Rue The Day!

You may not have known today is World Turtle Day, but now that you know, don’t you just want to hug a turtle? Well, if you’re terrified of salmonella or if you just can’t find a turtle within hugging distance, these 20 cute turtle pics are the next best thing.

But there is still time to save these other endangered species from becoming the next lonely creature of their species with the help of the kind people at TheLonelyDodo.com.

Yes, 2012 is long over, but it’s never too late to appreciate these absolutely stunning pictures of animals taken throughout the course of the past year.

Just look at those faces!

WTF, Evolution is a great new blog that criticizes some of evolution’s most bizarre designs. For example the text for the guy above reads:

“Hey! Hey! I think I finally made something cute.”

“Oh, yeah? Let’s see.”

“It’s a ‘shoebill.’ It’s big and blue and adorable. Nice, right?”

“It’s… hm. I don’t know. I like the blue, but something about those eyes is kind of creeping me out right now.”

“What? Come on. Those are friendly eyes. It wants to be your friend.”

“Okay. Okay, yeah. You’re right, evolution, I’m sorry. Should I feed it, maybe? What does it eat?”

“Baby crocodiles.”

“Oh Jesus Christ.”

And you thought the way they looked was disgusting.

Spoiler alert: they’re insane!

For the Love of Rats has a great set of photos trying to help give the cute little critters a better public image by putting educational signs on the cuties and taking pictures of them. Don’t miss both sets of the great series and remember, pet rats are just as good as any other pet.

This little guy is the newest addition to the San Diego Zoo safari park -and just look at that adorable little trot!

Who knew?

(Video Link)