It's almost the end of the week! For today and tomorrow, we're doing a two part special. For today, we're covering the animals in the Chinese Zodiac.

And here's a random fact for you! Did you know that in the Chinese zodiac, birth year actually matters a fair bit? It's not just what animal that's important, but also what element that animal is. The various elements are Wood, Earth, Fire, Metal and Water respectively. The elements rotate, and each subsequent cycle has a different element. Because there are 12 animals, a particular element-animal combination only comes around once every 60 years.

For people who take it seriously, determining exactly what sort of influence a person is born under extends to having to know the exact time they were born, and it can get extremely complicated- which is why many Chinese parents who do subscribe to such beliefs end up going to people who make livings off determining such things in order to get an idea of what's going on.

Let's go, though!


rat


ox


tiger


rabbit


(bearded) dragon


snake


horse


goat


monkey


chicken


dog


pig

And that makes all 12!














...And one more that's actually carrying over from yesterday's marsupial / Australia post. One spider isn't really enough to demonstrate the sheer variety of the various species that exists there, so today we take a look at Arkys lancearius.




It's commonly known as a Triangular Spider, and I think you can see why.







They're interesting to look at, aren't they? If nothing else, I'd hope that all these daily pictures show just how many different types of spiders there are, and how different they all look to each other. Even in the same group- like tarantulas- they can all behave in really different ways and have varied habits. Spiders are animals with personalities, toO!

...Except sadly a lot of that involves being skittish and while going 'aaa' upon seeing a human and running away or vanishing immediately is a very good survival skill, it also tends to scare a lot of people. It's a shame they can't talk.

It's almost the end of the week! For today and tomorrow, we're doing a two part special. For today, we're covering the animals in the Chinese Zodiac. And here's a random fact for you! Did you know that in the Chinese zodiac, birth year actually matters a fair bit? It's not just what animal that's important, but also what element that animal is. The various elements are Wood, Earth, Fire, Metal and Water respectively. The elements rotate, and each subsequent cycle has a different element. Because there are 12 animals, a particular element-animal combination only comes around once every 60 years. For people who take it seriously, determining exactly what sort of influence a person is born under extends to having to know the exact time they were born, and it can get extremely complicated- which is why many Chinese parents who do subscribe to such beliefs end up going to people who make livings off determining such things in order to get an idea of what's going on. Let's go, though! <img src="http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4121/5221878954_4219914af2.jpg"> <small><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/19283506@N00/5221878954">rat</a></small> <img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7035/6435861565_456ccca755.jpg"> <small><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/15823425@N00/6435861565">ox</a></small> <img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6094/6238065495_d6994e206c.jpg"> <small><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/8070463@N03/6238065495">tiger</a></small> <img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3234/3037605104_e98e0cc670.jpg"> <small><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/28690556@N02/3037605104">rabbit</a></small> <img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3534/3886208368_ca22480329.jpg"> <small><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/error_in_excellence/3886208368/">(bearded) dragon</a></small> <img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3459/3184473796_83627c86eb.jpg"> <small><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/11024337@N03/3184473796/">snake</a></small> <img src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2443/3651762957_a05ce23416.jpg"> <small><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/26811962@N05/3651762957">horse</a></small> <img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7141/6475545599_8840855029.jpg"> <small><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63114962@N08/6475545599">goat</a></small> <img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7073/7212344018_37925615b1.jpg"> <small><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/36087637@N06/7212344018">monkey</a></small> <img src="http://farm1.staticflickr.com/138/384233596_bbd102550a.jpg"> <small><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/59322718@N00/384233596">chicken</a></small> <img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3218/5807024000_f3c5e98e4c.jpg"> <small><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/94662720@N00/5807024000">dog</a></small> <img src="http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1364/1130252799_7489a44627.jpg"> <small><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/59888174@N00/1130252799">pig</a></small> And that makes all 12! ...And one more that's actually carrying over from yesterday's marsupial / Australia post. One spider isn't really enough to demonstrate the sheer variety of the various species that exists there, so today we take a look at <i>Arkys lancearius</i>. <img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5164/5327875033_87d0d31c4d.jpg"> <small><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ursula_skjonnemand/5327875033/"></a></small> It's commonly known as a Triangular Spider, and I think you can see why. <img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6040/6340380912_d3ca6d0e4c.jpg"> <small><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mbattensby/6340380912/"></a></small> <img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3362/3340094657_bde3a30a63.jpg"> <small><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/imbala/3340094657/"></a></small> They're interesting to look at, aren't they? If nothing else, I'd hope that all these daily pictures show just how many different types of spiders there are, and how different they all look to each other. Even in the same group- like tarantulas- they can all behave in really different ways and have varied habits. Spiders are animals with personalities, toO! ...Except sadly a lot of that involves being skittish and while going 'aaa' upon seeing a human and running away or vanishing immediately is a very good survival skill, it also tends to scare a lot of people. It's a shame they can't talk.