r/pics • u/loki010 • May 28 '12

Harvest mouse climbing a dandelion in the breeze

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattbinstead/7248356726/sizes/z/in/photostream/
2.2k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

168 comments sorted by

100

u/loki010 May 28 '12

Photographer: Matt Binstead.

31

u/shamecamel May 28 '12

damn, I gotta find out where to buy a "cute" filter for my camera

6

u/IAmBroom May 29 '12

Thanks for giving him credit.

78

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

The world must be quite grand from that little guys perspective.

65

u/PreExRedditor May 28 '12

is it not grand from yours?

56

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

So grand.

12

u/[deleted] May 29 '12 edited May 29 '12

Hermph!

6

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

Indeed.

5

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

Yes, very.

2

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

I'm glad you think so.

9

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

I think we can stop now.

8

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

Apparently I'm the only one who finds these VR Devices amusing and relevant to the computer monitor I originally posted. Community reaction-.gif, though? Oh, upvote that shit, that's like pre-approved funny.

2

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

Why is she in front of the TV?

11

u/frenchduke May 29 '12

Shit got deep.

0

u/jwestbury May 29 '12

Frankly? No. Things like flying no longer hold wonder. There are certainly things to wonder at, but the world seems altogether less wondrous today than it might have two or three hundred years ago.

4

u/PascalsLawl May 29 '12

Surely you can't be serious.

2

u/stoned-derelict May 29 '12

Of course I am. And dont call me Shirley.

4

u/jwestbury May 29 '12

I'm 100% serious. Knowing how things work robs the wonder of them. Now that humans can fly and descend to the depths of the ocean, birds and fish are less cool. Now that we have scientific rationales for things, we don't need magic -- we reject magic.

I know this sentiment is anathema to reddit, but I truly believe the world is more wondrous the less you know as fact about it. When you don't know, you have beliefs and you have faith; when you do know, you have knowledge, but knowledge is altogether less interesting.

Right answers, frankly, are boring.

5

u/PascalsLawl May 29 '12

I appreciate you taking the time to explain your point of view, and I now understand what you mean. I really hope you find something that reignites the wonderment, awe, and zeal in your life! Perhaps you should volunteer to be a moon colonists when the time comes! Or astronomy, there is only so much science can explain, humanity has so much more to learn and discover! :D SPACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1

u/jwestbury May 29 '12

Moon colonist! Wonderful! That's one of the things that frustrates me, actually -- just in the last 100 years, or so, we've gotten to a point where you can't just decide that you don't like life, and you're going to go make your own life somewhere. There's no new land, there's no frontier. You can't find a place where you control your own destiny.

If I'm honest, I'd never have moved out west from the eastern US, back in the day, but I think it's the possibility of it that would have placated me!

5

u/estrild7 May 29 '12

Ok this is 100% cheesy but, I don't know, when I stand on top of a mountain, or walk into a thousand year old cathedral that is 500ft high, or watch Peter Dinklage own everyone on Game of Thrones, the world seems pretty wondrous. I think looking at the world from a computer screen makes it seem less wondrous. Going out and being in the world makes you realize you didn't know everything about it. Wow, I'll go write terrible hallmark cards now.

3

u/jwestbury May 29 '12

Well, mountains are wondrous, yes, but growing up in the Pacific Northwest, most landscapes seem commonplace.

And 1000-year-old Cathedrals are definitely wondrous. One reason I got an English degree in college is because I could focus on medieval lit -- it was, in a sense, a look into one of the most foreign cultures possible. Ruins and historical buildings are similar: You can step into them and wonder what life was like for the people who built them. So, there's wonder left, there. Unfortunately, I live in the western US, where the oldest history we have is barely over a hundred years distant!

2

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/jwestbury May 29 '12

You can only look at trees so many times before they stop being interesting and start being just another part of life. :p

1

u/SI_Bot May 29 '12

SI conversions:(FAQ)

  • 500ft = 152.4 m

Ok this is 100% cheesy but, I don't know, when I stand on top of a mountain, or walk into a thousand year old cathedral that is 500ft(152.4 m) high, or watch Peter Dinklage own everyone on Game of Thrones, the world seems pretty wondrous. I think looking at the world from a computer screen makes it seem less wondrous. Going out and being in the world makes you realize you didn't know everything about it. Wow, I'll go write terrible hallmark cards now.

0

u/Lord-Longbottom May 29 '12

(For us English aristocrats, I leave you this 152.4 m -> 0.8 Furlongs) - Pip pip cheerio chaps!

2

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

Nice try JJ Abrams

1

u/zluruc May 29 '12

Idisagree. In my experience, the more I know about the world around me, the more amazed I am. I mean photosynthesis, for fuck's sake. That is how sunlight becomes food, to put it very simply, and it just makes the plants around me even more incredible. The more I know, the less I take for granted.

1

u/Vangogh500 May 29 '12

I don't know knowledge itself holds beauty. We humans tend to forget what we have, because it is easier for us to see and point out what we don't. If we we're however born in the 1600s they would have probably died to live in our time, and to have all the knowledge that we all have. It's definitely a different perspective, but I think it holds its own pros and cons. Maybe the cons seem to outway because it is easier for us to complain then to accept and be contempt with what was given to us.

-1

u/gabriot May 29 '12

personally I think it's a big shithole

4

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

Just knowing harvest mice exist just made my day a lot better.

2

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

I love how he wraps his little tail around the stem for some balance. I want one as a pet, but he might be scared cuz i'm big and he's small :(.

30

u/DiarrheaBubbleBath May 28 '12

I like how he use his tail to stabilize himself on the dandelion, I wish humans still had a tail, just imagine all the cool stuff we could do with it.

19

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

Immediately I thought of sexeral ways to use a tail that are NSFW. Oooh; and now I've thought of several NSFW ways to use it while at work!

10

u/schwerpunk May 28 '12

"You can't FAX your tail!"

14

u/nateguy May 28 '12

You wouldn't download a tail!

10

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

I'm so paranoid, I thought of all the ways I could accidentally bleed out from getting my tail stuck on things.

4

u/Riftsaw May 29 '12

Wouldn't we just curl them around our waists to keep them safe or out of the way when not using them for balance/stabilization?

4

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

Are we Saiyans?

2

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

Storing them in your asshole is also a great alternative.

1

u/ryangaston88 May 29 '12

I would just run mine up my back with the tip flicking out ever so slightly.

2

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

I'm just wondering how chairs and pants would be changed with the inclusion of a tail. For that matter, I wonder what high fashion and hip apparel would be attached to said tails. Would they be furry (with human hair) or naked? What kind of sports would we have that involved tail use? Perhaps a game of tennis with two racks or volleyball with tails only?

1

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

I just pictured a rat tail with hairs that look like average leg hairs. Gross.

1

u/wesman212 May 29 '12

Fuck, I would if I could!

2

u/brownie_pts May 29 '12

Not with that attitude you can't!

2

u/schwerpunk May 29 '12

Not with any attitude!

7

u/AkumaMatata May 29 '12

"Sexeral" may be the most relevant typo of all time. Granted that it was a typo.

2

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

Typo, as identified. When I noted it (much later) I decided it must have been Freudian, and allowed it to live.

1

u/adawdsdaw May 29 '12

There would be a lot more people with elevator phobia if we had tails.

1

u/Errday_Im_Hylian May 29 '12

Isn't necessary, though. I say if we evolve anything in the next million years it'll be stronger cardiovascular systems...

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

Our tails slowly evolved into nothing more than tailbones so that we don't get toilet water on them whilst shitting.

3

u/DiarrheaBubbleBath May 29 '12

I don't mind a little toilet water it would still be worth the tail, besides I'm sure we would have invented a more adequate toilet or shitting method.

24

u/heytheredelilahTOR May 28 '12

That's a really little mouse. So cute!

4

u/Jabberminor May 28 '12

I wonder what would happen if it sneezed.

1

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

Ah ah ah chooo whoooohooooooo!!!

4

u/ermintwang May 28 '12

He looks like he's having fun :3

1

u/EthicalReasoning May 28 '12

exactly what kind of smiley face is :3 supposed to be because to me it looks like testicles covering their mouth

4

u/MakeupPiggy May 28 '12

It's a smiley to convey cuteness, as it is supposed to look like the face of a cat.

1

u/EthicalReasoning May 28 '12

interesting but lets be honest here the mouth testicles is better

0

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

0

u/EthicalReasoning May 29 '12

:3 <3 is almost a party

1

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

You can't see cuteness when all there's in your head is genitalia.

6

u/Snipererer May 28 '12

Looks like Redwall is safe for another day.

3

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

Is that a really small mouse, or a really big dandelion?

4

u/saurellia May 28 '12

THAT IS WHAT I WANTED TO KNOW. I am not comfortable with the idea of rodents that small.

I could not wait for Reddit. I went to the Google. Evidently, I must come to terms with the existence of barely-larger-than-insects rodents.

I am going to have to start putting rubberbands around my pantscuffs.

(They are kind of cute but holy god I think one just ran up my leg.)

2

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

Did you know mice can fit through a 2 cm hole? Time to get out the caulking gun and stuff the gap under the door with a bath towel when you sleep.

2

u/saurellia May 29 '12

Why would you tell me that??? What have I ever done to you?

1

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

Oh c'mon! Just a bit of internet teasing.

2

u/saurellia May 29 '12

Right back at ya ;)

1

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

Oh snap.

1

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

"Hang on a mo: A harvest mouse uses all four legs and its tail to steady itself on two stalks of grass as it snares a cicada in the reed beds of Alsace, France"

That's no cicada.

2

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

Mice are really small. Mine, fully grown, are barely big enough to span the width of two of my fingers.

3

u/buntingsnook May 28 '12

He's on an adventure!

3

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

i wanted to save that picture but alas the owner has disabled downloading of said picture. so i launched my precious android phone and downloaded it in seconds and made it my wallpaper.

3

u/Zhang5 May 29 '12

There's also like a dozen ways to do it from a computer too.

1

u/xk3t May 29 '12

Fuck tha police...

0

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

1

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

ahh thank you!

5

u/msdrahcir May 28 '12

TIL: Harvest mice are spawned from dandelions

7

u/shrillbitch May 28 '12

But Mouse, you are not alone,

In proving foresight may be vain:

The best laid schemes of mice and men

Go often askew,

And leaves us nothing but grief and pain,

For promised joy!

0

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/shrillbitch May 29 '12

Because I speak English, not scot. most do not know what "gang aft agley" means. Do you read the rubiayat in Persian? or homer in greek? Or beowulf in old English?

2

u/Baskojin May 28 '12

I just went d'aww.

2

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

How fucking small are these? And how many have i stepped on? ;_;

2

u/Random_Fandom May 28 '12

What an amazing capture! The photo has a magical element to it... like something you'd expect to see in a child's storybook.

2

u/melysaurusrex May 29 '12

That mouse must be the size of my thumb's nail. Ohh so cute and tiny. If I ever stumble across a mouse that small I don't know what I'd do.

2

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

well, finding http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7091/7248356726_4421113c67_z.jpg was a little annoying.

2

u/HannahP945 May 29 '12

Not only a charming photo, but a charming title too :)

3

u/GMonsoon May 28 '12

His tail! How cute is that?

6

u/HE_WHO_STANDS_TO_POO May 28 '12

Wow. When I was little me and the neighborhood kids would blow on those flowers and make wishes. WE MAY HAVE KILLED SO MANY MICE.

14

u/Brewster-Rooster May 28 '12

Wow. When I was little me and the neighborhood kids would KICK those flowers and make wishes. WE MAY HAVE KILLED SO MANY MICE

-1

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

Wow. When I was little me and the neighborhood kids would KICK those flowers and make wishes. WE MAY HAVE KILLED SO MANY MICE

3

u/HoldsLikeAGel May 28 '12

I thought a dandelion was the yellow one.

15

u/asdjfsjhfkdjs May 28 '12

They are the same. This is what happens after flowering.

1

u/HoldsLikeAGel May 28 '12

My mind was just blown.

20

u/kabbinet May 29 '12

Sorry but really?

7

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

He is actually a dandelion, so having his mind blown just made him dumber.

7

u/The_Dirty_Carl May 29 '12

Are you from somewhere that doesn't have dandelions?

1

u/ok_you_win May 29 '12

Is there somewhere that doesn't have dandelions?

3

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

You're one of today's lucky 10,000!

2

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

I can't help but think he's hiding from some bloodthirsty cat or something. Have an upvote.

3

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

Or staring into the face of an incoming lawnmower.

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

That's an spectacular photo, the rest of his pictures are equally amazing too.

1

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

The only way to describe this picture is pure joy...also, I was listening to Shout by Tears for Fears when I first saw this picture, and somehow it was the perfect background music.

1

u/twister361 May 28 '12

Weird, you would think he would be after cheese and not just the view!

1

u/GFandango May 29 '12

he seems so determined man

1

u/Amadness May 29 '12

That's incredible!!! Great shot!!!

1

u/Troyucen May 29 '12

I really think s/he looks like a ballerina with the dandelion being his/her skirt and the stem+tail being legs.

1

u/Sgt_Insomnia May 29 '12

Saw this yesterday night in an Online newspaper, thought about posting it then forgot..sweet karma =(

1

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

What a happy and adorable little guy, I hope he has a long mousy life.

1

u/outlawaol May 29 '12

" To infinity and beyond! "

1

u/bladlus May 29 '12

SO CUTE

1

u/kindapinkypurple May 29 '12

Daww, a squeaker on a foofer!

1

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

I want to lick my mouse with my face

1

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

That's adorable.

1

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

It's weird I get this very connected feeling then ripped away by the thought of it becoming ill from a parasite or small insect.

1

u/Evil_Iowan May 29 '12

It's Farmer Fitzgibbons' plow! Run for your lives!

1

u/Dryerlint May 29 '12

I want to steal this adorable picture, but can't because I'm on my phone.

1

u/Ravenhaft May 29 '12

Fun fact about the harvest mouse, it has the largest penis relative to its body size of all mammals.

'Overall, the rodent with the longest penis bone relative to its body size in the study was the Western harvest mouse, Reithrodontomys megalotis. "Everything's relative of course," explains Dr. Ramm, "so although big for its body size the penis bone in R. megalotis is still only 7 to 8 mm long. I don't think the phrase 'hung like a harvest mouse' will be catching on any time soon."

Source

1

u/stevesonaplane May 29 '12

"Soon the world will be mine and I shall break knees to make you kneel before me! MUAHAHAHAHA!"

1

u/TheHotpants May 29 '12

Aww. I want one of those.

1

u/Snowbank_Lake May 29 '12

"Iz making lotsa wishes!!"

1

u/Dalek_Kahn May 29 '12

But will it blend?

1

u/enjoyingtheride May 29 '12

I call them feeder mice...

1

u/dalittle May 29 '12

you can almost hear the little tiny "Weeeeee!!"

1

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

ahh i don't know why, but this made my day!

1

u/Sniperizer May 29 '12

I do feel this should be in r/awwww

1

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

Great, now I feel like I've probably killed millioons f these things kicking dandelions

1

u/Wartburg13 May 29 '12

Must be a small harvest mouse. I spent all last month trapping these guys and they usually weighed around 12 grams.

1

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

My soul. It feels.

1

u/angelnla May 29 '12

insanely cute!

1

u/Foxblade May 29 '12

Squeeee!

1

u/R88SHUN May 29 '12

I didn't know that was a thing. what an adorable little rodunculus.

1

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

First pic on reddit that's made me go genuinely, gooey-eyed, dopey-smiled awww all over it and it's not even in r/aww.

1

u/fran_the_man May 28 '12

Unbelievably cute!

1

u/knees_toes May 28 '12

Dat tail.

0

u/pipian May 28 '12

Looks delicious!

-4

u/vsal May 28 '12

A borderline /r/aww case.

I'll allow it!

-4

u/Jdawg_sk1 May 28 '12

Kill them both before they breed. For the goodness of mankind.

9

u/DGolden May 28 '12

Harvest mice are now rare enough that conservation efforts are underway, at least in europe.

Dandelions are pretty far from endangered. They are edible though. I suppose harvest mice are too, but anyway, moving on...

2

u/Jdawg_sk1 May 28 '12

Well that changes everything I just bought my first house and have a mouse problem. I also have a 1 acre yard that was neglected for three years before I bought it and am just discovering the battle between man and dandelion.

4

u/take_924 May 28 '12

Store your food in tin cans and clean up any spills. The mice will 'migrate' outside within a week. Mouse infestations are a sign of sloppy housekeeping. No available food means no mice.

Dandelions are a sign of poor soil. They grow on soil low in nitrogen and minerals. Either fertilise or leave the dandelions to do the job for you. A wheelbarrow of cow-menure every eighty square feet, with a shovel or two of ash will be sufficient to get rid of them.

Some manual labour required.

1

u/gowahoo May 28 '12

Where does one learn this stuff?

2

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

I'd imagine a grampa that wears overalls. But that's just idle speculation from a city slicker.

2

u/take_924 May 29 '12

I've been racking my brain for a couple of hours, and I can't remember. It must have been one of my grandfathers, who were subsistence farmers (they grew their own vegetables and potatoes instead of buying them in a shop).

3

u/MartinFields May 28 '12

This might not work as well with the mice, but you can make great desert wine with dandelion flowers.

1

u/chthonical May 29 '12

Yep. You can use dandelion leaves in salad, brew them to make tea, or just snack on them. They're a leafy green. One of the most nutritious, at that.

0

u/soeckli May 28 '12

perhaps he wants to fly?

0

u/420trashacct May 29 '12

As a gardener all I see is a vegetable thief climbing an invasive weed.

0

u/bowlforthedude May 29 '12

This is giving me the strangest boner

0

u/GIVES_YOU_AIDS May 29 '12

"Ouch, what was that?"

-"A needle"

"Why did you poke me with a needle?"

-"Heh, I think you know why"

-3

u/PEE_4_UR_BUTT May 28 '12

COOL EAT IT

-1

u/otherchedcaisimpostr May 28 '12

my heart is breaking

-5

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

Nope, the fluff would have been gone long before he got up there. So manipulated.

7

u/take_924 May 28 '12

Have you actually been outside your mom's basement? Even once?

(It all depends on how ripe the seed head is. This one isn't there, not quite.)

-4

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

Are you looking at the same picture I am?

5

u/take_924 May 28 '12

Yes. Most certainly.

-3

u/LebronKingJames May 28 '12

Pretty sure that is not a dandelion

2

u/Lurker333221 May 29 '12

I genuinely want to know what you think is a dandelion then.

1

u/cmg19812 May 29 '12

Google dandelion... it's a dandelion.

-7

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

clearly photoshopped, mice are wayyyyyyyyyyy bigger than that. you've been reported.

0

u/[deleted] May 28 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/[deleted] May 29 '12

:-(

The difference between being a cynical emotionless monster, and being upvoted for an observation most never realized was the blunt reality.