A Midnight Countdown of Hilarious Animal Memes to Start the Year With a Pep in Your Step

3… 2… 1… It's already the new year!

We hope you're fully recovered from New Year's Eve, animal fam. As we've gotten older, we've gravitated more towards the "staying at home and celebrating in our pajamas" kind of celebration, but that's just us. They say you never know what the night holds, but we know exactly what it holds: a hot cup of tea, a kiss at midnight, and lights out by 12:01 AM.

A new year can be daunting. You have an entire year of expectations, grand resolutions you vow to keep (this year, we really will), and a lot of unknowns. It's exciting, but it's also scary. But if you start off the new year afraid, you're not setting a good tone for 2026. It's like avoiding breakfast because you're afraid of getting sick; it certainly won't make your day better in the long run.

So, we're trying to kick this anxiety out the old-fashioned way - with humor. Not just any humor, some comedy from our dear friends in the animal kingdom. They're cute, fluffy, and pawfectly dramatic to help you start the year with a pep in your step. Treat this year like you would any normal task - with pawsitivity, grace, and a lot of humor. And if there are three things that animal memes can teach us, it's those things exactly. Let's start 2026 with a smile and get this year moving and grooving!

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via @Donny_Drama
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via @FerraraDominic
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via ObsessedWithAnimals
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via u/YarGeek
This sounds like a New Year's Eve from our early 20's. You go out all night, doing who knows what and where, and you come back after the sun rises and go to bed. Then, you wake up, perhaps still a little “out of it” and realize you're not in your home at all. In fact, you have no idea where you are, or why you're sleeping on the kitchen table. And why are there goats outside?
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via ObsessedWithAnimals
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via ObsessedWithAnimals
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via ObsessedWithAnimals
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via ObsessedWithAnimals
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via @ch0mkus
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via u/Dharmic_Mewtwo
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via ObsessedWithAnimals
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via ObsessedWithAnimals
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via ObsessedWithAnimals
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via ObsessedWithAnimals
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via ObsessedWithAnimals
If you think about it, baby giraffes enter the world with a nearly 6-foot drop. It sounds kind of intense, but this is actually evolutionary: it helps kickstart their breathing and circulation. They're also born extremely tall, like around 5-6 feet tall. What else can we tell you about giraffes? Oh, our last fun fact of the day is that giraffe calves stand sleeping up. Yes, you read that correctly. They literally fall asleep standing.
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via ObsessedWithAnimals
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via ObsessedWithAnimals
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via ObsessedWithAnimals
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via ObsessedWithAnimals
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via u/Alastair
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via u/Seekmeeseek
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via u/thedarklord125
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via ObsessedWithAnimals
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via ObsessedWithAnimals
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via ObsessedWithAnimals
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via ObsessedWithAnimals
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via ObsessedWithAnimals
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via u/wafzig31
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via ObsessedWithAnimals