Has you curious kid ever asked you “mummy, what’s inside a snake?” or maybe they’ve asked what’s inside a horse, a giraffe or even us.  You could pull out Grey’s Anatomy and get really into or you can just tip one of their toes (or ‘phalnages’ if you want to get all technical) into the water with the Roylco What’s Inside Animals set.

This set includes 16 double sided photo x-ray cards. At first glance they look like regular photos of a myriad of animals. But when you hold them up to the light, your can see their skeletal insides! A great and practical way to get those youngin’s curious about biology.

This set is available from Fat Brain toys here for $US26.95.

There’s not an actual mouse in the bunch, but MouseStuff’s Animal Mice line still rounds up nine of kids’ favourite animals into a collection of sturdy, 3 1/2″ long USB mice designed for little hands. Perfect for those times when you agree to turn over the PC to the kids but don’t want to end up with  jelly and Goldfish crumbs on your clicker finger.

Tiger, Piggy and Puppy are pictured L-R above — check out the whole line and get your own for $US28.95 at Tiny Einsteins.

It’s no surprise that the country that produced musical innovator Björk has some wacky ideas when it comes to keeping babies warm. Like.. dressing them up like a seal.

The 100% Icelandic wool seal blanket does make sense though, it is a loose jumpsuit which can be put on easily over existing clothes and looks pretty cosy. It also comes in four very stylish unisex designs. You can buy one at Birkiland for about $AU100.

I’m all for dressing my children up like baby animals, a hoodie with teddy bear ears was a favourite item for my son. Would you put your kid in a seal suit?

[Via Babygadget]

Time to show off that wall, of course! Proudly analogue, this Vitra Nelson Elephant Clock makes the perfect centerpiece to your jungle-themed room, motivating the kids to learn non-digital time while adding a touch of mid-century modernism to its surroundings.

$US150 from Design Public.

$US32 from Pig & Company (plus $US10.50 shipping to Australia).

The director of the Little River Zoo (pictured with a lynx similar to the one that scratched the little boy) has said that the lynx will be monitored by a veterinarian for potential dangerousness, but that she believes the cat was just trying to play.

Freya has also been moved to an inside enclosure, around which a solid fence has been built.

Although the boy recovered quickly from both his tears and the wound, I wonder how, if at all, the experience will affect him later on. Most of us know someone with a dog phobia due to one bad experience as a child. There are certainly worse things than having a deeply-ingrained fear of full-grown lynxes, but I think it’s likely the fear could extend to other animals as well. In any case, I’m glad that no one is playing the blame game here, and everyone is just relieved that the boy was not seriously hurt.

Photo: theanimalfiles.com

During the wildfires that have been plaguing Southern California for the last several months, it’s not only homeowners who get displaced, but the thousands of animals who live in the woods. Animal rescue teams work night and day to rescue injured or orphaned animals, such as this bobcat kitten and fawn, both of whom were dehydrated and near death when they were taken in by the nonprofit Animal Rescue Team.

According to Animal Planet, “Although wild animals, especially of separate species, are never placed together due to regulations, in this emergency situation, they had no choice. During the mayhem of the fire, they were forced to put animals anywhere they could, since they had run out of crates large enough for the fawn. The kitten ran to the fawn, and it was instant bonding.”

Clearly:

I hope that those baby animals who have undoubtedly lost their parents in the more recent San Bernadino fires have also been able to find comfort in unlikely companions.

Photos: shoppingblog.com and jaxonbrooks.com

Each morning the giraffes saunter up to the breakfast room to get a morning treat. Sticking their heads in to be fed by the human guests. The couple bought the estate, in part as a conservation project to save the Rothschild giraffes (there are only a couple hundred left on the planet). They have since opened it up to the public as the Giraffe Manor where guests can stay in one of their six rooms. If you just happen to be in Kenya anytime soon, you can stay there yourself, details here. Otherwise just check out the pics below, show your kids and you can all just dream of befriending these beautiful beasts.

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Does your baby understand the language of dogs? A human baby may not understand English yet but new studies say they may know how to find meaning in a dog’s bark. And this doesn’t just go for babies sharing a home with a pet pooch. The study claims that little ones, with little or no previous exposure to canines, can interpret the meaning of various dog vocalisations.

According to Science Daily infants as young as six months can make a match of the sounds of a mean snarl or a nice little yap to photos of dogs displaying those emotions.

“Emotion is one of the first things babies pick up on in their social world,” said the lead author of the study – BYU psychology professor Ross Flom,. He continued to say, “we chose dogs because they are highly communicative creatures both in their posture and the nature of their bark.”

Why would they perform this study in the first place? Experiments like this one help researchers discover how it is that babies learn so rapidly and how they understand the tone of things around them.

Does your kid speak dog?

Source

The opposite seems to be true for baby animals, which come out of the womb/egg/what have you looking so scrum-diddly-umptious they give you a toothache. Hence my new obsession:

Zooborns is a site devoted to pictures of “the newest and cutest exotic animal babies from zoos and aquariums around the world.” Ok, stop your drooling.

They’ve packed the site with video, news, pictures and bits of info about animals so it’s an educational exploration for your kids as much as it’s a guilty pleasure for you. They’ve got the site broken down by type of animal and by zoo/aquarium too – so it’s worth checking out to see who’s been born at the facility near you, so you can better plan your itinerary (and prep your kids for the visit).

And now for some seriously cute animals . . . just because:

Now go check out more over at Zooborns!

Images: Zooborns