Animals, birds, insects, reptiles, fish, anything living that is not a human fascinate me and always have. I have always been curious of what makes up the living world around me. Why that color or why those ears or a trunk for goodness sake, etc, etc?

I've become interested in birds. So many varieties even from what I see in my yard. We have cardinals, finches, robins, hummingbirds, bluebirds, and red-shouldered hawks.

Cats, they're just all so different.

I love animals. CATS, lions, horses, dogs, birds, squirrels, otters, bees. Every year Western Bluebirds nest in my bird box and I'm very fond of them. Not crazy about some insects and reptiles.

Giraffes. They are so enormous, yet gentle and somehow delicate. They seem prehistoric, rambling like dinosaurs, towering over the trees. When we took our kids on safari, we stayed in an old homestead that was filled with antiques, like something from Out of Africa. I tried to channel my inner world-weary Blixen, but couldn't nail that accent. The home was within the park, though fenced. The pool was right on the fenceline, and while we lounged in the midday sun, the giraffe would just amble by. It was magical.

I imagine many have seen this before?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuSAxLJguR8

Insects, especially ants. I don’t LIKE them, mind you, but they are intriguing.

Oh, I thought domesticated cats and dogs went without saying. Obviously, my cats are the creatures that intrigue me most of all. How they manage to be so like little people in fur suits is beyond my comprehension, but they do. The distinct and remarkable personalities are really something else, aren't they!

Primates are also intriguing. And I'm glad that giraffes were mentioned above, as I was just coming back to mention them myself. I watched a documentary on a South African safari just a couple of days ago, and the giraffes were simply amazing. Such strange-looking yet beautiful animals!

Big cats - mountain lions and the like - amaze me too. I've never seen one in the wild (only their smaller bobcat cousins), but have absolutely FELT eyes on me as I've hiked in remote high desert regions. They're out there, but they will not be seen unless they want to be seen.

Bats fascinate me too. We have an old barn, far back on our property and bats live in the hayloft. There is also an old chicken house back there, and it was home to an Eastern bushy tailed packrat. Packrat....I immediately felt a kinship. :)

They are vegetarian, so for quite awhile I took vegetable trimmings and fruit to it. Also peanuts. I took some fiberfill and wadded it up and put in a can, and that was immediately taken. I left a few old shiny buttons and pieces of old jewelry and even a power ranger toy, about 2" tall. All taken. Inside the chicken house was a pile of sticks over 2' tall that covered up about half of the space and it covered his burrow. Probably had been home to generations of pack rats. One day, the food was left. And then another day. I guess my pack rat died. I haven't been back there in several months. Probably another has moved in. I should go look. The door to the chicken house had a hole under it, and I used to leave my offerings outside the door.

Marilyn, what a fun little relationship you had with your "pet!"

Just about any aspect of nature can fascinate me, so I'll chose just one animal. BEARS! I was so frightened of them as a little kid, every little sound in the night put me on high alert for BEAR ATTACK! Thankfully grew out of that phase, lol. Then a few years ago I read "Among the Bears: Raising Orphan Cubs in the Wild" by Benjamin Kilham. The social life of bears is so complex ... they own, control and share resources, they cooperate raising cubs, their sense of smell lets them detect exactly who broke the resource sharing rules, all sorts of social interactions for what I'd thought was a pretty solitary beast. And fun fact: bear cubs seek out fresh deer poop to eat! Turns out deer poop acts as a probiotic and allows a cub's digestive system to maximize nutrition from the young twigs and leaves that make up a large part of their diet. Cubs in the wild fail to thrive without at least one helping of fresh deer poop. Who knew, untll this guy stayed in the woods long enough to observe and figure it out?

Love horses, actually took riding lessons for awhile as an adult and loved it. Thrilling for me who never had the chance to experience it in my youth. Intriguing part of riding is understanding that the horse is reading you body language so well and of course, the excitement of the ride. Also, love big cats. A favorite is the beautiful leopard. Intrigued by it's beauty, strength and mystery.

I see Wildchild is also a Zefrank fan. That man can make anything interesting.

Leafhoppers are pretty fascinating.

Cats. Specifically my kittens. They act like little aliens. I suspect it was because of their hard first year in this world. Ivan brings "me" pink puffy balls to play with. I've never had a cat bring "me" toys. He won't play with it, if he means for it to be "mine". ☺ He chortles happily if I throw it up in the air and catch it; accepting his gift. They're a study in basic psychology.

If you want endless beauty, variation and a thousand creepy (literally) stories then the insect world would be your "go to." More kinds of them than any other species, and E.O. Wilson once said that if every other living thing disappeared except ants, we would still be able to make out the faint outlines of the world. I find them endlessly fascinating but not my "favorite" by any means. They cause me too many problems . . . Bacteria also fascinate me. I was keeping a colony of yeasts in my fridge but it pooped out, so obviously I am a fair weather friend to one-celled organisms . . . I have the same problem with my composting . . . .

The animal I most interact with on a daily basis that brings me pleasure and is interesting to watch would be birds . . . Today I was entertained by the nuthatches doing their rounds on my collection of riverside trees.

Having kept animals as pets, rats and turtles are surprisingly interesting and endearing . . .

Birds. I was introduced to them by my maternal grandmother, and I've had a lifelong love affair with them. In high school I would get up early and go into the woods in search of the pileated woodpecker, and canoe down our backyard river to find blue herons, kingfishers, and owls. I introduced my father-in-law to birding, and he has a staggering life list. And, I have befriended a neighborhood crow family; one of the members will now eat from my hand, which is thrilling.

Wildchild and Cawaps, I love those Zefrank videos ! Teaching and entertaining at the same time. I had to watch the Nudibranch video, too, because I've been fascinated with them for years, Too funny !

Well, I love dogs the best if we’re talking domesticated animals.

Mtn— giraffes were my favorite and my #1 priority when we went on a safari, but after spending time there, elephants moved up to my #1 spot. I just couldn’t get enough of them, roaming around in groups...and the babies OMG I just wanted to take them home.

When I was a kid I wanted a chimp! I’m still fascinated with all kinds of monkeys.

After seeing My Octopus Friend, now I love octopi so that would be my #1 sea animal.

Zero interest/love for birds and reptiles.

Cats! I've always had cats and dogs, but the mind of cat is intriguing. I'd love to unlock the mystery. They never let me forget I work for them and it's their house!

Always elephants. Something so tender and deep about them.

Meerkats! They are awesome!

Spiders. No contest. Fascinating creatures. Close runner up: bats.

And octopuses...

Baby elephants because they are so dang cute ! Would love to hug one!!

So I've been a huge animal lover from day one though why I don't know. My prissy parents would not allow me, an only child, to have a pet. I'd go to the nearby barn and bring puppies and kittens home only to be told to return them. I was only allowed at 12 years old to buy, with my own dollar a week allowance ,a parakeet which I had till I was married. First married I had a bunny for a year and after that, it was many decades of 17 cats (three I have now) , four dogs, (two I have now) parakeets, and African grey parrot, beta fish, and presently 16 gorgeous koi. As evident, I love cats the most. I cannot think of an animal I don't love. Fortunately, I passed on my love of animals to kids/grandkids and they all have cats. Grandson graduated in environmental studies/biology with his focus on animals.

At present, my favorite animal in the world is the three-month-old Giant panda cub at the Smithsonian zoo. I watch him on the cam as I watched his brother Bei Bei who was sent to China one year ago but not before I got to visit him at the zoo.

I love Sloths because they are just my speed!

The platypus!

I love them all. I’m fascinated by nature and all the creatures in it. I don’t think I’d ever want to live without a cat though. I find them to be inscrutable therefore intriguing.

I love all animals, but the extinct one always intrigues me the most, like dinosaurs or Megalodon, the largest mammal ever exist!

Well, of course, like everyone, dogs just melt my heart. But as far as wild animals....I just love manatees and koalas.💕 Koalas were my favorite as a child, and last year during the terrible Australian wildfires I was beyond saddened about the destruction of their habitat and the loss of so many koalas. 😔

I think manatees are so sweet and wonderful...how could you not love a creature known as a “sea cow?” 😂

It's difficult to tell, but this is actually an octopus in the South Pacific:

Africa trip was so excited over one particular wart hog. It so enjoyed everyones attention. Will never forget.

Sad part was that it was protected by guards with guns. :o)

Ring-tailed lemur, the ghost cat, followed by felines of all types; from the king of the jungle to domestic cats.

I'm fascinated by the way they move.

My own dog! I am always wondering what that little meatball is thinking!

It is impossible to choose, they’re all fascinating. Although I don’t like to see, or even think about, long, slithery, armless & legless ones. I can’t even type the word. (Shudder)

A year or two ago, I was lucky enough to see a just hatched baby turtle making its way to the ocean. It was so small and had such a long distance to navigate but by golly s/he made it. Nature is amazing.

Last year, I had the chance to feed both a giraffe and an elephant at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs. 10/10 would do it again.

Once while visiting a friend‘s barn, I whined I wanted to touch the pig, but he was in the far corner. Next thing I know, he’s walking over towards me and stops right in front of me. So cooperative!

Thanks to above posters who linked the True Fact videos, those are great.

Koi. My special treat when travelling is visiting a koi pond and feeding them.

Feeding koi in Nagasaki

You could come to my back yard. I have that many friendly large koi that eat out of my hand every day in warm weather.

Lily that is my dream! I’ll know I‘ve truly made it when I can have a koi pond! Do you enjoy raising them?

I find alligators and crocodiles intriguing. They just don't look like they've evolved much, so it's interesting to see an animal today, that probably looks very similar to the way it did, millions of years ago.

My husband hand-dug a pond in my perennial garden twenty years ago. It was necessary because we had uncovered a small concrete pond built in the 20's beside our back porch. So we stupidly got some goldfish and koi and you guessed it, the koi quickly outgrew the four by six feet pond. All sixteen koi in the big pond are related. The original three koi died or were killed by herons. Sometimes I wish we had never done koi and made the big pond because it's complicated. We just had a waterfall collapse which made a tear in the liner which cost 5K to fix last week. But the mother of them all, a 15-pound koi crawls up my arm when I feed her. When they all see me, they swim frantically to my end where they all eat out of my hand. The youngest koi are about eight years old and that's the last spawn we've had. We have too many fish but I can't give any up. They're like pets.

For domestic animals I love dogs and cats and horses and goats. I also like mules and donkeys. But I'm afraid they might be too stubborn to actually get close to.

For non domestic animals I am fascinated by the big cats. I particularly like the king cheetah and the more rare looking cats. All of them interest me though and I am saddened when I hear that they are in danger.

Well cats of course but I am glad to be reminded here of giraffes. In first grade I was taken to the Zoo in New York. I only remember the giraffes. They were living in a pen next to a path and there was a iron fence of spear shapes. They would eat peanuts out of your hand with their soft mouths but it looked to my young eyes like the spears had to hurt their necks. I eventually made myself a stuffed giraffe. When I was about 18 I went to a zoo in Florida and they had an orphan baby they were keeping in the petting zoo. It was so sad. So there I stood feeling sorry for it and it came up to me and put it's head on my shoulder and sighed so sadly. So sweet. Lots of people must have pictures.

Birds are a hoot. As a child my grannie showed us a nest once. We had to be quiet and careful. The babies pretended to be dead. They stuck their little feet into the air and kept their eyes closed. If you were very quiet they would open an eye to check and snap it closed. I dont know what kind they were. I had a house in North Mississippi with a garage and the Tufted titmice babies would sun bath on the roof laid out with their wings spread out like bats and their feet stretched down. I have never seen anything like that in my life. I didnt have a camera at the time. Too weird.

Chimpanzees.

Dogs enrich my life tremendously, and I never want to be without at least one, preferably more. Like Lily, I LOVE all animals. If I have to choose, the non-pets I somehow feel close to are elephants, whales, and octopuses (or octopi). Oh, and giraffes!

Oh gosh, I cannot pick just one. My first thought are horses. Once a young girl has her first horse, the heart is no longer hers. Daily I enjoy watching the birds at our feeders. Recently I was intrigued by a female Praying Mantis that hung out next to our gate all morning. Dogs, cats, elephants, otters, snakes, bees, chipmunks, squirrels, zebras, butterflies, jellyfish, dolphins, whales, and on and on. We are often visited by a Crow family. For the first time, we have a huge flock of Pine Siskins at our feeders.

Lily thanks so much for telling me about your pond and pets :)

Poodles. Love this dog breed the most. It’s fluffy as a teddy bear, cute, smart and doesn’t have the bad doggy smell.

Yeonassky, you mentioned donkeys. That reminded me of the sorta' wild burroes out in Arizona. They are adorable! I wanted to take one of 'em home. I think my dog would like having a burro buddy.

#1 elephants, #2 sea urchins. i had several urchins when i kept a reef tank. it was fascinating to watch them decorate themselves with tiny seashells and anything else they could find. i once accidentally dropped a toothpick in my tank and couldn't find it to get it out. the next day, one of the urchins had found it and decorated himself. he looked like he was cruising around with a little sword on his back. lol

Goldfish. I just love goldfish. Especially the fancy Orandas. They have such cute faces. I have owned goldfish over the years, but I don't have any now. They need large tanks and are not that easy to sustain, even though they look hardy.