Top 5 Animals

I checked REM's Murmur out of the library today & noticed a sweet pic of llamas in the liner notes. Could it be that I've never actually looked @ the liner notes of that album before? I suppose, but it seems unlikely. None-the-less, it's a great picture. couldn't find a copy of it on-line though, so I just took one. It's obviously blurry & has bad lighting, but you get the picture:For those of you who don't know this, llamas are my #1 favorite animal. I've been a fan of them since the early 90's, & over the last 20 or so years I've met a few. It's always been a dream of mine to live somewhere where I could have some. Alas, chickens & bees are what are allowed here. Someday we'll move & get some llamas. They'll always be #1 in my book.

What's #2 you ask? Stick w/ me & you'll get all 5.
2) Hippo: The most deadly of the giant beasts of Africa. The hippo kills more people every year than either the lion or the Elephant. They're pretty sweet.
3) Owl: This is a newer addition to the top 5. It was really Isaiah's fascination w/ them that in turn led to my own interest. They're super cool.
4) Elephant: Though not as deadly as the hippo, elephants are pretty awesome. They have trucks! To paraphrase Pinter Ranawat's father, "I mean, trunks! Please!" (How did I not know about the connect between that episode of Seinfeld & the Harold Pinter play of the same name?) There must be other animals w/ trunks, but none as cool as the elephant.
5) Chicken: Having acquired 4 this past summer, I've developed a love for them... even though they're dumber than a box or rocks. They've been producing well all winter too. I'd read that they might lay less if they're too cold, so I guess we've done a good job of keeping them warm enough.

With owl & chicken entering the top 5, I suppose it'd be a good thing to explain which ones have since left the top 5. Those would be the platypus & the manatee. They're still in the overall top 10 though, along w/ alligators, polar bears, & moose... or mooses depending who you ask.