Axolotlovin'

I think we should all take a moment and celebrate the cuteness of the Axolotl.

(photo courtesy of Dusky's Wonders)

Do you see that?  That right there is the happiest looking animal on the planet.  Have you ever seen anything cuter?  The answer is no.  No you have not.  

The axolotl is a combination of all of our childhood joys.  Its one part goldfish, one part hamster, one part smiley faced "GREAT JOB!" sticker on our homework.  Its cotton candy and mythical creatures, and teddy bears with button eyes. The amount of adorable packed into this little package should probably be illegal.  In fact, these things are so cute, every time I see one I throw up in my mouth a little bit.  If a higher being actually did sit down one day and create all the living things on our planet, I imagine he said to himself, "I'd like to create a creature whose face will stop all wars and sorrow and bring a smile to anyone's day."  And then he made the platypus.  And when that didn't work, he made the axolotl.  

Axolotls are aquatic salamanders.  They mature in their larval form, making it unnecessary for them to ever fully morph into the land-dwelling salamanders they are capable of becoming.  On rare occasions, they do make the change, and experienced axolotl keepers can trigger the metamorphosis by tweaking temperatures and pH balances in the water, but apparently its not recommended that anybody try to force their change.  They can regrow entire missing body parts, which is why they're frequently used in laboratories for study of their regeneration abilities. 

Personally, I think scientists need to be studying their sunny dispositions.  From what I can tell, their lives consist entirely of smiling, kissing each other, and swimming around being generally adorable.

(C) Caudata.org

I, however, am a very tactile person.  Chalk it up to being female if you want, as I think women are more likely to want cuddles from adorable things than men are, but for whatever reason, I don't keep fish because I don't see a logical reason to pay so much money for a living decoration if I can't pick it up without killing it.  (While I do keep tarantulas, some of them are handleable, and even those that aren't, I could risk a bite if I absolutely could not resist the cute and fuzzy feet and faces.  Tarantulas don't live underwater.)  Axolotl ownership for me could prove extremely dangerous, as I would very quickly drown myself while trying to snuggle it.

And then who would be left to write you all of these witty essays?  Damn you, axolotls.