12 Animals Playing in Snow

BIG DOG HELPS LITTLE DOG FETCH

If you think Scooty had it tough in the deep stuff, take a look at this pitiful French Bulldog. His favorite toy, a Frisbee, is stuck in the snow mere inches away from him. But those stubby little Frenchie legs just aren't going to do the trick. What he needs is a little teamwork. Luckily, dogs come in all shapes and sizes, and help is on the way.

CAT LOVES TO SLED

"Oh my gosh, dude! Your cat can sled! Do you know what would happen if I ever tried to get my cat to do that? She would jump out of the sled and run home immediately. I can't even believe what I'm seeing right now. You gotta film this and put it on YouTube, man. You're gonna get thousands of views, maybe tens of thousands! It's incredible! How did you get that cat to do that anyway? ... Oh. Oh, really? Your cat's Canadian? Never mind, then. Now it makes sense."

MONKEY IN A SNOWSUIT

Look, don't judge these people for putting a monkey in a snowsuit. We're sure they know it's not ideal, but they have this monkey, and it's cold outside! A child's snowsuit isn't the perfect fit, but it's the best they can do. They even cut out a hole for the tail. And the monkey doesn't seem to mind. He even looks delighted by the taste of the snow on his face. He might have been designed for warmer climes, but we think he's enjoying himself just fine in the icy north.

CAT EXPERIENCES SNOW FOR THE FIRST TIME

While it’s true that cat’s don’t go to school, the first thing we thought of when watching this video was the magic of waking up on a school day and seeing the world blanketed in white, the joy of knowing that you were given the gift of a free day off from school to play outside in a special way that comes and goes, literally with the sunrise. This cat, experiencing its first snow, doesn’t have any obligations anyway, but the flood of new sensations brings about a sense of joy that we all wish we could recapture.

RED PANDA GOES BANANAS IN THE SNOW

Here’s another critter with unbridled enthusiasm for freshly fallen snow. Have you ever seen an animal happier than this about anything? The panda is just so psyched that it barely knows what to do, leaping and rolling around with abandon. But its joy is different from that of the cat in the previous slide. The cat was experiencing something new and foreign. The red panda seems more like it’s greeting an old friend. The cat merely adopted the snow; the red panda was born in it.

RATATOUILLE THE SNOWBOARDING OPOSSUM

Give it up for Ratatouille; he’s accomplishing two major feats. First of all, he’s taking the intimidation out of snowboarding. We’ve always been a little scared to try it, but Ratatouille makes it look fun and easy! If an opossum can do it, surely so can we. He’s also giving his species an image makeover. An opossum on a snowboard is a lot cuter than one scurrying under your garage like a thief when you pull into your driveway at night.

PENGUINS AT THE ST. LOUIS ZOO

At PawNation, we love penguins. Nothing’s ever going to change that, not even the jarring sound of the penguins trumpeting in this video. It’s not the most pleasant sound in the world, but the zookeepers in the video explain that it’s an expression of excitement and happiness, so we can get behind it. It’s kind of like the bleating of vuvuzelas: annoying on its own, but joyous and fun in the right context. We think penguins delighting in fresh snow counts as the right context.

NOT YOUR TYPICAL SLED DOG

If someone asks you to imagine sled dogs, you’d probably form a very specific picture in your mind: a big, hearty Husky or a Malamute, whole teams of them mushing through the Iditarod. There’s probably not a French Bulldog among them, not in your mind. But this plucky pup doesn’t give a care about our preconceptions and stereotypes. He’s going to train himself to be a sled dog no matter what, even if he has to resort to less-than-honorable measures to get it done.

GIANT PANDAS SOMERSAULT IN THE SNOW

Red pandas aren’t the only pandas who love snow. Their giant cousins like to play in the powder, too. These giant pandas are having a wintery good time at Nanshan Park in the eastern Shandong province, China. According to their keeper, they even make snowballs, not to throw at each other, but to eat as a snack. Giant pandas make snow cones for themselves. How awesome is that? No flavoring, though. That would be gilding the lily. Pure snow all day!

LOVE SNOW, HATE SNOW

Pets, just like people, have different favorite seasons. Some love the renewed life of spring, while others prefer the austere beauty of autumn. Abbey and Zoe are cat sisters with different opinions about winter. While Abbey literally leaps at the chance to roll and play in the snow, Zoe seems to have a tougher go of it. Every time she shakes some more of that icky, wet snow off of her feet, she seems to be saying, “Come on, summer. Come on, summer!”