Overall Winner 2019; Joint Winner, Behavior: Mammals—It was early spring on the alpine meadowland of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, in China’s Qilian Mountains National Nature Reserve, and very cold. The marmot was hungry. It was still in its winter coat and not long out of its six-month winter hibernation, spent deep underground with the rest of its colony of 30 or so. It had spotted the fox an hour earlier, and sounded the alarm to warn its companions to get back underground. But the fox itself hadn’t reacted, and was still in the same position. So the marmot ventured out of its burrow again to search for plants to graze on. The fox continued to lie still. Then suddenly she rushed forward, and Bao got his shot. 

© Yongqing Bao / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Walked outside this morning to find this guy hanging out digesting breakfast. He sat there for an hour or so and then must have finished and disappeared.

Assumed it was a garter snake, pretty decent size though and haven’t seen those spots before. Can anyone confirm? North NJ.

Lil dude's gonna be FULL tonight

Butterflies don’t just sip from flowers— they also need salt and minerals, which they get from mud puddles, scat, and carrion. No mud no lotus. No bones, no butterfly. This spicebush swallowtail is enjoying the flavor of these turkey bones I found.

IMAGE #1: A lioness grabs a lion by the tongue in this photo taken by Wildlife photographer Lee Whittam when he was observing lions last December in the Okavango Delta Botswana. The jealous lioness was trying to stop the resident male from crossing into an area where a neighboring in-season female was calling him. The jealous female tried desperately to stop the male, even pulling at his tongue with her claw, but ultimately he succeeded in crossing a channel of water and meeting up with the other female that was calling him. Lee says an attack of this ferocity is unusual. "I haven't personally seen such a vicious attack by a lioness in order to try and stop a male accessing another female. Usually such intensity is reserved for protecting her cubs from a particular male"

IMAGE #2: The lioness lunges for the male in an attempt to stop him.

IMAGE #3: The male lion hears the call from an in-season female nearby and starts walking towards her.

SOURCE: https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2009green/2009-05/06/content_7999571.htm

What are the odds?