A panda rolls in the snow. We see the child we all once were | Philip Hoare

The enchanting video of Tian Tian is a global hit. In our 24/7 world, animals provide us with escapism and give us something to believe in

A video of Tian Tian the giant panda rolling around in the snow has gone viral. Arms over his head, rubbing his face, revelling in the overnight fall, he looks nothing so much like a man in a bear suit. So of course a man dresses up as a panda and mimics the real creature. Humans just can't help it, can they?

Tian Tian is the child we all once were, rejoicing in the imaginary, benevolent snows of yesteryear. Those front-facing eyes - like primates, and even owls - dig into something deep in our psyche. Little wonder the video has been viewed around the world - an antidote to the scenes of nature-induced chaos we've been experiencing over here on the east coast of the US, in snowbound Cape Cod, from where I'm writing. It is a wonderful contrast to another animal clip from the weekend: the tragic scenes of dead and dying sperm whales on the British east coast. The one, with its intimations of majestic marine mammals brought low, possibly by human causes; the other, with its idyll of a world beyond ourselves. They both are emblematic of a nature that we instinctively anthropomorphise, and which we cannot help but see through our own physical selves.