The pictures went viral and people couldn’t stop talking about the 'Cat Grandpa'. This gave Terry an idea. He encouraged people to donate a few dollars for the cats and people wholeheartedly welcomed the initiative. Such was the popularity of the idea that within a short time, Terry helped raise nearly $100,000 for the pet sanctuary in his name.
9. Cat left during a hurricane reunites with owner more than a decade later
Image source: YouTube/WPTV News
A Florida man named Perry Martin had lost his beloved cat T2 during a hurricane in 2004. Martin searched and searched for orange tabby but couldn’t find it anywhere. He feared the worst and had to accept that he might never see T2 again. 14 years later, Martin got a call that someone had found his cat. He was confused at first but then discovered that it was truly his long-lost kitty that had resurfaced. Thanks to a microchip that Martin’s veterinarian had once implanted on the cat, the animal was finally tracked down and reunited with its owner.
Related: Try Not to Cry When You See These Owners and Dogs Reunite
10. Dog accidentally enters a marathon, finishes 7th
April Hamlin had taken her dog Ludivine out in the yard of her Alabama hometown on Jan 16, 2016, but she ran away… And ended up participating in a half-marathon! Ludivine, a rescue dog, had accidentally run into The Elkmont Half-Marathon (Trackless Train Trek) and joined in the race. This isn’t all – the dog went on to run the entire 13.1-mile course (21 km) in 1:32:56 and was placed seventh overall out of 165 finishers! Now, this is another example of an animal defying the odds, even though she had no idea she was doing it!
Share these heartwarming stories with your loved ones!
