Everyone needs one
February 15, 2018 8:47 PM   Subscribe

Find you someone who's as happy to see you as this donkey. Or someone who wants to hug you as much as these animals.
posted by Johnny Wallflower (31 comments total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
God I fucking love donkeys. There's a really nice one at the SF zoo's petting zoo- 2 in fact, but due to some finger nibbling incidents the kiddies (and the adult kooks like me who love the petting zoo) are no longer permitted to pet them. They have the softest ears and noses. Oh well- I will content myself with petting the goats. They don't nibble fingers- they nibble your paper products! (seriously, there is a huge warning on the fences about how no paper maps and programs should be taken inside because the goats suddenly decided... yum.)
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 8:53 PM on February 15, 2018 [4 favorites]


I have some doubts about the long-term future of some of those huggees...
posted by tavella at 9:01 PM on February 15, 2018 [17 favorites]


Funny, I just posted this Valentine's Day look I got from one of the animals at Laguna Honda Hospital's animal farm for the patients.
posted by PhineasGage at 9:03 PM on February 15, 2018 [7 favorites]


Find you someone who's as happy to see you as this donkey

Someone who screams and wheezes at me whenever we meet. #RelationshipGoals
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:12 PM on February 15, 2018 [17 favorites]


Do you want salmonella? ‘Cause this is how you get salmonella.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:14 PM on February 15, 2018


Not gonna lie, some of those hugs were terrifying.
posted by edheil at 9:21 PM on February 15, 2018 [2 favorites]


a close friend of mine has a lovely fluffy dog who gives hugs to people she loves and it is an amazing feeling
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 9:42 PM on February 15, 2018 [4 favorites]


God I love poodle mixes. (which is what I assume your friend's dog is.) Mix a poodle with anything and you get a good good boy. Little poodle with a chi? smol good boy. Medium poodle with a corgi? stubby good boy. Large poodle with ???? big boy of happiness.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 10:21 PM on February 15, 2018 [5 favorites]


Homo neanderthalensis: "There's a really nice one at the SF zoo's petting zoo- 2 in fact"

No lie, I used to go to that petting zoo as a kid in the 90s and the two donkeys were my favorites. I'd only feed them, unless the dastardly goats and sheep attacked me en route. One of the donkeys was quite young and I claimed that it was my friend.

Wonder if they're the same ones? Donkeys can live several decades.
posted by waninggibbon at 11:31 PM on February 15, 2018 [2 favorites]


I love donkeys so much. My low-key life goal is to one day have enough land to get a donkey or two.
posted by lollymccatburglar at 12:21 AM on February 16, 2018 [1 favorite]


Aw man that second video is pushing me ever closer to being a vegetarian.

Watching elephants, sea lions, parrots hug humans: "Awww so cuuuuute!"

Watching lions and wolves hug humans: "OMG what if they figure out we are delicious?"

Watching chickens, cows and pigs hug a human: "STAAAAHHHPPP YOU ARE DELICIOUS!"
posted by like_neon at 1:59 AM on February 16, 2018 [3 favorites]


which is what I assume your friend's dog is

yup, she's a poodle maltese mix, and just so sweet
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 2:16 AM on February 16, 2018 [1 favorite]


My favorite fact about donkeys is that Swahili for zebra is "punda miliya" - striped donkey. Once seen, it's impossible to unsee, and it actually hints at their domesticationfrom Somali wild asses!
posted by ChuraChura at 4:26 AM on February 16, 2018 [2 favorites]


My favorite fact about donkeys is that Swahili for zebra is "punda miliya" - striped donkey. Once seen, it's impossible to unsee, and it actually hints at their domesticationfrom Somali wild asses!

I think it was a link in an FPP last year that took me down the rabbit hole of historical attempts to domesticate zebras . It mostly hasn't worked, but lots of people have tried.
posted by Dip Flash at 5:21 AM on February 16, 2018 [2 favorites]


Love is all we need.
Both videos are really soothing and happy-making
posted by mumimor at 5:51 AM on February 16, 2018 [1 favorite]


Yea diffrent music on that second one would totally change the feel. When that bear mauls that guys head…screw that
posted by ShawnString at 6:40 AM on February 16, 2018 [1 favorite]


The ones with the larger carnivores remind me of the story from Death Machine where the guy wants to make himself as delicious as possible for the lions who are going to eat him.
posted by runcibleshaw at 6:49 AM on February 16, 2018


My Mitzi is a Maltipoo and she is the best snuggler anywhere.

I couldn't help but think of the face-eating leopards with some of those animals. It only takes a second from hugging to face eating.
posted by Sophie1 at 6:53 AM on February 16, 2018 [2 favorites]


There is a donkey sanctuary not far from me. I sponsor a miniature donkey named Larry, whose cuteness is comparable to that of a button. Everyone should have a donkey they can visit.

The first video brought to mind that bit of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, where Titania has been magicked into loving Bottom, who had the head of a donkey. Specifically the bit about “and let me kiss thy large fair ears.”
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:22 AM on February 16, 2018 [8 favorites]


Hugging a snake is not wise.

They do not love you. Really, they don't. As for crocodiles...
posted by BlueHorse at 7:27 AM on February 16, 2018 [2 favorites]


I choose to ignore the inherent danger in so many of these.
posted by tommasz at 7:52 AM on February 16, 2018 [2 favorites]


QUOKKA
posted by numaner at 8:21 AM on February 16, 2018


Speaking of goats and petting zoos and paper products:

When I was 8 or 9, somewhere like Bush Gardens or Miami's Parrot Jungle, I can't remember, a goat ate my snake certificate. It's a frequent exclamation of disapointment in my family.
posted by humboldt32 at 8:55 AM on February 16, 2018 [3 favorites]


a goat ate my snake certificate

This sounds like it should be a cryptic crossword clue, or an anagram of something. Or a spy passphrase. "My hovercraft is full of eels."/"A goat ate my snake certificate".

(P.S. Sorry about your snake certificate.)
posted by theatro at 9:25 AM on February 16, 2018 [9 favorites]


"I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my Squishy. Come on, Squishy. Come on, little Squishy... Oww! Bad Squishy, bad Squishy!"
Some human/animal pairings are not like the others....
posted by TrishaU at 11:17 AM on February 16, 2018 [1 favorite]


I want a donkey to hug me. I mostly just want a donkey.
posted by darksong at 11:17 AM on February 16, 2018


The bear chewing on the guy's face gave me pause, NGL.
posted by suelac at 12:09 PM on February 16, 2018 [1 favorite]


Yeah, for a couple of these, there seems to be a fine line between "hugging" and "tasting."

Particularly for the various members of the Timothy Treadwell Ursine Fellowship Society there.


I do love how excited some of those big cats are to see their friends, though.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:19 PM on February 16, 2018 [3 favorites]


I'm presuming they are hand-raised and well-fed bears, so not quite the same risk of a passing hungry wild bear, but even animals that have been domesticated for millennia still sometimes turn on humans. Still, there's something deeply charming when wild animals form a bond that overrides their instincts - I love Christian the lion being so loving even when he was now a proper wild lion with a pride of his own.
posted by tavella at 1:08 PM on February 16, 2018


I love Christian the lion being so loving even when he was now a proper wild lion with a pride of his own.
Oooh, I'd forgotten the totally relaxed atmosphere of that ending, I suppose because the whole film prepared you for it.
posted by mumimor at 1:40 PM on February 16, 2018


Darksong, don't say that out loud. I have a nice mule I'm looking to find a (free) home for....
posted by BlueHorse at 7:39 PM on February 16, 2018


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