Animal hijinks of 2023: Viral moments featuring dogs chasing lions to bears cooling off at the beach
Viral and amusing animal videos in 2023 were widely shared across the internet
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The internet saw more than its share of viral videos featuring animals of all stripes in 2023.
We've rounded up of the most memorable ones with our favorite friends from the animal kingdom. The footage ranges from scared lions to bears just looking to cool off in the summer heat.
‘Ding-dong ditch’
A Ring camera captured what a Georgia sheriff’s office jokingly called a "ding-dong ditch" suspect that happened to be a deer.
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The four-legged joker was seen on Nov. 5 ringing a doorbell on a Cherokee Sheriff Office deputy’s porch before darting away.
"Be on the lookout for this 4-legged ‘ding-dong ditch’ suspect captured on video at one of our deputy's homes in Canton the other day," the sheriff’s office posted on its Facebook page.
Horses dragged behind pickup truck
A video out of Utah captured two horses being dragged behind a pickup truck down a residential street.
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"It was just horrible to watch! The driver didn’t stop until he was at the stop sign, even when others were yelling at him to stop," Amberly Powers, who provided the home security camera footage to Fox News Digital, said.
The incident happened on Sept. 8 in Farmington, according to KUTV.
Powers says she is the woman in the video with the long ponytail, and the only thing the driver said to her as she got up close to take additional photos was, "This horse is stubborn!"
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Cowardly lion
A family dog in California wasn't in the mood for intruders when a mountain lion came into the residential backyard.
The homeowner told local media that a friend inadvertently told her about the large cat.
"I was having a Bible study in our rec room. My friend looked out and said, ‘Oh your dogs are playing’ and I said, ‘I only have one dog,’" the homeowner told KCRA.
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The homeowner then said she went outside and "It just, in one leap, was up in the tree so quickly."
Unexpected prize
A Brazilian man got an unexpected surprise while playing with a claw machine.
Rider Soares da Silva thought he won a stuffed animal when was able to grab the toy using two claws inside the machine. However, before he could reach and claim his prize, a live cat came out.
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He laughed and picked up the feline, which stretched its paws while on the ground.
Cooling off
A black bear found time to cool off this summer on a Florida beach.
The animal was seen taking in the waves on a crowded beach in Destin in northern Florida. The bear was also spotted running out of the waves with beachgoers.