This anteater at the Sunshine Aquarium in Tokyo, Japan likes to root through the food left for the ducks in their shared enclosure. However, this cunning plan may not have been thought all the way through.
But practice makes perfect, and eventually our anteater manages to get a snack without getting a drink.
That anteater turned out to be pretty smart, Smartypants. (via Tastefully Offensive)
This was riveting. I couldn’t tear my eyes away, even though I already knew what was going to happen.
Do they not feed this poor lad enough? That was some serious determination.
I know! It was like watching a train wreck in slo-mo. I’m glad to see he didn’t get completely dunked. That’s what I actually expected and was waiting for him to make a … big splash (da dum, I’ll be here all week!). I loved how the ducks were so nonchalant like this is something they see him do all the time.
Wow! So intense and determined and athletic! And he didn’t even seem interested in the greenery so much as something at the bottom of the pan!? Hmmmmm – couldn’t have been aquatic ants?
Ant. Ticipatian.
Gorgeous creature.
Say it!
FTW!
(I’m missing something here….?
Say it out loud.?
Say what out loud???
What Faye wrote. I was assuming that was what you couldn’t figure out, but perhaps I misunderstood?
Genius! 🙂
Golf claps!!
Ha ha ha ha!!!
NOICE! 😀 😀 😀
Took me an embarrassingly long time to get that.
I still haven’t!? I feel so naive.
“Anticipation” = Ant. Ticipation.
Ant^Ticipation. Anticipation. As in Rolling Stones song. Ant Eater anticipating what ever the heck it’s trying to reach.
Oh, I GOT that – tho’ I didn’t get the Rolling Stones connection. I thought it was the FTW that Phred’s Mom wrote! I don’t know what that means unless you switch the letters around.?
Thank you all for your kind indulgence. (curtsies pertly)
FTW = For the win
LOL, I always have to chuckle because we have a local theater group, very prestigious, called the (name) Theatre Festival – abbreviated “WTF”. Obviously it meant something different when it was founded!
I thought that song was by Carly Simon – or ketchup; I always get them confused…
Definitely ketchup. Or, as my family said “catsup”.
Oh yes, I remember that commercial – great! Maybe she and the Rolling Stones both released versions of it.
I googled. Anticipation=Carly Simon. Can’t Get No Satisfaction = Rolling Stones. Anticipation confused with Satisfaction. Sigh. Story of my life!!! The Anteater looks like its Ant. Ticipation lead to Satisfaction or at least Exertion.
Ps. I always read FTW for the win as “&$@k the what”. It took me awhile to get it right. Dyslexic unintentional swearing.
I think I love him! I had no idea anteaters could be so beautiful–not to mention persistent and athletic. This is the ehniest ehn we’ve seen since that snail!
ehn is the perfect noise!
Thought it was a very skinny polar bear at first–I’m not familiar with anteaters in that color pattern!
I love watching animals figure things out. This one is pretty smart, though I couldn’t resist a chortle at the “oh no” expression.
Yes, wide-eyed oh s***!
Watching the second video when he returns to the tree branch, I had no idea an anteater’s tail can be so strong! Looks like it can support at least half his body weight easily.
Yes, I love that part – how he’s able to pull back his whole body from being fully stretched out!
It’s nice to see his persistence rewarded.
I didn’t even watch the second one until I saw your comment and realized it was a different video. Thought it was the same as the first. That is one determined ant-eater. His antics remind me of that Japanese game show Takeshi’s Castle.
This is what well-run zoos do: they give the animals things to do, and challenges, so they don’t get too bored. Best straytch since that bookworm on CO, years back.
I think I can
I think I can
I think I can
Oh sh***
I would like to know how the ducks, the anteater, and giant goldfish all became roomates.
An Anteater, a Duck and a Koi walk into a bar…
You can see the koi underneath him going “a little mo-o-ore”.
I think the Koi have a daily office pool. Pool. Get it? Seriously they look like they are betting if Anteater takes a dunk.
Bwa ha ha office pool! 😀
I never realized how much I wanted to cuddle an anteater until now!! It’s this much: very.
Hilz, there was a young lady on the Internet a few years back who had two tamanduas, which were golden and black and maybe smaller than this guy? Her photos made it on to CuteOverload at least once and they were delightful. She was one lucky person.
You mean Pua’s mom? That was a personal pet, who btw loved hanging out in the laundry room.
That is some circ du soleil stuff! Amazing how he (she?) uses the tail…
And the design and the tight fit of the costume!
Totally in awe of this animal’s muscle control! She belongs on the next Mission: Impossible! Such persistence and determination–you can see it in her face! Just awesome!?? ??
I am all for replacing Tom Cruise in the next Mission impossible with an anteater as long as you keep Simon Pegg.
Great heading by the way,, so NTMTOM.
Such determination, he’s like a giant squirrel with a shaved tail. Heck, if the squirrels at my mothers bird feeder had prehensile tails, they’d take over the world!
Anteater Ninja Warrior! Get the popcorn and be ready to watch!
Who knew eatanters* had prehensile tails? So gorgeous!
The suspense was terrible watching the first video, but s/he didn’t get as wet as I thought s/he would.
*eatanter courtesy Johnny Hart.
I loff him! He’s so persistent, and quite the dashing dresser with that sporty vest.
Along with everyone else, I am impressed with the anteater’s determination and athleticism, and creative use of prehensile tail. But what it is AFTER? Is it purely curiosity? That green stuff is not what an anteater eats (or it’d be named a greenseater). It might not even be able to get a lettuce leaf in its mouth. Does it think someone sneaked some ants or grubs or nice larvae into the salad tub?
So I looked it up, and as DebG mentioned, this is a tamandua — not sure if it’s northern or southern (it’s lighter than most pictures I see; one source says the lightest ones are the southern from the south part of their range, but who knows?) — Wiki says they live in trees (hence the tail) and in captivity they’ll eat fruit and meat (in addition to creepy-crawlies as in the wild) but they have no teeth, so really, lettuce?
Well, that clears up a few things! ? Perhaps among the greens they also leave fruit for the ducks? Or maybe it’s something that’s already been eaten that he’s going for?
I think likely there were some bugs on the ‘salad greens’ and said bugs end up in the bottom of the pan where Mr. or Ms. Anteater finds them easy pickings.
Oh! (raises hand) – I can answer part of the question – the original story identifies it as a Southern Tamandua.
Shame on me for not noticing there was an original story and looking at it to see if my question was answered. It wasn’t, but it might have been. And sure enough, Southern Tamandua (which, if anyone thinks I’m contradicting its identification as an anteater, IS a kind of anteater, just with a different name). Thanks, Smartypants.
This guy is all “Don’t Try, Do” mentality.