I haven’t posted a Caturday picture in a while, and this one presented itself to me.

How proud am I, that on a cold Boulder winter’s day, Canis Major sought out the brightest astronomical infrared source she could find?

The simplicity of this belies its awesomeness.

Ah yes, they use the Lirpaw. But that’s expected in the koon-ut-kah-li-feeline.

My brother-in-law Chris is becoming a mainstay here on BA Caturdays. But his pictures are just so good! And since it’s Caturday, why not go big this time?

[Click to enfelinate.]

That’s a mama tiger and her cub at the Denver zoo. My family went there recently (without me; I was under a deadline for an article and was leaving the next day for North Dakota) and had a great time. I went with my wife and daughter last year, and it’s a really nice zoo. One of the better underrated ones.

While they were there Chris got lots of other great pictures, including this lazy ursine fellow. He’s also been taking pictures of hikes into the Rockies, and they’re spectacular as well. Check out the rest of his stuff on Flickr!

After the unpleasantness with the Texas State Board of Education, I think we could all use a Caturday palate cleanser. So here is my cat playing with the drawstring from my hoodie:

Adorable. And it’s good to know she hasn’t let her fame go to her head.

So I’m sitting at my desk and looking at people’s pictures from Dragon*Con when I feel an itch on my leg. Huh. Feels like my cat is down there rubbing against me. I look down, but my cat’s not there. What the…? So I take a closer look, bending over to peer at my leg, and realize

a 7-centimeter-long praying mantis is perched on my calf, clinging to the hairs.

OK. I did what any reasonable adult would do: I shake my leg violently and suppress myself from screaming like a little girl. The mantis falls off, and then looks up at me. It’s not happy.

Ever had a praying mantis glare at you? It will haunt my dreams.

Anyway, it crawled up onto my shelf, so I took this picture just in time for Caturday.

[Click to atomically THEMinate.]

I have a very healthy respect for praying mantises. Many years ago I either picked one up or it landed on my hand or something. I looked down at it in amazement, and without even flinching it used its front leg like a frakking nutcracker and squeezed my index finger. I bled like something from a horror movie. Those knives it carries under its arms are sharp.

I’ll admit, this guy was little and actually cute. I also have no doubt that it would emotionlessly and methodically eat me in my entirety after first tearing me apart cell by cell.

And the worst part? I know that for the next three days every itch I have will be a phantom mantis. Mocking me.

It’s Caturday! So here’s a snake in a lake.

I was biking to the store past a lake, and there it was. Pretty cool. What I like about this is that it kinda looks like it’s gliding through hazy air.

I also took this picture second as well. This is the same lake where I saw the Blue Heron fishing, for those of you with long Caturday memories. Perhaps someday I’ll see a heron eating a snake. Which, I admit, sounds like the beginning of a joke.

After I hopped back on my bike, a jogger ran past me, and as she did I told her about the snake and to take a look, and she didn’t even glance at me or break stride. Now that I think about it, random guy on bike telling jogger about a snake from point of view of said jogger = potentially unfortunate situation. I’ll try to think these things through before acting on them in the future.

It’s Caturday! And I’m feeling amphibious, so here’s how a frog sees the day:

My brother-in-law took this (he’s making Caturday a lot easier for me these days). Look closely. Closer. Don’t be afraid, get even closer… because if you look closely enough, you’ll see why I think Chris is an excellent photography pupil.