1. I love squirrels. I love their furry little faces and I love their little paws and the way they scurry around. I love saying squirrel and making funny faces when I say it. I once co-founded the squirrel nutkin gang, which never really had much to do with squirrels but it did require us to shake very violently whenever we said it. I wish to capture a squirrel and feed it nuts and then release it back into the wild. 

2. I love tapirs. I’ve never seen a Malaysian tapir (my favourite type of tapir and also pictured above) in real life but when I first saw a South American tapir I was so excited, he looked just like Will Smith. They are so incredibly fascinating and amazing creatures. Did you know they are amazing swimmers? They use their little noses like snorkels! I would love to cuddle a baby tapir, they are ADORABLE!

3. I love monkeys and apes. I love how they’re like little people. I love how they have such expressive faces. When I was little I always wanted to work with monkeys in Africa. I once asked Santa for a monkey and he was confused as to what I meant, then bitch Misty from Brownies was like “Oh I think she means one of those toy ones” and I was like “NO BITCH! A real one!” I once had a dream that I broke down in front of Hannah Montanas house and she had a little spider monkey like that one in the picture and his name was Mikiko and he had a little nappy on. Now that I am older and “more mature” my dream is to help build orang-utan homes. There is something so vulnerable about apes that I can’t quite put my finger on, but it makes me want to look after and help them in anyway I can.

4. I love all cats. I love domesticated house cats and I love big wild cats and I love little wild cats. My biggest love is paws and forgive me in believing that cats have the most amazing, beautiful paws in the entire world. My wonderful little Kizzy pictured above has the best paws I have ever seen, ever. She sits so delicately. I love that cats have the most expressive little faces, and I love that they are so inquisitive. I love to just watch them go about their business; it makes for endless entertainment. 

5. I love raccoons. They are a relatively new love for me and I was quite indifferent to them until I spent a day going backwards and forwards just to take another look at them. Raccoons are wonderfully mischievous. I love how they look like they’re wearing little bandit masks with their tiny little hands. Raccoons make the most adorable and funny little noise when they talk to each other and I could listen to it all day. I recently watched Pom Poko; possibly one of the greatest things I have ever seen. I’m not sure I could even begin to describe it, but I do know that it cemented my love for raccoons even more. 

I am a little surprised at how easy I found it to make this list (although I admittedly cheated a bit when it came to bracketing monkeys and apes under the same category). Each one of these animals gives me that little warm feeling inside my belly :)