If one thing rings true throughout the entirety of internet history, it’s that the people have always appreciated photos and videos of animals doing funny things. From lolcats, the Kitty Cat Dance that carried us through the 2000s, and the explosion of everyone’s favorite spectator Facebook sport DogSpotting to frogs, capybaras, Moo Deng the pygmy hippo, Pesto the penguin, and most recently the rock hyrax (awawa! … EEEEEE!), we really just can’t get enough.
It should come as no surprise, then, that there’s an annual contest for the funniest wildlife photos. The Nikon Comedy Wildlife Photography competition has been around since 2015 and celebrated its highest-ever submission rate this year, with over 9,000 images sent in for judges to evaluate. Talk about a dream job.
This year, Milko Marchetti’s “Stuck Squirrel” secured the overall win, earning the Italian wildlife photographer a once-in-a-lifetime safari trip to the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. Marchetti’s squirrel brings some much-needed cuteness and levity to the feeling many of us are bogged down by right now.
An avid squirrel photographer, Marchetti said he knew he had to enter the photo into this year’s competition, noting in a press statement that “the audience always explodes with raucous laughter” whenever he shows the snapshot during nature seminars at his local photography club.
Squirrels might have my heart, but the 2024 Category Winners and Highly Commended photos are the gift that keeps on giving. Check them out below.
Category Winners
Insect
Imagine having this zest for life after what we’ve been put through over the last five years … I yearn for it.
Reptile
Me when someone asks me if I still wear a mask on the train.
Bird
Start of 2024 vs. End of 2024.
Fish & Aquatic Animals
If I took this photo I would show it to everyone I’ve ever met, otherwise they’d never believe me.
Junior Photographer (16 and Under)
Dating in New York be like …
Young Photographer (25 and Under)
In case you want to know what a typical day in Hyperallergic‘s newsroom looks like, the above photo is me six minutes before deadline. (◉_◉)
People’s Choice
This white-tailed eagle in Finland looks eerily like a full-feathered Thanksgiving turkey more than anything. Hindsight being 20/20, I probably should have gone for that third plate after all.
Portfolio
Apparently, squirrels take the cake for the most comedic animal this year, being featured as the overall and portfolio submission winners. I absolutely love them, so I’m personally thrilled about this. Take some time to observe the squirrels closest to you — their confidence and curiosity are really refreshing.
Highly Commended
The odds of being hunted by a topi are slim — but never zero.
It’s giving “Excuse me, he said no pickles” girlfriend energy more than anything.
When the computer teacher catches you playing games instead of learning basic Excel equations and tells you to “go ahead and log off” for them.
You may have heard that orcas are wearing salmon hats again after the trend was last observed in the 1980s, but did you know another ’80s trend is back? Polish photographer Artur Stankiewicz spotted the botanical Jheri curl on this hippopotamus in Zimbabwe and had to share the word.
I guarantee you he’s smarter than a good chunk of internet users today. He’s figuring out the percentage in his head.
Who wants to bet that they were … talkin’ trash? *badum tss*
Me and anyone who appreciated the low-hanging fruit joke from above.
Close enough, welcome back Sex and the City.
Main Character Syndrome.
Smoking is cool again, because this Japanese flying squirrel said so. You heard it here first.
