Animal A Day!

For anyone who was counting, yesterday was our birthday-- four years! Four years filled with animals from A to Z, more than 1,100 of them! I can't thank my readers enough, it's been wonderful! And in celebration of that milestone... I'm taking a break. Hopefully not forever, but for a little bit at least. In the mean time I plan on getting a new layout out, along with some updates to some of the older articles. I'll post updates here and on the Facebook page, I'm also brainstorming some new animal-related projects, so keep an eye out! Thanks again for four awesome years!

AaD is taking a holiday break. See you all back in January!

Life ended up being a little bit nuttier than anticipated, so new posts have been pushed back a tad. But don't worry-- it's only a week! Starting Monday, August 26th, Animal A Day will be back with new creatures on a M-F schedule. As always, thanks for reading and we'll see you soon!

Hang tight! After 3 years and over 1,100 featured critters, Animal A Day is taking its very first break. As some of you may know, I am the only person who does the writing and updating for the site. With weddings (including my own), vacations, and home renovations time is going to be short and a good internet connection is going to be spotty. I'll be back full swing this August though, with a redone site and all new animal features, so don't go anywhere! And in the mean time, continue to follow AaD on Facebook and Pinterest-- I'll be making updates there, and sharing lots of great new animal stories and pictures. Thank you for three awesome years, I'll be back very soon! -Lauren

Happy Birthday to Me! Well... blog me, not real me... though to confuse things today is my brother's actual birthday. Anyway. Today is the 2 year anniversary of Animal a Day! That means we have learned about 732 different animals! So to celebrate the start of another great year full of animals, we've got another theme week! And I'm really, really excited about this one, because it's pretty outside the box. Even more so than the Mythical Creatures week. We're gonna learn all about Famous Naturalists! That's right, people! Hey ,  humans are  animals after all. So prepare to learn all about some interesting guys and gals who made important contributions to Zoology, Biology, Paleontology, and general animal awareness! And while we're in the middle of an announcement post, please check out the revamped Facebook page. It has extra pictures, interesting animal news stories, weird facts, and I'd like to get some contests and giveaways going in the future! ...

Earth Day was started in 1970 by a Wisconsin senator named Gaylord Nelson who was interested in environmental issues after witnessing the destruction of a California oil spill. What started as an American teach-in day has since grown into an global effort, with events now taking place worldwide. Around 500 million people take part in Earth Day activities each year, and in 2009 it was designated as an International Holiday by the United Nations. If you are interested in taking part in an Earth Day event, head over to Earthday.org , where they have a huge database of beach cleanups, recycling drives, tree plantings, and much more. Also, please take a look at the fantastic infographic that I have posted after the break. I try and talk about conservation on AaD as much as I can, but this graphic really sums up the effect we have on animals due to climate change, poaching, and habitat loss .

Did you know that the Caribbean Flamingo was the 14th animal that I ever wrote about? For those that keep track, Animal A Day is less than two weeks away from it's 2 Year Anniversary. That's over 700 animals! In celebration I've been making some updates to the different pages. "About" was finally updated, which was long overdue. I finished graduate school almost a year ago :/ "Glossary" got a really wonderful and much needed overhaul. There are a couple dozen new terms, as well as pictures. Who doesn't like a Picture Dictionary? "Bibliography" is now "Books & Movies" and I'll be adding in some new entries to that section soon. "Follow" and "Suggestions" also got little tweaks... nothing major. More changes coming up in the near future, as well as another Theme Week!

I've got an all new Flickr page going, which is infinitely better organized than the old one, and actually has Pro status, so I can' upload much more! Anyway, if you want to check out all the different Animal-related pictures I've been taking, head on over to http://www.flickr.com/photos/66756051@N07/

Hey friends! I've hopped on the Pinterest Bandwagon... though I've actually been on it for ages with a personal account... Anyway, Check out the Animal A Day Pinterest boards. I'll be adding lots of cool animal pictures and videos- from the super cute, to the really weird, and the totally awesome. http://pinterest.com/animaladay/

You may have noticed a slight change in the way AAD looks today. After a whole year of animals, I thought it was about time for a bit of something new. The old logo, featuring a Capped Heron , had been on the site since practically day one, and went through only minor modifications over time. The animal footprint background has also been on the site since the early days, it too receiving a few changes here and there. The new logo features the Capped Heron again, because after so long I just can't get rid of that bird. The background is a photo collage of original images taken at the Milwaukee and Lincoln Park zoos. Aside from a new design, we also have a new theme week coming, beginning on Sunday. So get ready for some Marsupials, and  a celebration of some of the world's strangest and most unique mammals!

...and almost Birthday to Animal a Day! For those of you who have been keeping track, Animal a Day will be celebrating its first birthday on Wednesday, April 27th. And in true anneversary form, I'll be putting together a theme week. ...Though it will be a bit belated. I'm going to be on vacation for a bit in May, so I'm going to hold off on the theme week till then, so sit tight! But anyway, back to Earth Day. If you'd like to do your part, and take part in some of the Earth Day going-ons, do a Google search for Earth Day in your area. I know just near me there are several donation drives happening, a 5k run, and a whole mess of stores and restaurants giving proceeds to environmental charities. There are also several different sites out there outlining all the neat things happening today. And did you know all National Parks are free today? So get out there are take part!

Tomato Frog! I had the chance to catch the Milwaukee Public Museum's temporary exhibit Frogs: A Chorus of Colors  yesterday, which was a really neat thing to see. They have 15 different species on display, ranging from the small but deadly Poison Dart Frogs, all the way up to the massive African Bullfrog. Interactive displays enhance the experience for both adults and children, and provide information on things like vocalizaitons, metamorphosis, and the dreaded Chytridiomycosis. The exhibit is in Milwaukee until January 31st, if you happen to be in that particular area. Then it looks like its moving out to the Museum of the Rockies in Montana. A full schedule of the exhibit is available at Peeling Productions .

Did you know that Animal A Day now has a mobile site? Check it out on your fancy phone! Formatted for easier reading! It should auto-redirect, but if now, check out  http://animaladay.blogspot.com/?m=1

New layout! And I've added a handful of new things to the Bibliography, Links, and Glossary. Check them out! ... now I just need to get going on formatting the 400 photographs that I have laying around.

I'm really excited about this week's special theme, which will be starting tomorrow. In the past I've always covered animals at (typically) the species level, so going so specific and focusing on a single, individual animal is going to be a really nice change. The downside to this theme however, is that most "famous animals" have been birds or mammals, so I'm afraid this may not be incredibly diverse from that standpoint. While asking friends and family members for suggestions many of them brought up Paul, the Common Octopus that became a sensation during this year's World Cup (and sadly died this morning , R.I.P. Paul, you were the best!). Unfortunately, I feel like I covered a great deal about Paul already during a July post on his species . I have a handful of animals lined up and planned, but if you have suggestions on some more non-birds or mammals (currently I have one reptile) to add to the list, please let me know! I definitely have wiggle roo...

Next week Wednesday, October 27th, will mark six months of animals! To celebrate I'm doing yet another theme week, which I'm just going to leave as a surprise for now. So please check back and check it out! It'll be a good one, I promise :)

I've been having a terrible day and just locked myself out of my apartment for the first time ever, with my dog, wearing sandals and a long sleeve t-shirt in 50 degree weather... for three hours. I'm now really behind on what I had to do today, so today's animal is going to be a little bit late. In the mean time... check out the cuteness that is Enrique. (Baby Alpaca at the Milwaukee County Zoo)

Due to an unexpected call in to work, todays animal will be a bit delayed. Look back tonight for another sweet shark!

If anyone besides me is keeping count, Thursday, August 5th will be Animal A Day's 100th animal. So in celebration of this momentous occasion I'll be having yet another special theme week. And this time, I'm going to be stepping outside of the box: we're going to be talking about Mythical Creatures ! So come back on Thursday (and heck, every day up till then too, I still have lots of fun animals planned until then) and meet our first featured Mythical Beast. I'll also be making a few other site changes as well during the next week or so, including a slightly different layout, new pages, and a new suggestion system. Be sure to check it out and let me know what you think! And take a look at that awesome sloth over there. I found a set of zoology textbooks from the 1920s at a book fair last week. Absolutely full of amazing drawings and diagrams. I'm trying to figure out something to do with this new resource...

I'm off on vacation in South Carolina for the next week or so. I should have internet while there, and I have several posts written and already scheduled for publishing, so things will hopefully be running as normal... hopefully. Just a heads up!