Yesterday was World Animal Day, an international celebration of all the amazing creatures we share this planet with. It was conceived in 1931 at an ecology convention in Florence, with October 4th chosen as the date because it coincided with the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals.
I don’t think a single day is enough to celebrate the animal kingdom, so let’s make it a week-long celebration here on Where’s my backpack? Here are a few endearing creatures I’ve met on my travels.
If you’d like to join in, here’s what to do:
- Create your own post about animals and title it Travel Theme: Animals
- Include a link to this page in your post so others can find it too
- Don’t forget to subscribe to keep up to date on the latest weekly travel themes.
It doesn’t have to be about wildlife; you can write an ode to your neighbour’s moggy if you like! I can’t wait to see what you come up with.
Give me a high-five paw!
xxx
Ailsa
Where's my backpack? 
High 5 Paw Ailsa ! Super theme looking forward to seeing some great *beauties*
Love your Black Squirrel especially – never knew about them !!!
Yaay, looking forward to seeing everyone’s animal posts too, poppytump, it’s going to be a good week! xxx
I love your animals<3 I am going to see if I have any to post this week. I am not sure if I have any in my photo albums 🙂 Great pick for this weeks theme 😉
Hurrah, looking forward to your post! xxx
Okay, I finally finished. Here is my entry for the Challenge.
http://danajoward.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/travel-theme-animals/
short link: http://wp.me/p2EF02-fR
Wonderful theme and beautiful photos! I have never heard of a black squirrel – and certainly never seen one. Great pictures! I´ll see what I have in my treasure box…no easy with wildlife…
Yee, i dropped a t there!
Oh those pesky ‘t’s 🙂 Don’t forget, it doesn’t have to be wildlife, it can be any animal at all. Those black squirrels are hilarious, even more in your face than the grey ones. They’re quite common in the US and are on the rise in the UK too.
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http://kattermonran.com/2012/10/05/weekly-travel-theme-animals/
A birdie 🙂
Yaay, nice one Alastair – that is one very well-fed birdie too, I might add!
He certainly looks it. It was last year some time, and I thought it was a plumper then 😉
I’ve thought of one or two or three right off the starting line. Now to contain my excitement….. :-S
Excellent, looking forward to what you come up with, Tisha!
It’s fun. I’ve gotten 4 days worth so far but now I’m kinda stuck….maybe the weekend will inspire me!!
Haha, the stingray towel animal cracked me up, brilliant Tisha!
I’ve combined two entries, I hope you don’t mind. http://chittlechattle.com/2012/10/05/travel-theme-animals-weekly-photo-challenge-happy/ Nothing as exotic as the lovely animals above, though, but when we are with them we are surrounded!
Aww, how can you not feel happy surrounded by, as you so beautifully put it, ‘the gentlest of animals.’ Really beautiful post, nuvofelt, and it looks like a gorgeous place to stay!
It is. Nothing but peace and quiet. Perfect for R + R
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Each one of these is excellent! Love the raccoon’s expression, though. He is looking at you with quite the puzzled expression.
http://avacationinmymind.com/2012/10/05/weekly-theme-animals/
Haha, Sheri, he was a very curious raccoon! Lovely series of photos, that third one is fantastic. Where was it taken? xxx Ailsa
At the Indianapolis Zoo. I am a huge fan, having once been a volunteer and since then a member. For some reason, this particular day, all the animals were giving me humorous poses.
I love it when animals decide to work the camera 🙂
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My entry for this week’s theme. Bears and some other animals of the wild. http://frontrangescribbles.com/2012/10/05/travel-theme-animals/
Nice one, frontrangescribbles – that first bear is definitely very interested in you!
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Thank you Ailsa [although] difficult theme FOR MOI because sadly and honestly I have never found animals fascinating enough to photograph [apologies ya’ll]… but that wood-duck did some magic and :)- so here’s my entry –> http://s1ngal.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/travel-theme-animals/
Oh those bunnies are too cute, s1ngal – glad the wood duck worked its magic on you! 🙂
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Fabulous pics, Ailsa. Love that black squirrel’s face. 🙂
He looked like a real tough guy, ad, he cracked me up with his antics.
All the creatures are adorable, Ailsa, but I LOVE the buffalo the best! GREAT shot. Here are my little kitty cats of Amalfi http://tahira007.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/travel-theme-animals/
Wow, look at all those Italian kitties, and all that wonderful Italian scenery. Lovely post, Tahira!
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OK here goes http://maankind.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/travel-theme-animals/
Very cool, MaanKind, that is one big bull, I love the second one where he’s looking directly at the camera. He doesn’t look too impressed at having his photo taken 🙂
Thank you, Ailsa! He was very calm with me around, I must admit, but there was a sadness…
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Stunning pictures, Ailsa! This is definitely one of my favorites of yours. As a vegan animal lover and animal liberation activist, this is right up my alley and a very exciting one for me!!
http://therewildwest.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/travel-theme-animals/
Coyotes, many different birds, starfish, and of course my pit bull Rikki….hope ya’ll enjoy!!
–Love and Liberation–
Jan
Jan, these are amazing – those coyote shots are spectacular. And Rikki looks like a total sweetie. Love it. xxx
Thanks, Ailsa =) Coyotes are definitely among my favorite animals (my “Earth name” is keyote, said the same just spelled differently)–they are so savagely maligned and massacred by meat-and-dairy-producing interests: they are poisoned with cyanide, trapped, their dens gassed, mothers and babies alike smoked out of dens and then beaten to death, shot…and yet through all that savage violence, they find a way to not just survive but thrive. An amazing symbol of strength and adaptation and perseverance in the face of industrial humans’ barbaraism. They inspire me.
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Check out the Grand Canyon local that I met http://sasieology.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/travel-theme-animals/
Haha, I love it, Sas, how nice of the little guy to stop and wait for you to take a photo 🙂
That raccoon is too cute!!
He knew it too, Amy 😉
Here’s my entry
http://sofiesdiary.com/2012/10/05/31-travel-theme-animals/
Heehee, you’re right, he looks like a very happy duck!
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Love the theme and your photos, Ailsa. Here is my post.
http://imissmetoo.me/2012/10/05/travel-challenge-animals-from-kyrgyzstan/
Hi Pat, wonderful post about Kyrgyzstan, and lovely photos, that first one is my favourite!
Thanks, Ailsa. I had been going through my photos in another file and saw it a couple of days ago. I like it too.
These are lovely Ailsa. 🙂
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OK. My animals are a little fishy this week:
http://ronmayhewphotography.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/travel-theme-animals-singing-koi/
Singing Koi, well I never! 🙂
Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge & Travel Theme: Happy Animals | Wind Against Current
Here are our happy animals: http://windagainstcurrent.com/2012/10/05/weekly-photo-challenge-travel-theme-happy-animals/
Ahh, you can’t go wrong with a tree full of squirrels, thanks for making me smile, Vlad! 🙂
Here’s my contribution, hope you enjoy. http://ricardovieirafotos.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/travel-theme-animals/
Cheers, Ricardo Vieira.
Lovely series of photos, Ricardo, the shot of the cat is really wonderful!
Also one of my favourites 🙂 Thanks.
Super photos!
I have not created a new post for the theme but my post from earlier today did have an alligator featured.
Thanks Phil, my goodness that alligator looks like he’s headed somewhere awfully quickly!
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Ok.. I feel better now that I am catching up!
Z
http://playamart.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/animals-enhance-my-life/
Wow, Z, that’s an incredible collection of animal photos, that jaguar is just amazing, and those goats are hysterical. xxx
The goats and I have an ongoing feud.. I can smell them before they arrive, so I arm myself with dirt clods, rocks, shells – whatever’s handy, then I hide and wait and dare them to enter my garden! It’s quite funny as long as they don’t strip every leaf in the yard! z
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Really great photos all. And what a fabulous shot of that antler rack and beautiful face against a river background. Often those shots are in a forest where the antlers blend into the tree branches. Since I’m an animal lover, I thought I’d have a go at this theme. Some images from a recent trip to the San Diego Zoo: http://jennifercrites.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/travel-theme-animals/
Lovely photos, Jennifer, the balancing act and the camel doing yoga are brilliant! Yeah, I felt really lucky to spy that elk by the river in Yellowstone, I had a few magical minutes observing until noisy tourists came along and scared the elk away.
Thanks so much, Alisa. It’s fun to catch animals in poses you don’t normally see. When that gazelle stood straight up on its hind legs, I was amazed that it didn’t topple over. If I had tiny hooves like that, I would surely topple over 🙂
As for the noisy tourists, if we would all just tread through wild areas quietly, we would see so much more. At least you had those few magical minutes—and a great shot.
That raccoon is too funny 🙂
Yes, bluebee, that little raccoon was quite a character 🙂
Sooo adorable! Great post!
Thanks Amy! I have a secret ambition to be a wildlife photographer – it’ll take a lot of practice and a much better camera, but someday, maybe… keep your fingers crossed 😉
Pingback: Travel Theme: Animals | The Serenity Space
awesome theme .. fantastice photos posted 🙂
heres mine ..http://wp.me/sZwzb-3804
Excellent, Jenn – I love those reptiles in such striking colours!
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Ailsa, I thought the duck photo was a painting. It’s fantastic!
I’m glad you picked animals for a theme because I’ve been wanting to submit my photo of the Syrian girl and her goat. So, thank you.
Trish, what a wonderful photo, and the word bint made me laugh!
Hello Everyone!
No “wild” animals for me – but I do have some lovely pictures of the domesticated kind!
http://wp.me/p2zGQ7-oh
For those of you that like the photo challenges, I have started one too. It’s called Friday’s Foto Fun and this week’s theme is Faces. Here is the link: http://wp.me/p2zGQ7-mW
Pleas join in – I am looking forward to seeing your entries!
KnowledgeKnut
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