animals « ((little fat notebook))

Posts Tagged ‘animals’

365great Day 155: Thailand

laelene Posted in 365great，Tags: 365great, animals, beauty, experiences, favorites, nature, pictures, places, thailand, travel, vacations

16 August 2013

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Thailand is one of the most amazing countries I’ve been to. It has a little bit of everything I love in a place: beautiful weather, gorgeous landscapes, fascinating animals, quiet beaches, sprawling bazaars, amazing food, a rich culture, and relaxation treatments. I enjoyed both Phuket and Bangkok for their very different experiences and I absolutely loved the tour I took, which included an elephant ride, lunch on a floating restaurant (and a chance to drift on a raft), splashing around in a cute park with waterfalls, and (omg) petting tigers. I had so much fun relaxing by the beach, getting a wonderful hot stone massage from a very nimble old lady, and getting rides from strangers on Phuket Island. I equally enjoyed roaming the streets of Bangkok where I had THE most delicious pad thai I’ve ever experienced. And then I’d wander off to the Chatuchak market to get my shop on. So much to do, see, and appreciate. Thailand is such a great country and I can’t wait to go back.

Check out some of my posts from my trip to Thailand:

Tiger baby [feeding a tiger milk]

Pet clam & sea snail [the cool creatures I found at the beach]

Burrowing clams [entertainment at the beach]

Tiger-rific [petting tigers at the Tiger Temple]

Fish spas, the newest craze [oh what a fun experience to have fish eat at your feet]

A story of shopping and sandals [when a trip to the market yields some laughs]

Serendipity [more on my rides with strangers in Thailand]

365great Day 148: squirrels

laelene Posted in 365great，Tags: 365great, animals, experience, observation, pictures, squirrels

09 August 2013

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Ever since attending UCLA, my view of squirrels has never been the same. The campus is overrun by them and they’re so used to people they’re practically the bosses now. It’s amazing how bold they can get, stealing your food or coming right up to you. They seem to love almost all human food: sweet, salty, but not sour. These critters are quite entertaining in their own right and I’ve fed plenty of them. Still, they are wild and you never know when you might get bitten like I did once. They’re all over the place and you never know when one might scurry across your path. I left food out on the porch once, thinking the birds would get it, but then this squirrel came along! I was so amused by how it dragged its body along the railing to eat the food without having to take a step forward. What a goof. A lot of people may not like these creatures, but I find them rather fascinating and usually very gentle. I once got a chance to feed one once and it was amazing. I loved it! Someday I might want to see if it’s possible to have a pet squirrel. Until then, I’ll just observe these fellows when they cross my path and marvel at how great it can be to interact with them.

365great Day 107: feeding animals

laelene Posted in 365great，Tags: 365great, activity, animals, bread, ducks, experiences, feeding, pictures

29 June 2013

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One of the things I love most when I’m outdoors is being able to feed the creatures that I encounter. This may be various forms of birds, fish, or mammals and sometimes even insects. Usually it’s fish, turtles, ducks, and squirrels. It’s really cool how just about all of them love some bread. Is bread some sort of universally-loved food for all animals? Sure seems like it! In areas where there is a ton of foot traffic, I can luck out and get animals that will actually eat out of my hand. This happened with the ducks pictured and previously with squirrels and small birds. I get such a kick out of semi-domesticating them by training them to get so close and get the food from my fingers. It’s great!

365great Day 103: betta fish

laelene Posted in 365great，Tags: 365great, animals, fish, pets, pictures

25 June 2013

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These fish make some pretty awesome pets. They’re gorgeous (well, the male ones at least) and so much fun to watch. You just have to be careful not to put males together or even in tanks near each other since they’re known to fight to the death and sometimes go as far as jumping out of the tanks to reach the “enemy” – I definitely had one jump out of its bowl on me! I got this special tank just for them, which has a partition to keep them apart and a lid so I can ensure they don’t jump out. Look at how beautiful they are! Definitely my favorite fish and they’re so accessible too. They’re a way to liven up a space, literally! Absolutely great. 🙂

365great Day 92: rays

laelene Posted in 365great，Tags: 365great, animals, creatures, experiences, manta ray, ocean, pictures, rays, sentosa, singapore, stingray

14 June 2013

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What tremendous creatures these rays are. They glide through the ocean and blend in with the sea floor, usually not causing a ruckus. They don’t really attract attention to themselves – they’re not bright or scary, but they are quietly beautiful in their own way. I never appreciated them until I got to pet some while visiting the Underwater World at Sentosa. I was shocked at how soft they are! Their skin is unlike anything else I’ve touched before. They were super friendly too, swimming right up to the glass wall and even coming out of the water so I’d pet them. It was such an amazing experience to be able to interact with them like that and I think everyone should go give it a try. They might just become your new favorite pet species. I’d absolutely love it if I could raise pet rays, but of course that’s not happening, so I’ll just continue admiring them whenever I can. I’m so glad I got to touch them; what a great experience.

Dolphin show

laelene Posted in video blog，Tags: animals, baltimore, dolphins, national aquarium, performance, videos

06 June 2013

Been awhile since I did a video post! Do you even watch them? I hope so.

Here I’ve compiled a few videos I took at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Really fun place to visit! Dolphins are so smart and playful.

idle dolphin playing ball from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

dolphin flips from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

synchronized dolphin jumps from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

365great Day 77: dolphins

laelene Posted in 365great，Tags: 365great, animals, dolphins, experiences, fun, hawaii, pictures, singapore, travel

31 May 2013

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Dolphins are amazing creatures! They are so smart, so cute, so friendly, and just wonderful. They’ve got personality too! I remember when I met Squirt in Singapore and he would pose beautifully for the women, but then not cooperate when it came to men! He was cool with his trainers, but not a fan of strange men. Totally hilarious. Then there were the bottlenose dolphins in the waters of Hawaii, that came up to our boat and swam with us, always matching our speed, whether we were racing with the wind or just floating. They made it clear they were here to say “hi” and play around and it was so cool. They must have hung around for a good half hour before going on their way. It was perfect, though I’d really love to swim with dolphins sometime. That would be so great!!

When in a jam…

laelene Posted in video blog，Tags: animals, behavior, observation, videos, zoo

08 May 2013

Question: What happens when a naked mole encounters a traffic jam?

Answer:

naked mole traffic jam from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

[There is a video embedded in this post. If you do not see it, click through to view in a browser.]

Once upon a glass was a kitty

laelene Posted in video blog，Tags: animals, cats, glass table, observation, paws, perspective, pets, videos

30 April 2013

Hehe, she’s so cute! This was a really fun perspective – you can see her little paws in all their glory. 🙂

view of cat from underneath from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Panda watching

laelene Posted in video blog，Tags: animals, bamboo, behavior, eating, food, pacing, panda, pandas, videos, zoo

12 April 2013

Panda and I visited the National Zoo not long ago and got a chance to see the pandas! They were stuck indoors for the time being (maybe because it was brisk outside) so it was easy to watch them.

Look at how dexterous those paws are!