Viral videos: High-flying cats and laser-firing crocodiles

26 Jun 2015

It’s all animals this week in viral video land as cats take to the skies and fight it out on the ground, while two dogs are a little too eager to get some dog chow.

About 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, 500 years of video watched on Facebook every day, and more than 700 YouTube videos shared on Twitter each minute, ensuring there is always video trending on the web.

With so much video available for viewing, we take a look at some of the viral videos that have caught our eye this week.

Remove your cat before flying

If you’re going to take a flimsy plane up in the air with a customer, it might seem like common sense that you should remove your little feline friend before take-off.

Well actually, as it turns out, in French Guiana cats feel it’s perfectly acceptable to be a cat and hitch a ride on a small plane for tourists.

As Romain, the pilot points out, the cat was perfectly safe in the hollow wing of the plane, that was as long as she didn’t decide to jump in the pilot seat.

Who knows, she might have been the cat equivalent of Amelia Earhart… or on second thought, maybe not.

Uploaded: 21 June 2015

I fought the bear and the cat won

If you haven’t noticed, cats are small and bears are rather big. So when the two face off against each other it’s an obvious conclusion, right?

Well, with the help of a glass door, you couldn’t be more wrong.

Uploaded by Darlis Elliott, her Savannah cat was left staring at a rather angry-looking black bear that didn’t see the crazy look in the cat’s eyes until it was too late.

Uploaded: 22 June 2015

How to survive working with cats

Yeesh, you’d think people would be fed up with cats on the internet at this stage but oh, no.

This time it’s a survival guide for people who are cat owners but work from home and have to put up with their cat, quite literally, getting all up in their business.

You can’t help but notice that the first suggestion right off the bat is basically telling you that the cat is your owner by making you give up the comfy swivel chair in favour of a cheap, fold-out number while it mocks you.

The uploader even puts a ridiculous cover on his head to stop them harassing him while he works. For shame.

Uploaded: 24 June 2015

Time-lapse of puppies running for dinner

Moving over to the canine side of pet owning, one owner of two golden retriever puppies couldn’t help notice that the pair were rather eager to get their food.

So over the course of nine months, they filmed Colby and Bleu – the ‘Cheese Pups’ – growing as they chase for the food.

Every single time the dog on the left just about clings on to the wooden kitchen surface.

Well, almost…

Uploaded: 21 June 2015

What if crocodiles fought a laser war with bats?

BBC nature documentaries just got a whole lot more futuristic thanks to the skilled editing of YouTuber Blackhawk, who took a standard documentary scene of crocodiles battling with low-flying bats and threw in some lasers and bomb sound effects for good measure.

It really is a case of what a nature documentary would look like if shot by Transformers director Michael Bay, except that the real-life crocodiles and bats appear to convey more emotion than any of Bay’s characters.

Most of the sounds were based off the array of weaponry available in the video game Halo 4 to create a really cool laser-filled mesh.

Uploaded: 23 June 2015

Don’t park illegally in a disabled parking spot in Brazil

There’s some badly-needed context missing here, but if you’re going to park in a disabled bay illegally in Brazil, you better be ready to face some rather artistic consequences.

Posted by someone calling themselves Brazilian Guy with quite possibly the worst camera available on the market in 2015, the driver of the illegally parked car had to face the utter humiliation of being laughed at by passersby.

In what looks like an attempt to convert his car into a giant piñata, the driver then tries, with difficulty, to drive off.

Uploaded: 24 June 2015

Walter White likes his trance music

Bryan Cranston is just great, isn’t he? Having starred in one of the most talked-about TV shows of the last 10 years – Breaking Bad – he still enjoys making appearances and saying a few lines.

This time, he decided to make an appearance at one of the US’s biggest dance festivals, Above & Beyond, in full-on party mode.

“Walter White, Above & Beyonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd!,” was his cry to the crowd.

Cue the 59-year-old actor then getting his rave on.

Uploaded: 21 June 2015

The Simpsons respond to claims they’re to split up

Die-hard Simpsons fans have been calling for it for over a decade now but, despite Harry Shearer leaving the show and taking iconic voices with him, Homer and Marge have been sent forward as representatives to deny the show is ending.

Like Chemical Ali during the second Gulf war with fires raging behind him, the two characters appear to be saying everything is fine while the bell tolls silently in the background.

Uploaded: 19 June 2015

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Cat on a laptop image via Shutterstock

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

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