Baby Mammals

Let's be quite honest. Small things are extremely cute. Furry things are extremely cute. And everyone loves new things.

Mix these three together, and you get baby mammals. I was going to say baby animals, but human babies are too adorable to leave out of the classification. (And I feel bad calling babies 'animals' in the same way I feel bad for referring to a baby as 'it.')

There is a modern fetish of obsessing over cute things, and I am completely prepared to buy into it right now.

If you are prone to cavities, you should stop reading here.
If you have a super-sweet tooth, continue on, dear reader.

Baby hedgehogs are quite possibly one of the cutest species of baby mammal. I love the big floppy ears next to his little face and impossibly tiny nose. He looks ready to snuffle, which is both the sound hedgehogs make and also an adorable action of the baby hedgehog.

The universal appeal, though, may lie in the contrast between the spiny back and the impossibly soft little tummy.

Yes, I said tummy. So sue me.

Yes, there is a little baby mammal in this photo. It's like the "Where's Waldo?" of cuteness.

See it? See it? Adorable.

Too bad most cats really don't like me very much.

Puppies, on the other hand, puppies love me. These puppies are snowy, too, which adds an entirely new dimension of heartwarming love to this photo.

Can't you just imagine them frolicking in the snow under fir trees, chasing snowballs that disappear when they hit the ground and being confused? Eating the snow, maybe? Rolling around, nibbling each other's ears with their sharp but harmless milk teeth?

Have you noticed how much I love puppies?

This is my protegee/goddaughter. Check out those cheeks. And that pout. And her eyes. And her eyelashes - sorry, you can't really see them here. She's a snuggly little joy of a toddler.

"Aristocats," anyone? This one is about the tiny paws and the fact that the kitten's fur is all over the place.

Farm animals can also be extremely cute. These particular lambs were at The Farm in Door County. If you know what I'm referring to, you understand that The Farm is where cute reaches extreme levels that are slightly overwhelming to amateurs (i.e. people who weren't desensitized to the cuteness by going to The Farm every summer since they themselves could be classed as baby mammals).

The appreciation of cuteness in baby mammals by other baby mammals may be the purest and highest form of cuteness in baby mammals. This photograph may have more love in it than any other in the world. And also more cuteness.

(Disclaimer: I took some of these pictures from various websites, stole one from an acquaintances facebook and one from my dad's Shutterfly, and took a few of them myself.)

ETA: A very cute song for all of you to download. Be Gentle With Me - The Boy Least Likely To.