Our Favorite Animal Photos of 2018

Lillian Strait, 14, of Anamosa holds her hedgehog, Sonic, after showing him at The Great Jones County Fair in Monticello on Thursday, July 19, 2018. Fair events continue through Sunday with Luke Bryan and Kid Rock headlining Friday and Saturday nights. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

'Chrishanna's Heart and Soul,' a grand champion Persian owned by Shan Fetter of Troy, Missouri, wears a coffee filter around her neck to protect her fur from getting matted at the Midlands Cat Fancier Regional Fundraiser and cat show at the Sharpless Auction House in Iowa City on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018. The show, which runs through Sunday at 3 p.m., features a variety of cat breeds and age classes, plus pet vendors and an agility course. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

A monarch lands on a milkweed during part of the 2018 Milkweed for Monarchs Seed Harvest at the Monarch Research Station in Marion on Sunday, September 30, 2018. The Monarch Research Project and Linn County Master Gardeners hosted the event with help from volunteers to collect milkweed pods followed by deflossing the pods so the seeds can be used in the Milkweed Seed Pantry for the 2019 Milkweed One Million Seed Give-a-way. (Cliff Jette/The Gazette)

Ducks rest on a dock at a boat house in Ellis Harbor in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018. The Cedar River in Cedar Rapids is projected to reach major flood stage on Thursday after heavy weekend rains. The harbor was closed Tuesday evening and power scheduled to be disconnected on Wednesday. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

'I've stopped several times along Highway 151. Even with using my car as a photo blind, as I've done many times before while photographing eagles, the egrets and a few herons spooked and took flight,' said Gazette photojournalist Jim Slosiarek. 'I didn't notice the spiders hitching rides on the neck and tail of this egret as it wades through a flooded field from the swollen Iowa River along Highway 151 south of Amana, Iowa, on Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018, until I began to edit my photos.' (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Shop cat, Smoky, rests on the jewelry case at Czech Cottage Imported Gifts and Jewelry in Cedar Rapids in Cedar Rapids on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018. Bob Schaffer has been in business since he and his parents bought the former pharmacy building 1975. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

Sandy Dunivan of Urbandale carries her dog Kip over an obstacle during the Jingle Cross Doggy Cross presented by Nulo during the Jingle Cross Cyclo-Cross Festival at the Johnson County Fairgrounds in Iowa City on Saturday, September 29, 2018. (Cliff Jette/The Gazette)

Amanda Thompson combs Lexxi as she grooms the dog at her business Pampered Pets, 1957 Blairs Ferry Rd. NE, #450, in northeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday, July 10, 2018. Thompson took over the business that was started by her sister-in-law. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Juno, a sheep, plays with Hermes at Hercules' Haven in Cedar Rapids on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018. Hercules' Haven is a farm sanctuary that provides compassionate care for animals and people through therapeutic interaction and educational opportunities. (Stephen Mally/The Gazette)

Mushy seeks attention while Rain looks out at visitors at the Iowa City Animal Care and Adoption Center on Friday, Aug. 31, 2018. The shelter is currently at capacity with cats and seeking barn homes outside the city limits to place feral cats that are otherwise difficult to find homes for. Rain has been adopted but Mushy is still available for adoption. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Vesta, a red fox which was nursed back to health by Amber Oldfield at Linn County Wildlife Rehabilitation, looks around her area in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, Jun. 6, 2018. (Stephen Mally/The Gazette)

Jana Shatzer pets her dog Samson at her Cedar Rapids home on Thursday, April 19, 2018. Shatzer has abdominal adhesions, which require regular surgery, as well as arthritis in her spine, and takes a low dose of an opioid painkiller which she says allows her to function but doesn't fully eliminate the pain. Samson has been trained to lay with her for comfort while avoiding painful parts of her body. She often sits in the recliner with a heat pad for her back, looking out the large picture window with Samson at her feet. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Jason Cavey of Cedar Rapids urges on his at the 10th annual Daffy Derby at Oberbreckling and Sons in Mechanicsville on Saturday, Jan. 13, 2018. The Daffy Derby is an outdoor duck race and is a fundraiser for Mechanicsville Fire and Ambulance department. Participants could register for $10 and 'rent' a duck for another $5 if they didn't bring their own duck to race. (Stephen Mally/The Gazette)

A bird flies to its nest in a dented sign recovered from the 2008 tornado is seen at Ed Thomas field at Aplington-Parkersburg High School in Parkersburg on Tuesday, May 22, 2018. Football coach Ed Thomas had the sign re-hung before the team played its first game of the 2008 season on the field. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

A crested gecko licks its eye while held by co-owner Lisa Lemek at Home Grown Pets in Marion on Friday, March 9, 2018. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Judge Eric Mixdorf examines a rabbit during the 4-H and FFA Rabbit Show at the Washington County Fair in Washington on Tuesday, Jul. 17, 2018. (Stephen Mally/The Gazette)

'Phil,' a seven-month old Bengal cat belonging to Nataliya Hawbaker and Oleg Monakhov of Des Moines, hisses as he his handled by judge Cathy Dinesen at the Midlands Cat Fancier Regional Fundraiser and cat show at the Sharpless Auction House in Iowa City on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2018. The show, which runs through Sunday at 3 p.m., features a variety of cat breeds and age classes, plus pet vendors and an agility course. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

Am American Kestrel seeks shelter from the rain beneath a ledge at King Chapel as the storm obscures the rest of the Cornell College campus in Mount Vernon on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

Cows on the farm owned by Alyssa Dunn's family outside Springville on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018. Dunn's parents bought the farm in 2011, and Dunn manages the 70-head operation. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

A turkey forages in the rough near hole 13 during the final round of the Iowa City-Cedar Rapids Ryder Cup at Gardner Golf Course in Marion on Sunday, September 16, 2018. (Cliff Jette/The Gazette)

Lillian Strait, 14, of Anamosa shows her hedgehog, Sonic, during the 'Other Animal' show at The Great Jones County Fair in Monticello on Thursday, July 19, 2018. Fair events continue through Sunday with Luke Bryan and Kid Rock headlining Friday and Saturday nights. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

Paige Rickels, 10, of Monticello grooms her heifer, Candy, at The Great Jones County Fair in Monticello on Thursday, July 19, 2018. Fair events continue through Sunday with Luke Bryan and Kid Rock headlining Friday and Saturday nights. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

Pairs of Parakeets are available for adoption at Cedar Valley Humane Society in southwest Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018. The shelter is only adopting pairs of parakeets as they are social birds. Twenty dollars for two parakeets. These birds are some of the first animals to be made available for adoption from the over 800 animals seized from the Vinton, Iowa, home of Barbara and Marshall Galkowski in a settlement that included 14 animals that were previously allowed to remain with the Galkowskis. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)\XXXX at Cedar Valley Humane Society in southeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018. The no-kill shelter took legal possession of over 800 animals seized from the Vinton, Iowa, house of Barbara and Marshall Galkowski in a settlement that included 14 animals that were previously allowed to remain with the Galkowskis. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

As a fairly novice gardener, I haven't encountered many garden pests until this year. Late in the season, a tomato hornworm had found its way to a pepper plant. By the time we found it, parasitic wasp eggs had attached. While it was somewhat grotesque, I found myself fascinated by this garden pest as it tried in vain to remove the eggs. Photographed in Cedar Rapids on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)

A praying mantis is photographed in the prairie at Indian Creek Nature Center on Monday, Oct. 8, 2018. Volunteers from Community First Credit Union branches across Iowa helped with invasive species cleanup at the nature center as part of their annual Columbus Day volunteer program. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

Geese fly over the surface of the Cedar River, south of the Eighth Avenue bridge in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)

Visitors watch as birds flock to the feeders outside the bird watching room in the 'Amazing Space' building at the Maple Syrup Festival and pancake breakfast at Indian Creek Nature Center in Cedar Rapids on Saturday, March 24, 2018. The annual event features syrup made from tree sap from the nature center's grounds and is the organization's largest fundraiser of the year. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette)