All Creatures Great and Small

Jan. 13: Mike Schelin rides a motocross bike with his dog Opee, a 8-year-old blue merle Australian shepherd, in Perris, Calif. (AP)

Jan. 31: Bill Boyd of Warroad, Minn. runs his dogs along the trail near the starting line of the 130-mile Mid-Distance version of the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon, in Duluth, Minn. The race is named for John Beargrease, a Chippewa Indian who delivered mail along the North Shore by dogsled in the late 1800s.  (AP)

Jan. 24: Musher Quin Iten, son of Iditarod sled dog race veteran Ed Iten, kisses lead sled dog Inga as they prepare to run a trail in the remote Inupiat Eskimo village Noorvik, Alaska. Mushers are practicing for the arrival of the U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Groves to formally launch the nation's 2010 count in the village, where residents are planning a huge reception of traditional dancing and a feast of caribou, moose and other foods. (AP)

Jan. 27: Sled dogs await the start of the Sedivackuv Long dog sled race in Destne, Czech Republic. (AP)

Jan. 28: Panda cubs from the Wolong Giant Panda Reserve Center in Sichuan are seen at a Shanghai zoo, in China. Ten giant panda cubs, all born after the deadly earthquake that hit China's Sichuan province in 2008, were sent to Shanghai to go on display during this year's World Expo. (AP)

Jan. 20: Buddhist monk plays with a young tiger at Wat Pa Luangta Bua Yannasampanno Forest Monastery in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. The monastery and its monks are dedicated to conservation and what has become a wildlife sanctuary for tigers. (AP)

Jan.30: Sarah, a miniature southdown sheep, is covered in snow during a snowstorm near Richmond, Va. Sarah lives east of the city in the Varina district of Henrico County, Va. (AP)

Jan.29: A 14-day-old cape penguin is held by a staff member of Sunshine International Aquarium in Tokyo, Japan. (AP)

Jan.30: A wild male peacock fans it's feathers in Jupiter Farms, Fla. (AP)

Dec. 27: Starlight, an Egyptian Mau kitten owned by cat agility expert Jill Archibald, prepares to leap over a hurdle during a cat charity fundraiser. (AP)

Jan. 25: Thayer Cueter holds Snohomish Slew, the bull frog, in Edmonds, Wash. Snohomish Slew is the star of GroundFrog Day, an environmental celebration. Like Pennsylvania's Punxsutawney Phil, his awakening from hibernation announces the beginning of spring. (AP)

Jan. 30: Cows on a farm in Pittsville, Md., huddle together as snow blankets their field and much of the Washington-Baltimore area. (AP)

Jan. 29: A lion jumps over Ukraine's Vladislav Goncharov during a rehearsal for the final show of the 8th International Circus Festival in Budapest, Hungary. (AP)

Jan. 22: A Los Angeles City firefighter on a harness attempts to rescue a dog from the Los Angeles River. Animal officials said the owner of the rescued German shepherd has claimed the dog. (AP)

Jan. 22: Gorilla mother Bahgira plays with her baby Kajolu at their ape house at the zoo in Munich, Germany. Kajolu was born Dec. 7. (AP)

Jan. 21: Abe, a hybrid "mini" goat, with his mother, Angel, at the Wildlife Conservation Society's Central Park Zoo in New York. The new kid weighs 10 pounds and is a cross between a Nigerian dwarf goat and a Nubian goat. (AP)

Jan. 8: A pair of brown bear cubs play in the pool in their new habitat it the Bronx Zoo in New York. The two sibling cubs were rescued along with a third from Baranof Island, Alaska. (AP)

Jan. 15: A group of sea otters gather in Morro Bay, Calif. Bureaucrats drew a line in the ocean, trying to save endangered sea otters and protect fishermen competing for the shellfish the creatures eat. This and other efforts to help the sea otter population have been unsuccessful. (AP)

This image was recorded in September 2009 in the Masai Mara region of Kenya, where wildebeest and zebras had been collecting near a river for several hours. They made many aborted attempts to cross, with crocodiles lying in wait, anticipating the animals. One zebra led the way and crossed safely. That triggered the masses of wildebeest to follow suit. I focused on the smaller wildebeest as they crossed the river and watched as the crocodiles got close to their prey. (Austin Thomas)

Two adolescent brothers try their best to bring a gazelle down. End of story? The mother cheetah did it. (Annie Katz)

A man feeds a hippopotamus named Nikica in a private zoo in the village of Plavnica, about 6 miles south of the Montenegro capital Podgorica, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2009. The 2-ton hippo that escaped 9 days ago from a zoo in Montenegro has returned home, without hurting anyone. Flooding had allowed the animal to swim over the cage surrounding its pen. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

An immature bald eagle fights with two adult bald eagles while the birds eat a goose carcass at Union Reservoir in Longmont, Colo., on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010. A fourth adult bald eagle later joined the group before the birds dispersed. (AP Photo/Longmont Times-Call, Richard M. Hackett)

In this photo taken Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010, panda cubs from the Wolong Giant Panda Reserve Center in Sichuan are seen in a Shanghai zoo, in China. Ten giant panda cubs, all born after the deadly earthquake that hit China's Sichuan province in 2008, were sent to Shanghai to go on display during this year's World Expo. (AP Photo)

A man rides a horse through a bonfire in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010, in honor of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of animals. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

Michigan and other Great Lakes states have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to order shipping locks separating the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River basin closed immediately to prevent the Carp from entering the Great Lakes. (Fox News Channel)

A man rides a horse near a bonfire in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, in honor of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of animals. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza)

A reveler runs away from a bull with flaming horns during a festivity in honor of Saint Anthony, the patron saint of animals, in the streets of Gilet, a town near Valencia, Spain, on Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)

In this photo taken Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010, panda cubs from the Wolong Giant Panda Reserve Center in Sichuan are seen in a Shanghai zoo, in China. Ten giant panda cubs, all born after the deadly earthquake that hit China's Sichuan province in 2008, were sent to Shanghai to go on display during this year's World Expo. (AP Photo)

George Kieffer, president of the Southern Caribbean Cetacean Network, swims with pilot whale named Sully at SeaWorld in San Diego, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010. Sully was stranded in Curacao in July, nursed back to health on the Caribbean island, and transferred to SeaWorld. (AP Photo/SeaWorld San Diego, Mike Aguilera)

A Koala joey named Miah is shown at the San Diego Zoo on Monday Jan. 18, 2010. (AP Photo/San Diego Zoo)

A newborn Black Headed Spider Monkey is  protected by its mother on its first few days on exhibit in Miami.This is the first offspring for both parents and is very important because the parents are two of only a handful of purebred representatives of their particular subspecies of Spider Monkey in the United States.  The Black Headed Spider Monkey is a rare arboreal primate that lives in the canopy of tropical forests in isolated pockets of Colombia. Spider Monkeys get their name from their very long arms and legs, along with their long prehensile tail which can be used as another arm sometimes giving the appearance of a large hairy spider in the trees. (AP Photo/Miami Metrozoo, Ron Magill)

In this photo taken Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010, panda cubs from the Wolong Giant Panda Reserve Center in Sichuan are seen in a Shanghai zoo, in China. Ten giant panda cubs, all born after the deadly earthquake that hit China's Sichuan province in 2008, were sent to Shanghai to go on display during this year's World Expo. (AP Photo)

Father Juan Villar blesses a ferret at the San Anton church during the feast of St. Anthony, Spain's patron saint of animals, in Madrid. The feast is celebrated each year in many parts of Spain and people bring their pets to churches to be blessed. (AP Photo/Arturo Rodriguez)

In a Monday, Jan. 11, 2010 photo provided by the Miami Metrozoo, a wild iguana, inert from the cold temperature, is seen on the grounds of the Miami Metrozoo in Miami. The iguana appeared to have succumbed to the cold, but began to stir again as it warmed up. The iguana is an exotic species introduced to South Florida. (AP Photo/Miami Metrozoo, Ron Magill)

Two adult male tigers play in a pool at Wat Pa Luangta Bua Yannasampanno Forest Monastery in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. The monastery and its Buddhist monks are dedicated to conservation and what has become a wildlife sanctuary for tigers. (AP Photo/David Longstreath)

I captured this moment off Seal Island, Cape Town. Waiting for a shark to rise from the cold waters, when suddenly without warning, an explosion of raw power thrust itself out of the water. It was all over in a split second, but it will last in my memory forever.  (Neil Wilkinson)

A pair of lions fight for a buffalo at the Moremi Game Reserve in Botswana. (Ignacio Palacios)

A young lioness attacks zebras in Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. The zebras escaped. (Mitch Seaver)

The photo was taken on a Canon EOS Digital Rebel T1 in July of 2009, in a neighborhood close to Fort Myers Beach, FL. The photograph shows a snake eating a frog (which is showing resistance to the snake). (Mallory Schindler)

Two years ago I discovered a reclaimed wetlands area near our winter home in Melbourne, Florida, writes the photographer. I was there photographing waterbirds in February when I noticed an anhinga making several dives underwater, apparently looking for food. I positioned myself at the water’s edge and waited for the anhinga to surface. After dozens of dives, the anhinga rewarded me with this picture of his catch. The surprised look on the fish’s face mirrors my surprise that I was able to capture the photograph. (Cita Bandy)

An adult and a juvenile Bearded Vulture (a threatened species) have a quarrel over food. This action was captured at Giants Castle in the Drakensberg region of Southern Africa. (Mitchell Krog)

This photo was taken during a safari in Tsavo East, Kenya. It was nearing midday at the end of August when we were called to witness this spectacular event showing Darwin's "survival of the fittest." The chase itself lasted for about 15 seconds whereas the actual kill took 5 whole minutes! (Ellen Claudia Hausen)

In that split second when the egret's head plunges into the water, panic among the fish is evident by their escape into the air. (Deb Cloud)