This is a thread for posting pictures, videos, etc. about your favorite animals. Bonus points if you can tell us why that animal (or animals, you can have more than one favorite animal) is your favorite.
I'll start us off with some of my favorites:
(http://www.partyhouses.co.uk/images/Red-deer%20web.jpg)
Deer in general, but especially mule deer (http://logfurniturehowto.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/mule_deer1.jpg) and red deer (the animal in the picture). Deer, to me, represent everything that's powerful and beautiful about nature. For a lot of people, that's what wolves and lions represent, but for me, it's deer. Their branch-like antlers make them look like forest princes, and while deer may be pretty common animals (they've been very aptly described as 'rats with hooves' by people who live in deer country), they will still be one of my all-time favorite animals.
(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xEehooYC6Rk/S9OWZ-udVOI/AAAAAAAAB4o/iUnZVarbIOg/s1600/Grizzly-Bear-Roar.jpg)
Bears, especially giant pandas and grizzly bears. The same words that I applied to deer apply to bears as well. The lion has often been labeled as 'the king of the beasts', but in my opinion, bears are much more majestic and 'kingly-looking' than lions. Doesn't this great beast look like a king? I think he does.
(http://dreamaworld.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/2octopusl_468x3151.jpg)
Octopi, expecially the Giant Pacific octopus. These intelligent, beautiful animals always inspire awe in me. They just look so otherworldly, like alien ballroom dancers in the way that they move. I saw one of these magnificent creatures at the Monterey Bay Aquarium once. It was so beautiful that I shed tears. No other animal before or since has been able to inspire such a level of emotion in me.
(http://cdn2.arkive.org/media/C5/C5490EE9-069D-4D74-912A-B4F4E903ACAE/Presentation.Large/California-condor-portrait.jpg)
Vultures and condors, especially this California Condor. Vultures tend to get a bad rap because of their...unsavory eating habits and odd appearances. I personally have a deep respect for vultures, and their bald heads only make them all the more beautiful. They are incredibly majestic animals, and they serve a noble purpose in their local ecosystems. I consider myself very lucky to live in turkey vulture (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Turkey_Vulture_(Cathartes_aura)_-in_flight.jpg) country, so I get to see these big beautiful guys soaring overhead on a regular basis.
(http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/005/cache/coyote-glancing_510_600x450.jpg)
Coyotes get a pretty bad rap too, often dismissed as vermin, or as the 'cowardly, wicked' cousins of wolves. I actually prefer coyotes over wolves because they're smarter and more resilient than wolves. For example, during the 1920s, gray wolves and coyotes were classified as 'vermin' in the US and were to be exterminated as such. Wolves and coyotes were shot on sight and scene. Gray wolves nearly went extinct, but coyote numbers continued to grow as if nothing was happening. The intelligence and perseverance of coyotes is legendary, rivaling even that of the beloved red fox. I live in coyote country, and it fills my heart with joy whenever I hear their raucous music in the night.
(http://www.krugerpark.co.za/images/marabou-480b.jpg)
This is five-foot tall stork-vulture out of hell is a Marabou Stork. It eats frogs and small mammals, like other storks do, but it also eats carrion, hence the vulture-like bald head. A lot of people consider this bird to be monstrous and ugly, but I personally think they look rather endearing, cute even. A very different kind of cute.
So anyway, if you have a favorite animal, share the love of that favorite animal right here. I can't wait to see what kinds of interesting animals you guys have to show us! :D
I'd simply say 'all vultures', but-... There's one that sticks out amongst them all for me. :D
(http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ltrilb6Y1p1qklu30o1_500.jpg)
Lammergeiers (or Bearded Vultures) are definitely my favourites! They're so-... Unique. I love the savage, prehistoric feel to them- and the distinctive eyes. I'm especially partial to vultures, but these definitely rank amongst my favourites; I've a few characters based on them! My wall's covered in lammergeier portraits I've painted.
(http://www.shoarns.com/northern%20bald%20ibis%202.jpg)
Waldrapp Ibis/Northern Bald Ibis is another one of my favourites, rivalling even my love for bearded vultures! It's, sadly, an extremely endangered (ranked as critically endangered on the IUCN-- one step away from being extinct in the wild) bird that doesn't get the attention it deserves-- likely due to its ugly, non-cute appearance. Pandas certainly hog the spotlight over these! I find them so distinctive; I've been completely and utterly enraptured with them ever since having the pleasure of seeing them at my local zoo many, many years ago!
(http://creaturesoftheworld.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/spotted-hyena.jpg)
Can't forget ye' olde spotted hyena. I can't watch a documentary on them without smiling; they're such fascinating (and often goofy) critters when socializing! I really do despise the terrible reputation they've been wrongfully given-- they're phenomenal predators.