Your morning adorable: Baby skunks and the handstand dance

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Color us fascinated by this video, captured by YouTube user MaryCummins, a wildlife rehabilitator whose channel is chock-full of baby-animal goodness. But we think we love the skunks the most -- largely due to this strange dance they perform, rather like a combination moonwalk and handstand.

‘They poof their tail and handstand to show off their markings and look bigger, just like spotted skunks,’ Mary explains. (Spotted skunks are well-known for their tendency to perform acrobatic and vaguely threatening moves while lifting their back feet off the ground and standing on their front feet.) ‘They scoot backward so they can rush forward again. Here they are just playing.’

Both of these young skunks -- a brother and sister -- were successfully rehabilitated and returned to the wild. Hooray for rescue (and hooray for odd dance moves)!

-- Lindsay Barnett

Video: MaryCummins via YouTube