At the end of rice harvesting season, the folks of the Kagawa and Niigata Prefectures in Japan hold a straw festival to celebrate the abundance of the harvest. Dried straws cover wooden frames to form larger-than-life sculptures from animals like sharks and gorillas to vessels such as ships and tanks. The family-friendly event invites visitors of all ages to engage, interact, and play on the enormous structures.

Odontodactylus scyllarus, known as the peacock mantis shrimp, harlequin mantis shrimp or painted mantis shrimp, is a large mantis shrimp native to the Indo-Pacific from Guam to East Africa.

Van Coke Kartel – Dis 'n Land (Official Music Video). Van Coke Kartel is an Afrikaans alternative rock band from Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa.

Impala pictured in the Kruger National Park on December 7, 2007 in Mpumalanga, South Africa. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)

The fennec fox or fennec (Vulpes zerda) is a small nocturnal fox found in the Sahara of North Africa.

The armadillo girdled lizard, Ouroborus cataphractus, is a lizard endemic to desert areas of southern Africa. It is also commonly known as typical girdled lizard, armadillo lizard, golden armadillo lizard, and armadillo spiny-tailed lizard.