Meet the world's smoothest cuddliest hedgehog. Names after brave hero, but Nelson is completely bald so when curled up he looks like an egg. Doesn't have a single prickle or strand of hair. Thought to be suffering a stress related alopecia following a trauma in the wild. Volunteers have been massaging him for half an hour a day for the last year to encourage spikes to grow. Now given up but he still gets daily massages because he enjoys them so much and to keep his cuddle skin soft and smooth. Unlike his namesake Nelson could not defend himself so will live out his days at the Foxy Lodge Wildlife Rescue in Hemsby, England. (Photo by Jeremy Durkin)

Hi everyone!
Today with this post we'd like to start a new tradition on AvaxNews. I'm sure you know what Instagram is, most of you have Instagram gallery of your wonderful photos. In return we are ready to place your brilliant photos on our brilliant website. Of course there will be the owner's name and link to Instagram profile.

“The knight and his steed”. This picture was taken in a natural but controlled environment. There are pictures that can not be done in nature or that would imply a very high cost of both time and money, thats why photography workshops are run conducted at strategic locations and bringing EVERYONE who is interested, the basic notions (lighting, camera handling, composition, etc...) or the specimens, and afford them the opportunity to take pictures like this. Although controlled, this shot was not prepared at all, I was performing a workshop with the agalychnis callidryas treefrog from Costa Rica when the frog managed to jump to the branch where this huge titan was sleeping... I had my gear ready so I only had to change a few settings and shoot... the rest is history. (Photo and caption by Nicolas Reusens Boden (Sweden)/2014 Sony World Photography Awards)

Famed for his fascination with animals, British photographer Tim Flach places them in the same position as humans, using the pure form of photography. As friends of humans, animals made their contribution to human development, but their existence were nevertheless often neglected in this process. Tim Flach however gave the public an opportunity recognize these friends. The horse, one of Tim Flach’s favorite animals, is portrayed with an imposing elegance in his tribute to this men’s old friend. Tim Flach’s horse moves like music that undulates between serenity and grandeur.

“Hey! I'm Thomas Shahan, an artist and macrophotographer from Oklahoma. In my spare time over the past few years, I've been shooting portraiture of local arthropods. Why would I devote countless hours to tramping through forests, fields and the like searching for insects and spiders? Well, despite some common beliefs, arthropods (members of the phylum Arthropoda – insects, spiders, crustaceans...) represent an endlessly varied, wildly beautiful and fascinating bunch of animals with surprisingly personable faces and behavior. Often, all it takes is simply inspecting their lives on a closer level to turn repulsion to reverence”. – Thomas Shahan

Photo: Adult Male Jumping Spider at Sunset – Phidippus mystaceus. (Photo by Thomas Shahan; Source: Flickr)

Young Ukrainians dance at nightclub House of Meteorologists, May 23, 2014. Sunday's upcoming election in Ukraine has not only exposed the divide between east and west, but between old and young. Unlike their elders, younger people have no memory of Soviet life, and most see themselves as Ukrainian. (Photo by Evelyn Hockstein/The Washington Post)

Yes this is not a real dragon’s skull but it is still pretty creepy. This weird little plant is called a Snapdragon or Dragon flower or, if you want to sound even smarter, The Antirrhinum. Once the flower has died, the seed pod begins to look like the skulls you see here. Apart from being creepy as hell and alleged protectors of the garden, if you wore this about your body you would appear to be more “fascinating and gracious”. Though I imagine if anyone actually did find this on you, fascinating and gracious are not the only things they will think about you.