Little devils

The cute factor wears off a bit when you look at their tiny claws, but Tasmanian devil joeys, born in Australia, are really cute.

Here is a photo gallery from WCBS Newradio 880.

Then they grow up into this.

From Wikipedia:

It is characterized by its black fur, pungent odor when stressed, extremely loud and disturbing screech, and ferocity when feeding. It is known to both hunt prey and scavenge carrion and although it is usually solitary, it sometimes eats with other devils.

Who doesn't — sometimes?

Tasmanian devils are now considered endangered — since May 2009 — because of a parasitic cancer.

And of course, most of us first learned about Tasmanian devils from Bugs Bunny and the cartoonists at Warner Bros.

Here's Bedevilled Rabbit (1957).

Happy B'day, Bugs

On this date in 1940, Bugs Bunny made his first appearance, as the creature we know and love, in Tex Avery's "A Wild Hare."

True, there had been other rabbits in Merrie Melodies cartoons before, but "A Wild Hare" is considered to be the 'toon where Bugs comes into his final cheeky form.

Here — via the miracle that is YouTube — is "A Wild Hare."

Another fine mess

Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich had a First Family/New Dog related cartoon Sunday.

Naturally, he threw a twist into it.

Here's Luckovich's cartoon on the Creators Syndicate Web site thingie.

A Wednesday funny

Here's a cute dog-related 'toon from Dave Coverly who draws "Speed Bump."

If you aren't reading this on Wednesday, when you get to Coverly's page on the Washington Post Web site, select Wednesday, May 28.

The cat came back

A Merrimac, Mass., woman's cat comes back to her after 700 days. It's the feel good story of the day.

There's no need to fear

I'm not sure I approve of the idea behind the new "Underdog" movie, full of talking beagles. I don't like anthropomorphizing animals. And Kate hates it!

Here's the trailer of the summer film. I must admit I like the tag line "One Nation ... Under Dog."

The original TV show was fun, with the voice of Wally Cox as Underdog, the rhyming canine. Here's the theme song. And here's a 'toon from the show: