Your morning adorable: Patient duck babysits a litter of abandoned kittens

When animals from different species put aside their differences and become the best of friends, Unleashed will be there. (At least, we'll really try to be there, because we could watch videos depicting such inter-species friendships for days on end, stopping only to eat the occasional snack or take a brief nap before firing up the old computer again.)

We were overjoyed when we saw the video above, in which a (male) duck named Harry is mistaken for mom by a litter of tiny abandoned kittens. (For his part, Harry seems to be overjoyed -- or, at the very least, exceedingly tolerant -- as well.)

Harry is a resident of Lucky Duck Rescue, a bird sanctuary specializing in the care of rescued wild ducks and geese and surrendered bird pets located right here in Southern California. Lucky Duck sounds like a water-loving bird's paradise (or a kitten's, for that matter) to us. At the facility, the birds are kept in pens overnight, but, with the exception of some that are blind or have difficulty walking, they're all free to roam a fenced outdoor area complete with pools, shade trees and feeding stations during the day.

It's a nice enough place that, according to the group, one injured crow that was nursed back to health and released back into the wild years ago continues to roost in trees on the property, despite the fact that he is free to go wherever he pleases.

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-- Lindsay Barnett

Video: luckyduckrescue via YouTube

Video goodness: Dog rides tortoise

We're not sure which animal we love more -- Hope, the adventurous (or lazy, depending upon how you look at things) dog, or Carl, who we suspect may be the most good-natured tortoise ever born.

We suppose we'll just have to call it a tie.

Though we're not entirely sure how we feel about YouTube user davidbeier's assertion that "God is using our much loved puppy named Hope to bring you this gospel, or good news," we appreciate the sentiment, nonetheless. (We have a hunch -- just a hunch -- that God has more important business to attend to than inspiring dogs to ride tortoises. But then again, what do we know?)

This fascinating and odd video has made the Internet rounds, but our favorite comment so far has to be from CuteOverload reader Jerilyn, who writes, "Is this a new take on the Tortoise and the Hare? No more 'slow [and] steady wins the race.' Now it's 'Hop aboard the tortoise ferry for the win!??!!' "

"Hop aboard the tortoise ferry for the win" ... now that's a motto we can get behind.

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-- Lindsay Barnett

Video: davidbeier via YouTube

Your morning adorable: Deer and dog at play

One of our all-time favorite things is inter-species animal friendships, so we were beside ourselves with joy when we first saw YouTube user mlcarriker's video of a young deer and a dog playing together as if they'd been best friends their entire lives.

The deer, named Theen, was cared for by mlcarriker's family after he was discovered alone and malnourished. The family bottle-fed Theen until he began to eat on his own, and although he's now free to wander and mingle with his wild brethren, he "frequently comes back to the house to eat some [cat food] and play with our dog, Buddy," mlcarriker explains. "He doesn't care much for deer corn."

Although his eating habits are questionable, we still find Theen -- and his propensity for frolicking with his canine pal -- pretty darn cute. (We also love the two cats who seem enthralled with their play session that can be seen watching from the safety of a porch rail at the end of the video.)

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-- Lindsay Barnett

Video: mlcarriker via YouTube

Your morning adorable: Dog and bird play ball

We were astounded when we first saw YouTube user MASSEUR1956's video proof of the camaraderie between a clever raven and a patient dog.

We knew that members of the corvid family (which includes crows, ravens, rooks, magpies, jackdaws and other similar birds) are often extremely intelligent with impressive problem-solving abilities and reasoning skills. But we did not know they enjoyed interspecies animal friendships, nor did we know they had a penchant for playing sports!

These two unlikely friends can also be seen sharing a meal or just hanging out together on MASSEUR1956's channel. One video even shows the raven -- for reasons unclear to us but, we suspect, incredibly obvious to a fellow bird -- plucking the fur from a wire slicker brush as his canine pal is groomed. Perhaps most oddly charming of all is a video that shows the dog gently licking his raven pal. (That's an "awww" and an "ewww" moment all rolled up in one.)

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-- Lindsay Barnett

Video: MASSEUR1956 via YouTube

Your morning adorable: Patient dog babysits chick

YouTube user tamwaimanr's video has left us at a loss for words; viewing it kind of makes us want to curl up in a ball and rock back and forth slowly, watching it on an endless loop and wishing that some humans we know could take a cue from this gentle dog.

Of course, we're unabashed suckers for animals that look out for other, smaller animals -- be it a dog who sweetly nuzzles a duckling or a cat who flies in the face of tradition by bathing, rather than snacking on, a friendly rat.

If you've experienced a similar incident of love among the species, we'd love to see it! Share your photo in the Four-Legged Friends album at Your Scene, The Times' photo-sharing site. Be sure to include a caption that tells us about the animals you've photographed!

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-- Lindsay Barnett

Video: tamwaimanr via YouTube

Your morning adorable: Deer licks friendly cat

There's something irresistible about unlikely pairs of animal friends, isn't there? These two -- both residents of Arnold's Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Okeechobee, Fla. -- are among the most irresistible pairs we've seen yet. The organization typically helps to rescue and rehabilitate about 1,000 animals of various species each year.

We've certainly seen our share of mixed-species grooming escapades involving cats, but, in our experience, the grooming party is typically the cat, and the groomee is a dog, a rabbit, a rat or some other appreciative creature. Rarely have we seen things go the other way around, although we do recall a certain kitty who enjoyed being nuzzled by its best friend, a horse.

If you've witnessed this sort of affection among members of the animal kingdom and happened to have a camera on hand, we'd love to see your photos! Share them with us in the Four-Legged Friends album at Your Scene, The Times' photo-sharing site, and be sure to include a caption that gives us a bit of information about the animals involved.

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-- Lindsay Barnett

Video: ArnoldsWildlifeRehab via YouTube

Your morning adorable: Cat grooms friendly rabbit

Our cat-licking-(insert non-feline species name here) video kick continues Thursday with Ava, a rescued cat who's good pals with Nibbles, a Dutch rabbit.

According to the pair's owner, YouTube user bluetree3000, the little nips Ava makes are nothing more than "love bites," and in "bunny body language Ava's grooming acknowledges that Nibbles is the alpha bunny."

We like Ava already, but her story gets better: She's a rescue who was found with a swollen abdomen. A veterinary exam showed that Ava's swelling was the result of a gunshot wound; a bullet had become embedded in her body and caused a hernia to develop. Fortunately, Ava "had surgery to repair the hernia and is the sweetest cat we've ever known despite her horrible ordeal," bluetree says. Now that's a success story we can appreciate!

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-- Lindsay Barnett

Video: bluetree3000 via YouTube

Your morning adorable: Cat licks friendly rat

Monday's adorable video showing a cat enthusiastically cleaning a sleeping dog started us on a bit of a mission to find other cat-loves-(insert non-feline species name here) videos. Our favorite so far: YouTube user aublet's video of Molly the cat and her good pal Chiquita the rat.

When the animals first came to live together, aublet explains, the cat was kept in a separate room whenever Chiquita and aublet's other rats were let out of their cage. One fateful night, "Chiquita broke herself and [the other rats] out of their cage and she woke me up by climbing on my face," aublet recalls. "I was terrified that Molly had hurt the others, but when I got up, Molly was just patiently watching the rats run around." Good kitty!

After that incident, aublet decided to let the cat interact with the rats -- only while they were under the supervision of a watchful human caregiver, of course. Molly and Chiquita became the best of friends and remained so until Chiquita's death last year. (R.I.P., little rat!)

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-- Lindsay Barnett

Video: aublet via YouTube

Your morning adorable: Cat licks sleeping dog

We're big fans of YouTube user caybat's video of a cat who simply must clean its dog friend's face (even if it has to wait until the dog's asleep to do it).

We're not sure if the dog would be as inclined to sit still for a thorough bathing if it were awake -- but we suspect it's used to receiving its share of attention from this affectionate cat.

If your own pets -- awake or asleep -- are as friendly with each other as these two, we'd love to see it! Share your photos and videos in the Four-Legged Friends album at Your Scene, The Times' photo-sharing site. Be sure to include a caption that tells us about your pets!

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-- Lindsay Barnett

Video: caybat via YouTube

Your morning adorable: Gentle horse nuzzles cat

YouTube user TanjaGI says her horse and cat are "best friends forever" -- and they certainly seem to be. We love the way Rolex the horse uses his muzzle to "pat" his cat buddy.

We'll readily admit that we're suckers for unlikely animal friendships; our hearts soar when, say, a cat and a rat hang out together, a gentle pit bull lovingly nuzzles a duckling or a giraffe and an ostrich become the best of friends.

If your own animal friends have a similarly harmonious relationship, we'd love to see it. Share your photos or videos in the Four-Legged Friends album at Your Scene, The Times' photo-sharing site.

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-- Lindsay Barnett

Video: TanjaGI via YouTube