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Meet Oakley, the baby owl. And his stuffed twin. Rescued by the Raptor Rehabber, 3 years ago, his keepers went to extreme lengths to keep the owlet from imprinting on them as parents, which would have made it impossible to release him back to the wild. And they went way beyond toys and a comfy "nest" for sleeping. To signal mealtime, they actually made a
Great Horned Owl call. And to actually feed the baby bird, they camouflaged themselves under a sheet with holes in it.
All of that so the little owl could one day be released to the wild and raise babies of his own.
To give comfort and company, the rehab center also gives baby birds stuffed toys and puppets. Oakley was lucky enough to get a Halloween owl who sings a mean version of "Monster Mash". Which is why this little treasure pops up on social media every Halloween since the baby bird was rescued:
I'll bet Oakley didn't have a bit of trouble belting out his own Great Horned Owl call once he made it back to his kind. Not only did the little guy have timing and rhythm, he had the vocal cords to match.
A few months ago I told you about how scientists had proven that cat videos are absolutely suitable for work — and might even increase productivity. Well Dona Ana County officials went one step further. They created a new library in the lobby of their office building in in Las Cruces, New Mexico. But you won't find any books there. Workers visit this library to check out kittens.
The cats are on loan from a local shelter and available for adoption. But they're also are available to any employee looking for a temporary "purr fix". Workers check the kittens out just like you would a book and take the little cuties to their offices for a day of work and play.
According to community planner, Angela Roberson the kitten library helps relieve stress for county workers. “I mean how can it not when you have a little fuzzy thing that you can take back to your office?” But it's not just good for the workers. Since the library opened, 100 kittens have found "fur-ever" homes. And if that's not enough to give you the warm fuzzies, check out this video of the kittens "at work".
No one is surprised when a man picks his best friend to stand up as best man at his wedding. But Gabe is a different kind of best man — and a different kind of best friend. He's a golden retriever and he's the groom's service dog.
The groom, Justin Lansford, met Gabe when they were paired up through the Warrior Canine Connection. The U.S. Army veteran had been struggling after losing his leg in an explosion while serving as a paratrooper in Afghanistan. Gabe and Justin soon became inseparable.
Carol Balmes had been Lansford's girlfriend since high school. And when he asked her to marry him, Gabe was right there to help out. Soon, they became an inseparable trio. So it seemed only fitting that Gabe would be enlisted as best man at their wedding.
They outfitted the dog in a custom suit made from Justin's uniform and his many decorations, and he stood by his best friend as the bride walked down the aisle. When the ceremony was over, they all walked back down the aisle together. Sure, you expect a few tears at a wedding, but by all accounts, there wasn't a single dry eye in the house at that one.
Can you believe Halloween is only three weeks away? I'm way behind this year, but I'm in luck: the kids are already on it. They're too old for trick-or-treating, but they're growing into a whole different kind of celebration.
They started dragging out the boxes of spiders, the jars of eyeballs, the severed limbs, plus all the animated witches, zombies and other spooky creatures last weekend. So decorating is well under way without any help from Mom.
Since Dad is on lighting duty, I guess the only thing left for me to do this year is pick my costume and make some "bloody finger" sandwiches!
Why would you smile for someone who's name you've never even heard? Because Harvey Ball was the commercial artist who created the smiley face back in 1963! And that little yellow ray of sunshine is now the most recognizable symbol of good cheer on the planet.
Mr. Ball was proud of his symbol because it brought so much happiness to people, but over the years, he worried that the smiley was being over-commercialized. That's when he got the idea for World Smile Day when everyone should "Do an act of kindness. Help one person smile."
Since the smiley face knows no geography, no politics and no religion, Harvey thought that on one day out of the year, neither should we. He hoped that on World Smile Day all of us would break barriers and boundaries and devote ourselves to creating smiles and spreading acts of kindness all over the globe. Held on the first Friday of October every year, the unofficial holiday has indeed spread around the world.
So, in celebration of World Smile Day, remember that smiles are contagious. Often the only thing you have to do to make someone smile is to smile at them!
Meet Oakley, the baby owl. And his stuffed twin. Rescued by the Raptor Rehabber, 3 years ago, his keepers went to extreme lengths to keep the owlet from imprinting on them as parents, which would have made it impossible to release him back to the wild. And they went way beyond toys and a comfy "nest" for sleeping. To signal mealtime, they actually made a
Great Horned Owl call. And to actually feed the baby bird, they camouflaged themselves under a sheet with holes in it. 
