Pudú something to me

October 30, 2016 10:41 AM

The size of a very large cat or very small dog, the rare pudú is the tiniest, and thus most squeeful, deer in the world. (For scale, here is one being hand fed.) They love to frolic and have even inspired heavy metal musicians, but at the end of the day they kiss their mom and go to sleep in a flower pot.
posted by Room 641-A (27 comments total)

SO TINY
posted by poffin boffin at 10:50 AM on October 30, 2016 [4 favorites]

tldr*

*tiny little deer romping
posted by eponym at 11:35 AM on October 30, 2016 [13 favorites]

Aw, Pudu microgami.
posted by klausman at 11:43 AM on October 30, 2016

Such dear little deer!
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 11:43 AM on October 30, 2016

"Pudu Mephistophiles" is my new band name.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 11:46 AM on October 30, 2016

Oh man, look at that pudú - that sucker's huge!
posted by lagomorphius at 11:50 AM on October 30, 2016 [1 favorite]

We're gonna need a smaller boat.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 11:56 AM on October 30, 2016 [10 favorites]

Aw, Pudu microgami.

Life sized!
posted by Room 641-A at 12:09 PM on October 30, 2016

they're so round too like a lil piglet deer

i want 100
posted by poffin boffin at 12:31 PM on October 30, 2016 [5 favorites]

They need tiny baby goat PJs.
posted by Room 641-A at 12:48 PM on October 30, 2016 [2 favorites]

One of the most magical zoo experiences I've ever had was communing with a pudu just on the other side of a chain-link fence at the Seattle Zoo. My kids and I hung out and fed it leaves and it was like if a deer turned into a little dog, but was still a deer. So sweet.

Do do that pudu voodoo that you do so well...
posted by Sublimity at 1:26 PM on October 30, 2016 [2 favorites]

Bantha pudu?
posted by The otter lady at 2:11 PM on October 30, 2016 [3 favorites]

Wait. So we also have Dik-diks which are also tiny and adorbs and deer-like. Why do the cute little hoofstock get such silly names!?
posted by The otter lady at 2:27 PM on October 30, 2016 [1 favorite]

Surely a very large cat would be significantly larger than a very small dog? (If one assumes a terrier to be an ordinarily small dog, and a very small dog to be something bred to fit in a handbag.)
posted by acb at 2:29 PM on October 30, 2016

I have made Mrs. Example swear a blood oath to never ever reveal the sounds I made upon viewing the animated GIFs of the baby pudu.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 3:12 PM on October 30, 2016 [7 favorites]

Surely a very large cat would be significantly larger than a very small dog? (If one assumes a terrier to be an ordinarily small dog, and a very small dog to be something bred to fit in a handbag.)

In true Metafilter style, I beanplated this dilemma for far too long !
posted by Room 641-A at 3:14 PM on October 30, 2016

OH NO

oh no too cute too tiny too pudu
posted by E. Whitehall at 3:30 PM on October 30, 2016 [1 favorite]

What about that video where the pudú is playing with its Gumby doll and the guy comes walking in dressed as a giant Gumby?
posted by lagomorphius at 4:17 PM on October 30, 2016 [2 favorites]

Dear Mother Nature:

I am returning the rabbit I ordered by mail. It's quite adorable, without question, but it doesn't match the picture in the catalog. Perhaps there was some sort of manufacturing error, as it's got tiny hooves instead of normal rabbit feet, along with mysterious toothpicks on its forehead.

Thanks for your understanding. Please send me a replacement rabbit as soon as possible.
posted by drlith at 4:53 PM on October 30, 2016 [3 favorites]

I looked at the cute little thing, and the sweet Zoo Lady feeding her, and it was cute, then I was sucked in by a link on the side about Russian scientists discussing, the Nazi flying saucers, the Annunaki, and Admiral Byrd getting his ass kicked down by Antarctica by flying saucers that came up from the sea, and scuttled a destroyer, and so on and so forth. Yeah, cute little deer.
posted by Oyéah at 6:02 PM on October 30, 2016

I relate way too much to pudu and the dik-dik and all other tiny deer creatures (although I think they're basically the extent of it). So tiny. So adorable. I just want to cuddle them in my lap after they're run around playing in the grass a whole bunch.
posted by darksong at 6:18 PM on October 30, 2016

Will this get along with my fennec fox, pallas cat and purring bobcat?
posted by srboisvert at 7:50 PM on October 30, 2016

I'm deeply, deeply frustrated: almost a decade ago I stumbled on an awesome blog written by a novelist/journalist who was obsessed with pudu, and wrote a series of wonderful, very funny entries on them.

I linked a whole bunch of them to my then livejournal, which I've not been on in years: I can't log into the Livejournal, I cannot remember the guy's name nor the name of the blog nor anything else, except that he was witty and wry and had lovely photos of pudu.

So I have nothing to add to this, except that this is a very cute little critter and that I could have contributed something, back in 2008.

And I miss the old internet. :(
posted by jrochest at 10:19 PM on October 30, 2016

Except I thought to search for "pudu" on mefi -- and lo, the blue giveth of its plenty!

It's Bob Harris's blog, which is still out there, but all the old pudu photos have been swept away by time, and it's not possible or easy to link to a particular post. But here's a link to the DailyKos post that introduced me to it: Do you pudu?.

I still think "a Vienna sausage perched on four wobbly toothpicks" is a wonderful description of pudu physique :)
posted by jrochest at 10:37 PM on October 30, 2016

Came for the best title ever, stayed for the cutest deer ever, in short I am satisfied
posted by billiebee at 2:21 AM on October 31, 2016 [1 favorite]

I want one! Or 10!

Seriously, this little baby Pudu hopping around in the field is the cutest thing I've seen (well, cutest thing since the golden retriever and it's life sized Gumby doll).
posted by litera scripta manet at 5:37 AM on October 31, 2016 [1 favorite]

In Seattle, there was a baby pudu born by surprise (like the keepers didn't even know that mom was pregnant - apparently the body shape obscures that pretty well and it was highly unexpected). Best. Surprise. Ever.

It was born the same morning that thousands of people were about to show up for the grand opening of the exhibit immediately next door. Some timing!
posted by R a c h e l at 8:36 AM on October 31, 2016