Saturday Surprise — Environmentally Fun!

Posted on by under animals, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, Humour, Saturday Surprise

Welcome and Happy Saturday, my friends!  Big plans for the weekend?  Not me.  Chris is drumming this morning at the Walk for Prostate Cancer, and the rest of the weekend will likely be spent just trying not to roast, as our air-conditioning is still, after a new heat pump, new thermostat, and new condensing unit, not working!  And, of course Mother Nature picked this time to send temps to record highs in the 90s for a ten-day streak.

Today’s two stories are both eco-friendly … they pertain in one way or another to conservation … but they’re fun, too!

I am not a fan of McDonald’s … at least not the food.  Many years ago, when Miss Goose was little, we made it a once-a-week destination, but fortunately her palate matured, and she has moved on to other favourite restaurants.  But, today I must give two thumbs up to McDonalds for their environmental conscience!

Most of us are aware of the bee crisis.  It is estimated that in the U.S., 44% of the bee colonies died out in 2016 alone, and since bees pollinate some 80% of the food we eat, this has serious implications for life on this planet.  McDonald’s in Sweden has begun trying to save the bees in the most charming ways!

It started out with planting bee-friendly flowers around the restaurants, and hosting beehives on their roofs.  But then, a few months ago, McDonald’s commissioned a professional carpenter to make the ‘smallest ever McDonald’s,” which is, in fact, a fully functioning beehive featuring a McDonald’s sign, drive-through, an outside seating area and even little advertisements on the windows!McDonalds-1

McDonalds-2

McDonalds-4

McDonalds-5Take a look …

But it doesn’t end there!  Now, they are at it again by creating small ‘bee hotels’ on the back of their billboards.  30% of wild bees in Sweden are threatened, mainly because they do not have enough resting areas, so the company teamed up with outdoor advertising firm JCDecaux to turn the backs of its billboards into tiny “hotels.”McDonalds-3Granted, these are all small things, likely only to save a few thousand bees, but hey!  It’s a start, right?

This week celebrated the 5th year of the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, and as you might guess from the name, some of these animal pictures are quite funny!  If you’re looking for your daily dose of cuteness, you’ve come to the right place!

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Family Disagreement

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Holly Jolly Snowy

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Oh My!

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Laid Back

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Deer?  What Deer?

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Excuse me

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Squirrel Wishes

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Hi

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Warning:  Territory Marking.  Follow At Your Own Risk

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Monday Morning Blues

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Hello

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Laughing Zebra

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Spaceman

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Dancing … Yeah

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Who Would Like A Peanut?

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Indecent Proposal

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To Be Or Not To Be?

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Sea Otter Tickle Fight

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Snarling Snappin In The Slow Lane

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Hip Hop

Tom Sullum and Paul Joynson-Hicks are the founders of the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, and in addition to having fun with it all, they have a serious purpose as well …

“Remember, we are all about conservation. We want you to take up our banner of wildlife conservation, bang the drum, beat the cymbal and make some noise, we need to spread the word – wildlife, as we know it,  is in danger, all over the world and we need to do something to help save it. You can start by going and having a look at what the Born Free Foundation are doing at www.bornfree.org.uk”

And finally, it wouldn’t be Saturday Surprise without a funny animal video, now would it?

Have a wonderful weekend, my friends!

39 thoughts on “Saturday Surprise — Environmentally Fun!”

  1. Pingback: Saturday Surprise — Comedy Wildlife! | Filosofa's Word

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  4. Namaste, Miss Jill! It’s me again, Benjamin! Guess what? Auntie “H” took me out today and we went to McDonald’s for lunch. I got a Happy Meal with a Transformer toy, it’s so cool! Guess what else? There wasn’t a teensy McDonald’s Bee House. I asked the girl why not and she didn’t know about the Bee House. I said McDonald’s needs a teensy Bee House everywhere a McDonald’s is to save the bees. The girl didn’t know about that. She needs to learn all about bees, right? Kindergarten is fun and lotsa hard work. I like going on the big bus too. Bye!

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    • Namaste, Benjamin!!! I’m so happy that Auntie H took you to McDonald’s, and you even got a transformer toy in your Happy Meal! I’m sad that they didn’t have a tiny Bee House, though. And I agree with you that she needs to learn about bees, because they are so very important to all of us, aren’t they? Maybe someday all the McDonald’s will have Bee Houses! I’m glad that you’re enjoying kindergarten! You keep working hard and getting those gold stars! Love you!!! ❤

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  5. Well done to the McDonalds Beehive (well, as long as they actually have some bees housed in it).

    Love the cute captioned photos. We once Hose sat a cockerspaniel who would actually giggle when you tickled his tummy. He was so cute.
    Thanks for the smile. Unfortunately, can’t watch the video yet… Running low on data, until I get my new monthly lot.

    😊 ❤️

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    • From what I could tell, there are a lot of bees in it. My only question is: why not do it in other countries, too?

      Oh, that is adorable … a giggling puppy! Have you been doing any house/pet sitting lately? I’m glad this gave you a smile! 😊

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      • No, we have not done any pet sitting for a year and a half.
        Lots of reasons why.
        I don’t know what happened to ‘Bluey,’ the Cockerspaniel. He was a rescue dog from the streets of Spain. His people were very elderly and he has since died. The woman was taken to the Philippines, to live with her son. The house was put up for sale… I don’t know what happened to Bluey. They treated us like ‘the hired help’ so didn’t return answers to our questions about how they were coping and finding a new home for him. I kind of fall in love with all our pets even for a short time. I told my hubby that I didn’t want to house sit any more. I got too attached to the pets and lots of things like that just broke my heart. I don’t do negative things happening to animals very well. They have no voice to speak up for themselves in a human world.
        Bluey was a dog that was always happy (except when he saw, another dog… He had to defend himself for two years out on the streets before the elderly couple (who really didn’t want a pet) took him in out of kindness. But Bluey was treated more like a child than a dog… And to leave that environment would have been tough on him. I hope wherever he is, he is still able to giggle when his tummy is tickled.

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        • How sad. I, too, would fall in love with them … heck, I fall in love with the occasional cricket that gets into the house … you should see me and Miss Goose trying to catch the cricket on a piece of paper and rescue it before the moggies, especially Boo, find it and torture it! But to the point, I do understand why you don’t want to pet-sit any more … saying ‘goodbye’ is the hardest part of all. And reading your last sentence … 😥

          Hugs, dear friend. ❤

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    • I’m glad you enjoyed them! I could be content to just post animal stories and pictures every day, if only these political buffoons would stop distracting me! ‘Twas daughter Chris doing the drumming for a good cause … she is nursing supervisor for a Urology practice here, and this is one of their annual events. Have a fun weekend!

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  10. Surprise and Namaste, Miss Jill! It’s me, Benjamin! I had a Gem Sleepover last night. Mommy did too. We had dinner at Cracker Barrel and lotsa fun! We, Gem and me, saw the teensy McDonald’s Bee House some yesterdays ago. I called it a Bee-staurant! I love McDonald’s french fries and apple pieces. They don’t have hot dogs only burgers. The animal pictures are so funny. My favorite is the Squirrel and the Dandelion, cause I love Squirrels and Dandelions. The bug picture is awesome. The rhinoceros one is funny but yucky for the poor bird. The videos are so cute! You get Two Thumbs up and ten Gold Stars too. I only get one star on my papers at school cause there’s so many kids. Catch my kisses and neckbuster hugs. Bye and thank you!

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    • Namaste, Benjamin! I’m so happy to see you! Are you enjoying kindergarten? I’m happy that you enjoyed your Gem sleepover! I love Cracker Barrel, but I haven’t been there for maybe a year now. You know, I think my favourite was the squirrel and the dandelion, too, but I loved them all … animals are so much fun, aren’t they? I caught the kisses and the neckbuster hugs and here is a big hug and a kiss back to you! 🤗 😘 Have a fun and happy weekend!!!

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      • I agree. Speaking of scared animals, since our a/c has been out these last 3 weeks, we’ve been using a fan in front of the living room windows. Most of the kitties aren’t much bothered by it, except for Boo. He is so rattled by the fan that one morning before leaving for work, Chris picked Boo up, trying to comfort him, and he bit her nose! Hard, for it bled and she had a big scab on the tip of her nose for nearly a week!

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    • No idea about the Swedish Macs, but this whole thing got me thinking … why only in Sweden? If McDonald’s is committed to saving the bees, why not do the same here in the U.S., in Canada and Europe? As for animals being people … nah, animals are far more ‘humane’ than humans!

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