A mischievous squirrel chases a turkey in a garden in Medford, Wisconsin in the second decade of January 2024. The garden’s owner, artist Cheryl Plautz, said the squirrels chase the birds “for fun”. (Photo by Cheryl Plautz/Solent News)

Scientists trekking for days to the undisputed furthest north land point on the planet, in October 2024 were greeted by an unexpected welcoming party: a stoat, whom they named Randall. The team were heading to Kaffeklubben Island, also known as Inuit Qeqertaat, off the northern tip of Greenland, about 440 miles from the North Pole, when Randall emerged from a cairn of rocks, showing no fear as he went to investigate them. (Photo by Jeff Kerby/Magnus News)

SpaceX launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying Starlink satellites on Mission 12-2 on December 23, 2024. The rocket launched from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39A in Florida. (Photo by USA Today)

Wefa, 13, a female Western lowland gorilla, looks inside a Christmas box that contained food as a gift, after a caretaker dressed up as Santa Claus placed it in the enclosure of the family of gorillas, at Bioparc Fuengirola, in Fuengirola, Spain, on December 21, 2024. (Photo by Jon Nazca/Reuters)

A mock-up of a missile with the inscription reading as “Towards Washington. Threatening U.S. territory is the path to victory” is seen on the roof of a car parked in front of Saint Isaac's Cathedral in Saint Petersburg on January 12, 2025. (Photo by Olga Maltseva/AFP Photo)

Devotees offer prayers during New Year's Day at a Hindu temple in Colombo on January 1, 2025. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP Photo)

Sophie Myers, left, kisses her boyfriend Benedictine Military School cadet Manning McGinty, center, as he marches in the St. Patrick's Day parade, Monday, March 17, 2025, in Savannah, Ga. (Photo by Stephen B. Morton/AP Photo)

It doesn’t make for the most flattering photoshoot, but there is a reason these zebras at Lewa wildlife conservancy in Kenya in the second decade of August 2025 are stood head to tail: they use their tails to swat flies from each others’ faces. (Photo by Andrew Campbell/Solent News & Photo Agency)