Rule of Cuteness #21: Eye Capsules
OK, People, give this a chance here. Eye "capsules", as seen on the baby Wombat on the bottom photo, are cute.
Sure, this wombat could rip your heart out with his nails faster than you could say 'shrimp on the—" but his eye capsules are still cute.
Janet N. Blink Blink!
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Poor little guy looks like he is about to splat in the first pic....so prosh...
No. Not cute. Not cute at all. In fact, quite frightening. A face only a mother (and a nearly blind one at that) could love. Sorry, this one holds no cute factor for me.
Hhmmm I'll have to think on this one.
*thinks*
Ok, it's kinda cute.
wuh-huh-huh-huh
shudder.
Maybe another category: Cute or Scary?
He's sorta cute, but the nails. The nails.
Yeah, he looks like he's trying to remember what you look like (if he can see at all) so that when he's bigger, he can rip your skin off.
Uh, that's sorta cute, right?
Um, find this one only mildly cute. Actually, my first reaction on seeing it was "am I on the wrong website". On second look it's sort of cute, but not really puppy/kitten/bunny cute. I'm sure he's a perfectly nice critter anyway. . .when he isn't ripping hearts out ;)
Top picture, cutely helpless. Bottom picture, not so much. Those 15 claws in a row kinda rock, tho'.
even the ugliest of babies are cute
I have to go with cute. But I think the all-four-feet-around-the-head thing is also a factor.
EEEEEEEEEE!!! WOMBATS!!! *squees in Aussie accent*
Maybe I'm an anomoly that I find him absolutely adorable? Then again, I like snuggling with pythons *shrug*...but I find this little guy uber-cuddly even with the claws :-)
Not cute! Not cute!
So cute!!!! Meg, I think you need to post an image of a full grown wombat so the non-Australian cuteologists (who appear not to be seeing the cuteness of the beautiful baby wombie) can appreciate the splendour that is the wombat. Wombies are my favourite animal!!
I'm coming in on the side of "eye capsules not cute" -- they make the animal look squinty and possibly untrustworthy. Seems like there should be a Rule about large eyes with respect to head size, to which eye capsules would be directly opposite.
Then again, there is unity in duality, and it takes all kinds of cute to make the world. I'm in favor of inclusiveness. So what about a formalization of large eye size in the canon?
a wombat ??? i don t know what is a wombat but it s very cute i want the same in my house :))
Gee, lots of wombat haters out there in the world.
very cute critter , but "eye capsules" is def creepy. how about "eye bulginess" or maybe "Bette Davis eyes"?
Sarah: I do agree with you that adult wombies are indeed *very* cute. This little guy's even growing on me a bit. . .babies *are* almost always cute.
Yeah, not cute. Weird, pre-eyeballs and dagger claws (although impressive) definitely does not make cute.
Im sure hes mega soft but the eyes looks like a bad case of the conjunctivitis all swollen and gooey looking
Ok, the first one, me likes, but only because of the little paws :)
Aw, c'mon. First pic--look at his ears askew and his round nose and his teeny little fists. Okay, second pic is a bit weird, but he's small enough to snooze in someone's hands, so give the little bug-eyed bugger a break!
He's cute minus the looong nails!
Well, I say wombats are always adorable! Even the claws. They're all tucked up in a neat little row...
The only thing I'm getting here is...he kind of looks like Grimm from Mother Goose and Grimm in the bottom photo???
Not digging the eye capsules. Maybe if they were cartoon eye capsules, then they would be cute.
I like wombats, and have been trying to find some cute wombat pics...
Y'know, kangaroos also have claws. But I still find them cute.
I bet his fur is *very* soft...
He'll be cute when he grows up a little. :) Marsupial babies tend to be a little fugly.
Cute little wombat. So tiny and helpless but not... Cutesy pie!!
aww. a little wombat to warm my expatriate heart!
I am minding my bosses baby right now, he is so cute and teeny... I am playing him some Brahms thru iTunes!
: )
At first I thought, EW! but it grew on me, now I think SO cute. But not b/c of the eye capsules. More the general impression of a non-functional stuffed animalesque physique. & the nose. & the claws.
But why can't we see the rest of him? What's up with the pseudo-magiciany way his face & paws emerge out of the darkness, as if produced by the mysterious disembodied hands of an 'illusionist'?
Grimm! I knew I recognized that face, thanks MJ. I'll agree that hes cute but certainly not because of the eye capsules, more on the side of inspite of them.
linky
I had to think about this one for a bit, and he is cute-ish. He looks a little like a piglet in the first photo, and the squinchy eyes in the second one are sweet. He looks so content, and animals sleeping are always cute.
I agree with atomicpuffball, though. "Capsules" isn't a very cute word. It makes it sound like the little guy is an alien from another planet. (Maybe he is. Who knows?)
I think Wombats are one of the rare exceptions in the cute animal world; they are adorable as adults but kinda creepy as babies. I think all marsupials are like this.
I guarantee that he will be completely cuteified in a few weeks.
me looooves Grimmy: fave cartoon :-D
Although I've never spent much time looking at a Wombat, or even really know much about them, there is one thing that makes this little guy very cute...
He's a baby and he's sleeping!!!
All Babies who are sleeping are cute...Not matter what kind they are...
"But why can't we see the rest of him? What's up with the pseudo-magiciany way his face & paws emerge out of the darkness, as if produced by the mysterious disembodied hands of an 'illusionist'?"
It's called "art." I think he is cute and fuzzy, but I've also seen what they can do, and let's say I have a healthy respect for wombats, across many oceans and in the complete opposite hemisphere as me. :)
First picture: cute. Second picture: not really.
How can you find this little bugger not cute???
It's so fragile and with the eyes! and the ears! like a comic animal!
Cute! Cute! Cute!!!
this is the first wombat that iv ever seen as "cute"
this is the first wombat that iv ever seen as "cute"
this is the first wombat that iv ever seen as "cute"
"It's so fragile and with the eyes! and the ears! like a comic animal!"
I think so, too...
I think as long as the eye-bulginess-factor contributes to a high "Rule #2: Look Helpless" rating, AND that it is a BABY something, we can call it cute.
But this guy may need the caveat, "mileage may vary," just because he is rather odd looking.
Apparently, cuteness can be in the eye of the beholder.
I think he is very cute. But it is not the nails you need to worry about. When I was 18 months old a wombat mistook my finger for a cheezie and almost bit if off. Others kids at the zoo were feeding him cheezies, but that may have just been bad parenting, letting a toddler stick their finger in a wombat pen as I have never had another incident with one.
So not cute. I also thought I was on the wrong site. Ewwwwww......
CUTE! DEFINATELY CUTE! *huggles wombat and takes him home* =]
Beauty is in the "eye capsules" of the beholder, redzin.
Are you people crazy? Uh, CUTE.
Capsules? Seriously a not-cute word. I like the Bette Davis eyes idea. Or even "googley eyes." But eye capsules is yuck.
But the baby is sort of cute.
CUTE!!!even the claws are cute. and he looks so helpless in the first pic. Aww.
I am a "word person" myself, and have a few strange linguistic fetishes. One of those is 'containment words.' Typical sales techniques rarely get to me, but a few do: anything professed to be sold in a "pouch," "pot," or "tin" gets a few subconscious points with me. And actually, "capsule" IS a 'cute' word, but only when referring to bubblegum-machine 'prize capsules', NOT medicine, and DEFINITELY not eyes, as has been said by a few.
Personally, puffy eyes say "Liv Tyler" to me - with those and the puffy lips too, she always looks like she's just had a good, hard cry. *rolls eyes* Anyway, yes, the closed, puffy-looking eyes are cute, but, also as said before, this might be some sort of subtle throwback to the "helpless" thing - eyes are a very vulnerable area, and those things are kinda out there for anything to take a poke at. Besides, like I said, the thing looks like it's been crying or something. How can that NOT awaken your MI(maternal instinct)?
Rating: 2 out of 5 "AWWWww"s
The second picture is so precious =D
Dude, that is the cutest thing on the page. All you barbarians that don't think so are heartless and should never have children. I want one.
"Sorry, this one holds no cute factor for me."
"Not cute! Not cute!"
"Rating: 2 out of 5 "AWWWww"s"
All you people will be horrible parents, or are already. This is the cutest thing here. It crushes the puppy monorail.
Definitely cuter than the puppy monrail.
way cuter than the rabbit with the sweater :P
rayndrop, i'm with you on the "pouch/pot/tin" weakness. i also love small boxes with cellophane windows.
IMO, this wombat is way cuter than the boring old kittens and puppies. Adult wombats are even cuter! Also, from what I've read, wombats are actually pretty friendly until they go into puberty. Then they become very dangerous.
It looks like the wombat in the first photo has been DECLAWED!! Can this be? I only know about the furniture-saving, kitten-mutilating practice, in which the last knuckle of the toes are actually removed. Has such sad maiming happened to this little wombat, just because his claws are big? If so, this has gotta go into the CUTE BUT SAD category, on account of WOMBAT MUTILATION... (steps off soapbox)
I'm guessing that both photos are the same critter, but he's got his little fists curled up in the first one so that you can't see his claws.
And one's opinions on the varying degree of cuteness of wild animals has zero bearing on one's fitness as a parent. Possibly the poster was speaking tongue-in-cheek, but it was a pretty harsh statement all the same.
effectively ("effectivement"?)it's incredibly cute! incroyable!
I'm sure it has a *GREAT* personality....right?
Wow...another very interesting animal I'll have to look up. First one I've seen beside drawings. I think he's rather cute and I like his ears- they look so soft :)
Kelly,
Regarding the becoming dangerous when andolescent theory, I think that's pretty true all around.
The very first non-cute thing I've seen on CO.
Terrible.
"It crushes the puppy monorail."
No arguments on this from me ;)
Wombats are cute until you collect one with the front end of your car.
They simply turn, blink at you, and womble happily back into the scrub, while you're left with a completely crunkled front end.
Darn things are made of granite.
Goth manicure and pedicure! Yikes.
"Wombats are cute until you collect one with the front end of your car."
Also true of deer. They destroy cars. (Not just the front ends, either.)
awwww! little ball of wombat!
I saw a grown-up wombat at the SD zoo last week.
The word "wombat" is also proof positive that any word is instantly made 10 times funnier by adding the word "pants" onto it.
Wombatpants.
Holy whoa. Wombat indeed!
E.C. -- really, there are just plain too many cars.
I loooove the first picture, but the second one is just a tire slasher!!!!!!
Why everybody hatin on the puppy monorail? It's eco-friendly dammit! I suppose we could compromise, and build a wombat monorail. ... Nah, let em take the bus. (I think those closed eyes look like weird nipples. Definitely a "Cute or Scary?" pic, a la belle)
I'm not hatin'Laura, watch, I'll post for Puppy Monorail.:)
Claws + cuteness = deadly cute! Yes!
i love wombats! come on people, they have it all: a "wom," a "bat" and a fuzzy little head!
what fawn lust said. LOVE the wombat. LOVE LOVE LOVE.
There was an especially cut wrinkly puppy awhile back who had lovely rolls around his eyes...sort of the same thing.
Seeing a wombat on CO is honestly a dream come true for me! I've been hoping to find one ever since I discovered the site a couple weeks ago. This has made my day perfect. I love wombats!
They're adorable and even cuddly, but they don't make happy pets. If you're interested in more info and some more cute photos, please see this lovely website:
http://www.wombadilliac.com.au/
Ooh - thanks, little miao!
I've been looking for photogenic wombats for some time now - seems like the pics here will fit the bill.
I suppose a baby 'anything' is cute somewhat due to its inherent vulnerability, innocence, and general tiny roundedness. That first pic is kinda cute with the thing struggling to hold himself up. But that second one. No. That's like in the horror movie when they give you a glimpse of the hideous creation that will soon get real big and start ripping people apart. Those claws, the long snout, the disgusting white puffed out eyeballs. . Yuck! Perhaps in the quest to inject some variety into the cuteness (cant show kittens ALL the time!) we've over-reached a bit? Eh? I'm just saying. It looks like a damn MOLE! Digging up my front yard! Damn moles! KEEEEEL EEEEET!
Awww...he's all snuggly!
Wombats got an A in the Book of Ratings!
All right, up there - but moles can be cute, too.
You don't have to look at the pics that you don't like.
Tres cute IMO.
Their disproportionate ears and soft noses, combined with their plumpness and sweet expressions, make even adult wombats cute. They look so snuggly (even though they can't be snuggled in real life).
E.C. - I definitely agree that moles are also cute!
I think the word "wombat" is cute, but these pictures? Not so much. Maybe that wombat's cute in the way all baby critters are cute, but an Overload of cute? Sorry, I'm just not feeling it. And there's nothing at all cute about the words "eye capsules" it makes me think of those crusty pellets of dried eye gunk that I have to wipe off my poodle's face. blech.
-just my 2 cents.
Oh my...not cute. Not cute at all.
little miao------ Great site! I have only seen a few sketches of a wombat before and *promise not to laugh* I thought they could fly short distances. I think it's the way the front legs in the sketches made it appear. Looked like wings. LOL (okay go ahead, laugh :o) I didn't know they were burrowing animals. And they ARE cute. The adults look like little brown bears with those round bellies.
"capsules" is exactly the correct word to describe those things. and "not cute" are two more words that are equally fitting. they look like they should be popped...like pustules. or something just as gross. (sorry; I don't usually like to be negative)
little mia----i think the name also threw me off (bat)?
I think a winged wombat would be adorable! :)
LOL...then a winged wombat it is :o)
The second picture reminds me of Scrat, the saber-tooth squirrel thing from Ice Age. Scrat also has the whole "eye-capsule" thing going on, which is both cute AND hilarious-looking. Anyway, I like the lil wombat-fella :) I'd love to tickle his wee iddy biddy nose!
the little claws are for digging in the ground, not for slaying! wombats are lovable little vegetarians!
http://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/npws.nsf/Content/Wombats
In response to styro: Yeah, but they're still NOT cute!
Ewwwwww
Gawrsh, is Russell the Wombat cute? YOU BETCHA.
http://www.wombadilliac.com.au/images/russell/russ_crawl.jpg
From http://www.wombadilliac.com.au/main.htm
Thanks again, little miao!
In fact, I'd be happy to snorgle with Russell the Wombat any day ;)
You're welcome, E.C. :)
Thanks, Meg, for seeing the wonderful cuteness of wombats! :)
adorable
See, these little kids have the right idea - they love Russell!
http://www.wombadilliac.com.au/images/school/sherman_wombat_ground.jpg
Could it be that they're more open to The Cute than we are? Just speculatin' ...
I have to disagree. The eye capsules aren't cute. And the claws are scary.
Wombats are peaceful vegetarians, as has been pointed out above.
They use their claws for digging the grasses that they eat.
The claws are for digging but watch out for the wombat's butt. Wombats can crush enemies with their butts. Wombats are teddy bears with deadly butts.
RG, clearly you have experienced trauma inflicted by wombat ass.
care to share?
It's on Cuteoverload, so, it's cute !
Wombats are sooo misunderstood :]
More unusual cuties please !
Oh sweet Ozzie Jebus... "wombat ass??" GAH
[rolls on floor, gasping, trying desperately to contain ribcage]
I agree with Chris (above) - wombat adults are much cuter than wombat babies. They're like big furry pillows.
Wombats have the cutest noses!! And they actually are kind of like teddy bears - cuddly and pudgy. I'd love to cuddle the baby wombat in the picture!
I'm sure that lion cubs have powerful claws (and jaws), but that doesn't make them any less cute. Wombats are the same, except they eat veggies.
Oh, this is cute! All ya'll saying it's not are wimps. I just wanna hug the little guy, even if he does claw my heart out. I wonder how he would sound walking down a hardwood floor? XD That'd be sweet.
VERY CUTE!!! All aussie animals are strange but beautiful! i'm an australian wildlife carer (yet im only 18 but meh) and aussie animals r the best!
HOW COULD ANY1 SAY THAT IS NOT CUTE!?!? :0 it's GORGEOUS! omg i just wanna eat him up!!!
Cuuuuute!!
I would so take one of these over a dumb ol' cat or dog any day. Look how interesting and sweet this guy is!! All wobbly and blinky, with two-big toes and nails. That's adorable. Eye capsules all the way.
there's really only one thing to say:
aaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
he's so cute!
He's so LITTLE. Aww.
TOTALLY cute. What the hell is the matter with these people?!
I guess all the wombat-dislikers have not seen the skiing baby wombat (scroll down: http://www.canb.auug.org.au/~alanlevy/Skiing.HTM). Although even I, veteran wombat-lover that I am, find the babies cuter after they get more fur and the claws o' DOOM are less obvious....
Still it makes me sad and filled with woe that there are people who don't find wombats adorable. And they do SO have big eyes and kind of goofy grins (in addition to being vegetarians, darnit. Although apparently they will shred anything paper or cloth they can get their claws on).
(I dare someone to tell me "Diary of a Wombat" isn't one of the cutest picture books EVER.)
aww c'mon people!! he's adorable!! he's looks like he's smiling cause he's so happy in the second pic, not scary at all!
Apparently, you people lack eyes.
There is nothing cute about this, ever. The first picture is sort of "Eh, decent" but the second one is vaguely unsettling and it makes me afraid for my life. I can not comprehend all the people cooing over this. "WOMABTS R SOOOOO CUTE!!!111" For God's sake. No.
Poor marsupials can't catch a break. Even scientists exclude them from the subclass "Eutheria" ('true beasts') which describes only placental mammals like us. They do tend to look more like hatchlings when they're first born, though.
The little guy in the first picture, struggling bravely to stand up, would provoke the "Gimme back my son!" response in any father worth his salt. Don't know about cute, but oddly compelling.
Oh no...This is too cute! What are wrong with these people who don't see just how adorable this little guy is? I think it's a great picture and DEFINATLY cute.
I think rule #21 rocks. Eye-capsules are anerable. Like on little teeny tiny kittehs.