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More choices. Worse decisions.
An overcrowded dating pool, tigers surprising researchers, and a pig named Wilma.
Greg Sullivan
November 13, 2026 • Est. Reading Time: 4 minutes
“Sometimes you make choices in life and sometimes choices make you.”
― Gayle Forman
It’s Friday, and that means animals. We’ve got frogs with very relatable decision paralysis, tigers doing things we didn’t know they could, a miracle pig that saved a human life, and a seasoned old pup who’s seen it all. It’s enough to set your tail wagging.
Science
Being spoiled for choice has its drawbacks.
I have never left an In-N-Out Burger worried that I ordered the wrong thing. That’s because, if you’re not familiar, they really only sell one thing*. But sit me down at a Cheesecake Factory with one of their novellas of a menu, and I am guaranteed to freeze up.
In this regard, and hopefully only in this regard, I have a lot in common with a female gray tree frog. As researcher Claire Therese Hemingway explains, these frogs choose their mates by listening to the males’ calls. But when there are too many calls, well, suddenly we’re back at the Cheesecake Factory.
To see how the frogs handle an expanding menu of bachelors, Hemingway and her colleagues played them mating calls through speakers, adding more suitors to the mix. And all that choice could have some unexpected beneficiaries. Let’s just say a few frogs might want to thank their competition for showing up.
* A purist might argue they have a varied menu, but it’s all just delicious riffs on burgers. I said what I said!
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GOOD reader Bruce Ward shared this colorful bridge over the Dudh Koshi River on the Everest Base Camp Trek in Nepal. What was once thought to be nearly impossible has become a touch more achievable. Bruce points out that over 53,000 people made the trek last year.
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Send us your best images, and we may feature them as the image of the day. Be sure to tell us a bit about your pic.
Which of these surprising things can tigers do?Big cats have a few tricks their house-cat cousins might envy. |
Yesterday’s Results
In yesterday's issue, we shared an emotional support cat comforting patients at a vet clinic.
And we asked: You’ve had a lousy day. What helps most? 47.8% of you chose an animal settling in beside you. Sometimes the best company has paws.
An animal settling in beside me (47.8%)
Someone making me laugh (23.1%)
The right song at the right volume (8.2%)
Being left gloriously alone (20.9%)
Nature | Courtesy of Upworthy
 | ||
Wildlife researchers discover tigers doing something we previously thought went against their very nature | ||
There is still much to learn about these iconic big cats. | ||
By Heather Wake | ||
We’ve been told since the dawn of time that tigers are fiercely solitary creatures. But recent wildlife footage completely challenges that notion… and in the most adorable way, to boot. | ||
By the grace of Mother Nature herself, wildlife researchers filming the two-part BBC Earth documentary Tiger Island in Nepal’s Bardia National Park were able to capture a tiger mother “babysitting” another tigress’s cubs. | ||
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Health
Wilma the pig saved his life. Now he's preaching her gospel.
Tim Andrews was sleeping between dialysis appointments, unable to walk the dog or keep food down. The waitlist for a human kidney was five years long. His heart had already given out once. Not to put too fine a point on it, things weren’t looking good.
So when his doctors mentioned an experimental procedure, the kind that had only ever been tried on three people before him, Andrews didn't flinch.
“I’m gonna die anyways, why wouldn’t I do something for all these [other people with kidney disease] that are suffering?”
Writer Erik Barnes follows what happened next: the surgery, the dog walks, the first pitch at Fenway, and a gene-edited pig named Wilma who became, in Andrews's words, "a major part of my soul as long as I live." Wilma's story doesn't end the way you might expect. Andrews' doesn't either.
Who’s a GOOD boy/girl?
Image of the Day has its own lane, but the pet pics keep arriving, and I am not made of stone. So every Friday, I’ll share one reader-submitted photo of a favorite pet. Want yours featured? Send it along.
Look at this dapper fella! GOOD reader Janet Van Eyck shared this image of her pup, Dusty, who is 18 years old and has had a lifetime of adventures, from California all the way to a mountaintop in West Virginia.
On November 13, 1833, people across North America witnessed one of the most spectacular meteor storms in recorded history. The Leonid meteor shower filled the predawn sky with thousands upon thousands of shooting stars, some estimates suggesting tens of thousands per hour. Many observers were understandably terrified, believing the heavens were falling and the end of the world might be at hand.
The remarkable display helped transform astronomy. The Leonids occur every November when Earth passes through a trail of dusty debris left behind by Comet Tempel-Tuttle. Those tiny particles burn up in our atmosphere, creating the streaks of light we call shooting stars. Most years, the show is modest, but occasionally Earth encounters a particularly dense patch of debris, as it did in 1833. For one unforgettable night, the universe put on a fireworks show that no human could possibly hope to match.
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Someone help him over the fence!
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Until next week, don’t let too many choices overwhelm you. Sometimes any choice at all is the right one.