Cats love farms because they have lots of food (and rodents) for them to snack on, and farmers love cats because they help keep the farm rodent free.

But having too many cats on your farm seems like a bad idea, what with all of those plump chickens strutting around.

So how do Russian farmer Alla Lebedeva and her husband Sergey raise those big and beautiful Siberian cats and keep her farm animals from becoming a feline buffet?

Alla says the Siberian cats actually protect her animals from rodents:

"How many do we have now? To such a question I usually answer 'a million, maybe more,'" Lebedeva tells DesignYouTrust. "They live in the henhouse... They have three ‘little bedrooms’ there where can they sleep according to how they feel. Our cats protect the chickens and rabbits from rats and mice."

By the look of them there must be quite a few rats raiding her farm- because these cats look like they have a healthy appetite for fresh meat.

These little lions are often mistaken for Norwegian Forest cats, but Alla wants everyone to know that her Siberian cats are a different species, which she and her husband have been raising for over a decade on the farm they call "Catland":

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See more Siberian Farm Cats Have Absolutely Taken Over This Farmer's Land here

What on earth inspired this guy to bring in an Eldritch Insanity Drake as a new member of the household? We all build our families in our own ways, but you have to take the feelings of existing members into consideration. But you also have to teach the young ones how to treat strangers. This is only the beginning; you can see the rest of the comic by noobtheloser at imgur. The story is really going somewhere, I promise, but you have to read it to the end. The punchline is worth the confusion on the way there. -via Geeks Are Sexy

When a cat sets their mind to getting something they rarely give up until they get it, and cats have been known to bite the hand that feeds them if that something is food.

But I've never met a cat who liked bread, especially when their humans try to stick it on their heads like a mask, so we must assume Kelley Fultz's cat Mew Mew is trying to snatch her bread simply out of spite.

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-Via Laughing Squid

Chris and Jess Poole decided it was asking for too much trouble to put up a Christmas tree this year, because Cole and Marmalade (previously at Neatorama) would just trash it again. Instead, they built a cat-friendly gingerbread house out of cardboard! They decorated it so festively that they don't miss having a tree. And the cats love it.

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Watch them build the Christmas cardboard gingerbread house in this video. -via Laughing Squid

Petra the African grey parrot has learned to get what she wants, just by asking. A human can say no, but Google's Alexa is programmed to carry out your wishes. This video is essentially over at two minutes.  

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Petra made a shopping list on the Amazon Echo. We are having Alexa tell us what the list contains then when we ask Petra WHY she made a list, All she can say is "I want a Peanut"

Yeah, voice recognition in a household assistant is a wonderful thing, but you have to remember that parrots learn your voice and use it. Making a shopping list is not the only thing Petra uses Alexa for.

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-via Bits and Pieces

Some dogs are lazy bums who can't be bothered to lift a paw to help their owners, but working dogs love to stay busy doing the important job they were trained to do, and they genuinely seem to have fun while at work.

For instance, K-9 Piper (previously on Neatorama) is employed by the Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City, Michigan and has a very important job to do- scare off the birds that hang around the runway in order to prevent aircraft bird strikes.

But Piper doesn't stress out about doing his job or impressing his owner, Brian Edwards, because he is too busy having fun chasing those birds away to worry about quotas or looking good in front of the boss.

And besides, Brian loves him so much that Piper can do no wrong in his eyes!

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This Great Big Story video shows the important, life saving job being performed by dogs and showcases Piper's ability to have fun and get the job done, all while wearing some super cool doggles. Good boy Piper!

-Via Laughing Squid

A comment thread about snow dogs led me to an interesting interview with Dr. Susan Whiton, an Alaskan veterinarian who is married to a champion musher who runs a sled dog kennel. She talked about how Siberian Huskies, Alaskan Huskies, Malamutes, and other dogs bred specifically for cold weather are different from other dogs. Their ability to tolerate cold is amazing, as long as they are healthy, well-fed, and are in their prime.  

Q. What diet should they eat if they are outside for long periods during the day?

A. The calories in most commercial dog foods come from carbohydrates. In very cold weather, the dogs do better with a higher amount of fat calories. A study indicated a sled dog racing the Iditarod required 10,000 calories a day to meet their metabolic needs. The only way to meet that high caloric need is with a diet high in fat calories. Most pet dogs do not need that many calories and may get very sick from a high fat diet.

When I ran the Yukon Quest in 1987 we encountered -55° F temperatures at night and -20° F during the day. The sled dogs did fine at those temperatures. They were being fed a very high fat, high calorie diet up to four times a day during the rest periods and often got fatty meat snacks during the runs.

Q. How are dogs with a thick undercoat able to keep warm when sleeping?

A. When they sleep they curl up with their tail over their nose, which traps the heat against their bodies. There are lots of photos of resting sled dogs covered with snow. They are holding their heat well since the snow is not melted. The dogs that are not doing well will have ice on their fur. It indicates that they are losing enough body heat to melt the snow. Because their coat is not insulating well more ice will build up making the hair less lofty and less insulating. The thick undercoat of the Northern Breeds provides loft, like a fuzzy mohair sweater, and keeps the warmth next to the animal rather than allowing it to escape. The Iditarod sled dog race only allows Northern Breeds in the race because other breeds can’t retain heat well. So when the ice hits their coat it melts and then freezes.

There's more to read about sled dogs and cold-weather breeds here.  -via a comment at reddit

(Image credit: Ajarvarlamov)

Bats got a bad reputation when they became associated with vampires, witches and horror movies like Cujo, but in reality bats are gentle, and often skittish, critters who just want to hang with their bat buds in peace.

So when a human offers to help them out they'll usually accept without a fight, but wild bats normally aren't as cute or patient about it as Harry the bat is while a human from Batzilla the Bat gently removes the netting

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The Batzilla the Bat netting fund spreads awareness about how dangerous most netting gardeners use to protect their crops is for the wild bats of Australia and around the world:

As we live in a sub tropical climate we have massive problems with gardeners using cheap killer netting to protect their fruit trees from predation from bats, birds and possums and thousands of animals are tortured and killed each year in large aperture netting.

Never use any netting you can poke a finger through as it is deadly to wildlife.

-Via Laughing Squid

Why is this cat so grumpy? Was someone a little late with the kibble? Or is he passing judgement on the photographer? The truth is that Merlin looks like this all the time, whether he's chilling in the sink, playing with his toys, or chatting with the dog. Merlin is a ragdoll/Himalayan mix with beautiful blue eyes that are always partially shaded by his overly stern eyebrows.

Turn the sink on. I dare you. . . . #bestmeow #meowdel #picoftheday #potd #cat #kitten #top #healthy #instacat_meows #happy #catoftheday #catfeatures #cat_features #l4l #like4like #likeforfollow #catlovers #gato #catsofinstagram #cat_my_boss #cute #love #katze #magnificent_meowdels #instacat_meows #instacat_models #balousfriends #cats_of_world #cats_of_instagram #photos4ellen

A post shared by Merlin (@merlinragdoll) on Sep 19, 2017 at 4:08pm PDT

Yo this rock is so chill, lots of room to pawty here! . . . . #bestmeow #meowdel #picoftheday #potd #cat #kitten #top #healthy #instacat_meows #adorable #cutestcatever #happy #ragdoll_feature #catoftheday #catfeatures #cat_features #kittens #l4l #like4like #likeforfollow #catlovers #gato #meow #catsofinstagram #cat_my_boss #bestmeow #cute #love #katze #monday

A post shared by Merlin (@merlinragdoll) on Jul 5, 2017 at 6:12pm PDT

You can see more of Merlin at his Instagram gallery, where he gives his many followers the stink-eye on a regular basis. Believe it or not, he didn't look grumpy at all when he was a kitten. If you go back far enough in the gallery, you'll find that Merlin's kitten pictures are quite charming. -via Bored Panda

This picture is from a Tweet by @juliettebaba. It's not clear whether this is a deliberate alteration to accommodate a cat-centric household, an art piece, or possibly the natural result of having cats around a normal Christmas tree. But a clue came into the comments underneath that Tweet.

I swear this must be the pic from the year before. Same floor, same tree stand. pic.twitter.com/MMovQp7ciY

— Bailey (@Mr_Bailey_Cat) December 10, 2017

The cats in the two pictures look like they may be related to each other, too. They must have a really destructive gene in the family. This was found in a collection of photos of cats in Christmas trees you can see at Mashable.

Cats don't have to adhere to a 9 to 5 schedule like their poor overworked humans, and because they're free to do their feline thang whenever they want many cats think the middle of the night is the best time to get frisky.

This naturally bugs the hell out of their humans, who are trying to sleep so they can make the most of the daylight, but cats are too busy scurrying around the house, knocking stuff over and tearing up the couch to care how their humans feel.

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Comedian Gus Johnson put on a pair of ears and some whiskers so he could properly channel the spirit of a cat when they're at their most rambunctious- at 3 a.m. when their humans dare try to dream.

-Via Laughing Squid

Michele Boudreaux set out a box of treats for delivery drivers who are working hard this Christmas season. The local wildlife noticed, and a squirrel decided the box was fair game. Boudreaux tells the story of the thieving squirrel at her blog.

On Monday, I put out this year’s treat table and—NO JOKE—within a few hours, ALL the Ghirardelli chocolate squares were gone. I couldn’t believe it. Why would someone do such a thing? And why would they take the most expensive chocolate on the tray? Why not rob us blind of all the Reese’s and Mini Snickers since I can’t seem to stop eating them because holy crap, trash candy is so damn good and I totally don’t choose Us Weekly over Time while in the waiting room.

But, no. This thief took the good stuff. And I wanted to cry. It was day one and already two packs, like 25 pieces, of Ghirardelli squares had been taken from us.

A video camera caught the thief in action.

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The chocolate is now in a jar that requires opposable thumbs to open. -via Tastefully Offensive

LOLcats are much older than the internet, and even older than current copyrights. The children's book Kittens and Cats: A First Reader (1911) was written by Eulalie Osgood Grover. The simple captions tell the story of a cat throwing a party for all her friends.

The images are attributed to the Rotograph Company, which lead us to believe they were the work of a young Harry Whittier Frees before he began selling cat pictures under his own name. His talent for posing cats in clothing would develop far beyond what is contained in the 1911 primer.  

See more cats from the book at The Public Domain Review. -via Metafilter

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Horses are noble and elegant creatures and truly one of the most beautiful animals in the world, but did you know they're also the hirsute heroes of the animal kingdom?

With beautiful manes and tails that can be braided and styled their hair game is undeniably strong, but what truly makes them hirsute heroes is the fact that both males and females can grow amazing moustaches.

And unlike other animals with hair on their upper lip the horse's moustache comes in many styles, from the hairy hippie to the dapper dan to the horsey handlebar.

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So why aren't horses allowed to enter the World Beard and Moustache Competitions? Because humans are afraid of being shown up by their steeds!

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See more from If You Ever Feel Sad Just Remember That Horses Can Grow Moustaches here

It's time for a little warm-and-fuzzy break! Take a few minutes and revel in seeing all kinds of animals giving hugs to people (or vice-versa). We have cows, chimpanzees, parrots, fish, elephants, poultry, bears, pigs, goats, cats, dogs, and ferocious wild animals -some you may not even be familiar with. Need we say it? Don't try this with just any animal.   

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When you feel the world is falling apart, enjoy the power of touch and the pure signs of affection from critters who don't care about our wealth or our pasts or our politics. -via Tastefully Offensive