Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
If You’re Not In A Festive Mood, These 103 Cute And Funny Animals Might Brighten Your Day
While there is nothing like chicken soup (or whatever your brand of comfort food is) when you’ve got a cold, there are a few digital supplements as well. A funny meme, or a video of, say, a German shepherd interacting with some cute kittens.
The “Hurting Souls” Instagram page isn’t named after what they do, rather, it’s who they help, sharing, among other things, wholesome and adorable posts about animals. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to share your own thoughts in the comments down below.
More info: Instagram
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Randy Skretvedt 1 week ago
God bless him -- and the animals he saved. I pray that all of them find good homes.
Jorie 1 week ago
Does anybody know how to get in touch with him? How can we help him? We should start a Go Fund Me.
Multa Nocte 4 days ago
This was back in Dec. 2020. They started a Go Fund Me for him and in a few weeks it was already at $36,000.00. Don't know his current status.
Load More Replies...
RELATED:
#2
Lucidus Astrum 1 week ago
When my chronic pain peaks my dog gives me his favourite ball. I'm not sure if it means "This makes me happy so it will make you happy" or "You can't move for a while so you can throw my ball for me!"
#3
Roxy222uk 1 week ago
I see stuff like this on BP quite often and don’t understand. Stray dogs in the UK are always caught and taken care of. They are never just left to live as a stray.
KatWitch57 1 week ago
By "taken care of" you mean given 3 to 7 days before euthanasia.
Load More Replies...
We have all been there. You open your phone to check a quick email and suddenly it is forty minutes later. You are deep in a rabbit hole of videos featuring baby elephants tripping over their own trunks or kittens fighting invisible demons. It feels like a waste of time but you cannot look away. It turns out that this obsession is not just a bad habit. It is actually a biological imperative hardwired into your brain. The reason you lose your mind over a puppy in a teacup is rooted in evolutionary survival.
The scientific term for this phenomenon is Kindchenschema. This concept was introduced by the ethologist Konrad Lorenz in 1943. He noticed that humans have a very specific set of triggers for affection. We love things with large heads relative to their bodies. We love big round eyes that sit low on the face.
#4
Cheryl Bohnel 1 week ago
How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Not sure that is woodchuck, but it seemed fitting.
#5
williamszita 1 week ago
Is there a Lowes or it's affiliate in the UK? That's a business I'd happily support!
Kelly Scott 1 week ago
You don't want to support Lowe's with its bonehead CEO.
Load More Replies...
RiceRiceBaby 929 1 week ago
It's not as if they're serving food or having to shell out 2 checks
#6
We love chubby cheeks and clumsy movements. These traits are typically found in human infants. When we see them our brains flood with chemicals that tell us to protect and nurture the little creature. This ensured our ancestors did not leave their babies in a cave somewhere because they were too loud.
#7
CJ Vee 1 week ago
How can you tell in this case? It's getting harder for me to identify AI
Load More Replies... 
#8
Cheryl Bohnel 1 week ago
Hope she isn't still your girlfriend. Stomp looks wonderful and now has a new home.
#9
This instinct is so powerful that it spills over onto other species. A golden retriever puppy hits all the same buttons as a human baby. It has big eyes and floppy behavior. Our brains are not picky enough to distinguish between a human child and a furry four legged animal. We just see the geometry of cuteness and our caretaking instincts kick into overdrive. This is why you might feel a sudden urge to mother a baby sloth even though it is a wild animal that would likely scratch you.
#10
#11
#12
Lynchamigsakta 1 week ago
What a fukking world we live in that wild animals fear getting caught eating plants
Marlene Ricker 12 hours ago
I've seen this picture before but this really is one of my very favourite pictures of animals!! That little elephant is just too cute for words!!!
April Pickett 1 week ago
I love these pictures. The elephant, the bear, the cat or dog ( I can't remember).
There is a very real chemical reaction happening when you look at these photos. A study from the University of Oxford found that cute images ignite activity in the orbitofrontal cortex. This is the part of the brain linked to emotion and pleasure.
#14
#15
Robert Trebor 1 week ago
I walked to the train station every morning and had to leave my house 10 minutes early to have time with a basset on the way.
The reaction happens in a fraction of a second. It is faster than conscious thought. You do not decide to find the kitten cute. Your brain has already released a hit of dopamine and oxytocin before you can even form a sentence. It is effectively a natural high that makes you feel happy and trusting.
#16
#17
#18
You might think this distraction makes you less productive but science suggests otherwise. A team of researchers at Hiroshima University conducted a study called The Power of Kawaii. They found that people who looked at pictures of baby animals actually performed better on tasks requiring focus and fine motor skills.
#19
#20
Caryne Ag 1 day ago
We found a litter of kittens in the tiger exhibit once at the zoo I worked at. There was one of every flavor: siamese, white, black, orange, calico, tabby - that mom got around! Took them all to the Education dept and they all got adopted by the end of the day including the mom. How could anyone resist, right?
#21
Learner Panda 1 week ago
I wish I had the self confidence to go out with that eye liner! It's lovely.
Auntriarch 1 week ago
Do it! It's the eyeliner that bestows the confidence
Load More Replies... 
The intense focus we apply to the cute object translates into a narrowed attentional spotlight. So looking at cat memes might actually help you edit that spreadsheet with fewer errors. You are not procrastinating. You are technically warming up your brain for detailed work.
#22
#23
#24
Then there is the darker side of cuteness. Have you ever looked at a dog so adorable that you physically wanted to squeeze it until it popped? This is called cute aggression. It sounds violent but it is actually a regulatory mechanism. Psychologists believe that when we are hit with an overwhelming amount of positive emotion our brains cannot handle it. To balance out the unmanageable joy the brain throws in a dash of aggression to bring us back down to a stable emotional baseline. You want to eat the baby toes because you love them too much. It is your brain trying to stop you from short circuiting.
#25
#26
#27
Cheryl Bohnel 1 week ago
Go Shon!!! Animals need super heros like yourself. Love your post Kwesha Dali.
We even have a soft spot for animals that are objectively ugly. This is often because they fit the vulnerable criteria. A pug with its squashed face and wheezing breath might not be classically beautiful like a horse. But its helplessness triggers our sympathy. We want to help it. We want to fix it. That drive to care for the underdog is another facet of the same instinct.
#28
Ermes of Endearment 1 week ago (edited)
My dog found a piece of pizza in the street on a walk once and now walking our small block takes hours.
#29
#30
Gigi 1 week ago
I heard from a eye Dr (look, this is not something that I researched) that a head tilt helps a long-nosed animal can get a better "look" at something? So make a fist with you hand, stick it at the end of your nose and then look straight on, the tilt your head and see the difference. This also may have been a trick to make someone laugh at me😆
Load More Replies... horseloving panda 1 week ago
they do this because they see differently, and so tilting their head allows the depth perception to change and so they get a new angle, unlike humans who most likely do it to mimic animals.
So the next time your boss catches you watching a video of a panda sneezing, do not apologize. You are engaging in an evolutionary exercise that boosts your mood and sharpens your focus. You are practically employee of the month.
#31
BookFanatic 1 week ago
Reminds me of my salon's "shop dog." He's a massive beastie with the brainpower of an orange kitten. His biggest threat is sneaking up on clients and slurping their elbows.
#32
#33
HappyShannon 1 week ago
That looks a little fake to me. I think that i have seen that same cow popping up in other pictures
#36
Owen 2 weeks ago
Fun fact - If you get charged by a cheetah, just stay still. They are used to chasing prey. Their bones are fragile, so they don't want to collide with a solid object. But you probably won't see them before they attack anyway.
Bonesko 1 week ago
That sounds suspicious. I think a cheetah started that rumor. "Just stand still when I,... I mean a cheetah attacks"😙
Load More Replies... #37
The Starsong Princess 1 week ago
I can tell that the local raccoons would happily sit on my couch, drink my beer and watch my tv.
Chich the witch 1 week ago
They are just getting ready to take over and show us how its done right.
Ilan Elron 1 week ago
there are now 'city raccoons', academically proven to be "smarter" than their truly feral cousins
#38
ALittleKnownGoddess 1 week ago
Or passed out drunk in the bathroom of a liquor store! (post heist)
Jude Laskowski 1 week ago
I was at a friend's house and was helping to wash the dishes. Friends fed all the neighborhood raccoons after dinner. I looked out the (closed) window and saw the whole pack staring in at me, wondering where the heck dinner was.
#39
B Hobbs 1 week ago
You don't have a watermelon on the floor in your house? How strange. /s
Load More Replies... #40
#41
#42
#43
murmelinpaiva 2 weeks ago
Nice. When my husband died, I cut the pictures off of some of his favorite T-shirts and made a quilted wall hanging.
Mike Beck 1 week ago (edited)
Poorly done here but it's usually mentioned that the bear is made from the deceased grandfather's clothing.
Load More Replies... #44
#45
#46
Kerry Borthwick 1 day ago
I tripped over duck once badly hurt my elbow my kids never let me forget it duck and dyspraxia 1 me 0
#49
#50
#51
Auntriarch 1 week ago
I was going to get one for my nephew's English Toy Terrier but they are hundreds of pounds, so I think I'll get my mother to knit one and paint it silver
#52
#53
#54
Patricia the Grey 1 week ago
And don't let them run around outside where worse things can happen.
Load More Replies... 
#55
#56
#57
#58
#60
Tina Marie 1 week ago
OK, at least 1 of you has to have the red dot. Let's get this meeting started
#61
GalPalAl 1 week ago
WOW. Like the opposite of being an albino with all the melanin instead of being absent
Regina McCloud 1 week ago
This rare giraffe recently passed away. Everyone who visited her at the zoo are heartbroken
Load More Replies... #62
#64
Zig Zag Wanderer 1 week ago (edited)
We're gonna have to repurpose these for drop bears in Australia....
Did I say that out loud? 1 week ago
You haven't got room for all the warning signs you lot need.
Load More Replies... 
#66
#67
#68
Tina Marie 1 week ago
I had no idea- I put a pumpkin on my porch, and really enjoyed how the squirrels "carved" it, and ate all seeds and much of the flesh
Spinstapink 1 week ago
Do NOT FEED squirrels near your home! I had this happen to me, too, leaving peanuts for them on my deck railing. Next thing you know, they're in my house, tearing into bags of pasta and bread.
Lady Eowyn 1 week ago
The squirrels not only chewed the screen on the kitchen window, they stood on the windowsill and knocked on the window to let us know the bird feeder was empty.
#69
Smeghead Tribble Down Under 2 weeks ago
What is that dinosaur-y thing and where do I get one?!
Kitsune Nocturne 1 week ago
It's a chair. I don't recall where you can buy it... You could reverse image search it (imgops).
Load More Replies... #70
#71
#72
#74
#75
#76
Lukas (he/him, it/its) 1 week ago
No, but she lives there, so it is her apartment. Just like how a child might say "This is my apartment" despite not owning it.
Load More Replies... #77
Angela Corvaia 2 weeks ago
I think I saw this before without the cat, besides wouldn't the weight alone make this impossible?
Load More Replies...
#78
#80
#81
#83
#85
Lynchamigsakta 1 week ago
I think it's a flemish giant. They're big as all that and well they're bread for meat so probably got some chunk
Load More Replies... #86
#87
#89
#90
#92
#95
#97
Tina Marie 1 week ago
Me helping dad, but all I know is where to shine the light, and hand him tools
#103
GalPalAl 1 week ago
I love the idea behind it, but I don't agree with paying large sums of money to advertise someone's label for them
Bonesko 1 week ago
I also don't agree with chasing down people you don't know
Load More Replies... Add New Image
Explore more of these tags
What do you think ?
You May Like “Cats Can Recognize Their Owner’s Voice, Face, And Even Footsteps”: 50 Interesting Animal Facts 92 Wholesome Facts That You Probably Didn't Know But Should 60 Fascinating Behind-The-Scenes Photos People Took At Work That Were Too Good Not To Share (New Pics)
Dominyka Proškėnaitė
Mindaugas Balčiauskas
Donata Ruzgaitė
Related on Bored Panda
