Can animals be pipd out of buttercream icing or whipped icing> Also, where can you find how to's sep by step on how to do these. TIA

They absolutely can!! here's a pretty good ling, their books are good too.
www.wilton.com/decorating/basic/index/.cfm

Sure you can. Maybe not as sturdy though...look at Wilton's site under techniques (I think). They have a bunch of animals in there.

Ok, that clearly isn't working and the spelling looks like I've been up for 3 days straight...try this...

www.wilton.com

Go to decorating techniques in the left column, then choose basic decorating techniques, in the middle of the screen area, then scroll down and click on the animals you want to see.

I hope that works better...