These towns are the bee’s knees

Have you ever heard about Cat Island?

Traveling to foreign cities and towns is a great way to interact with different people and their cultures, but have you ever thought about visiting an animal town? Scattered around the world, some of these places are the result of natural reserves set up to protect endangered species, while others are simply a product of life’s circumstances. Let’s take a look at 10 "animal towns" around the world!

Also known as Neko no Shima, or Cat Island, this Japanese town has become a popular tourist destination for cat lovers worldwide. A former fishing town, cats were introduced to Aoshima as a means of controlling rodents, but they quickly outnumbered the human population. It is estimated that there are around 36 cats for every human on Aoshima.

Every winter, this town in the Canadian province of Manitoba receives an influx of furry visitors when hundreds of polar bears make their way to Hudson Bay to hunt for seals. Residents do their best to avoid them, but a few curious bears still go snooping around, and some even end up in "polar bear jail" before being released back into the wild.

Assateague is a barrier island located along the Maryland-Virginia border on the Atlantic coast. It is famous for its population of feral horses, most likely descendants of formerly domesticated animals. Maryland and Virginia residents disagree on whether the animals should be called horses or ponies, a discussion that has not been settled because the animals have horse-like characteristics but pony-size stature, most likely due to environmental conditions.

Each November, this Australian island near the coast of Indonesia becomes the setting for a natural wonder, the annual red crab migration. The island’s red crab population—estimated at around 100 million crabs—travels to the sea to lay their eggs. To allow the horde of crustaceans to safely reach the shore, authorities close off roads around the island.

This beach on the inhabited island of Big Major Cay is not only a tropical paradise but also home to an unexpected animal community. No one knows exactly where the pigs came from, but the swimming pigs have become a popular tourist attraction, and they are often fed by the visitors of neighboring islands.

This one is not really a town, but it is home to a colony of friendly sea lions. Located at a shopping and entertainment complex on a San Francisco pier, the animals began moving in during the 1980s from a more distant colony. After an earthquake in 1989 caused residents to remove their boats while the pier was being refurbished, the sea lions made their home there and have shared the space with humans ever since.

Located in Japan’s Inland Sea, Okunoshima is home to a huge population of free-roaming rabbits. These animals are descendants of domestic rabbits, so they are quite tame and will often approach humans. In order to protect the rabbits, animals like cats and dogs are banned from the island.

A protected reserve since the 1970s, this South American peninsula is home to the largest colony of Magellanic penguins in the world. Despite threats such as oil spills affecting the animals, the population numbers have steadily risen in the past several decades, and nowadays it’s estimated that the colony houses nearly a million birds.

Off the coast of Norway, this island has a small human population—just a little more than 100 people—but they are greatly outnumbered by seabirds, which number between about 500,000 and 700,000. The island is considered a protected reserve and hosts many bird species, the most notable being the Atlantic puffin.

Once a royal city, Polonnaruwa is now an archaeological site near a modern town of the same name. The ruins have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but they also have an additional tourist attraction: a colony of toque macaques, residents of the ruins for centuries.

LESS IS MORE

10 Of The Best Six-Word Stories Out There

Image: Etienne Girardet

They say that brevity is the soul of wit, and when the complex art of storytelling is distilled into only six words, you end up with some fascinating literary artifacts. An example of a curious genre called flash fiction, these minimalist tales offer brief glimpses into all kinds of worlds and situations.

Kindred to short-form poetry, popular jokes, and other types of oral literature, six-word stories can be truly enthralling. But crafting a narrative with such limited space requires a masterful touch. Here we gathered some of the best for your enjoyment. Maybe it will even inspire you to write your own!

Image: Unsplash

A mother's worst nightmare. Many times erroneously attributed to Ernest Hemingway (another master of succinctness in his own way), this brief masterclass in storytelling only needs six words to indirectly imply a heartbreaking story of loss and unrealized dreams.

Image: Austin Neill

A story of betrayal. You know what they would say about jumping off a cliff with your friends. And it doesn’t need to be a real cliff even, because what actually hurts the most is trusting someone to stay by your side, only to find out in the worst possible moment that they weren’t truthful.

Image: Zach Lucero

Authored by award-winning sci-fi writer Orson Scott Card, better known for his 1985 novel Ender's Game. Blending humor with an ominous theme, this intriguing short story leaves us thinking in what kind of world such a phrase could be uttered and pondering about what makes us human.

Image: John Hernandez

Kind of bragging, really, but goes to show that it is even possible to write a romantic comedy—sort of—in this very limited space. Or a crime thriller, perhaps, if you take the metaphor literally. This one also serves as an example of a telegram-style narrative, using very few words per sentence.

Image: Charles DeLoye

Another tearjerker, and even without knowing anything about the two main characters of the story, you can feel the pain of losing a brother or sister. On the other hand, you could certainly argue that this one is not entirely grammatically correct—and you would be right—but part of the fun in this type of short story is to let go of the usual rigidness of language and convention.

Image: Hasnain Sikora

A playful sci-fi parody of the classic "baby shoes" story, it gives us a different perspective from the usual science-fiction cliches. It leaves readers to wonder what could have happened to prevent someone from trying such an amazing scientific discovery. Maybe a time machine is not really worth it, after all. Or maybe it just doesn't work.

Image: John Schnobrich

Why is this genre so full of heart-wrenching stories? This one could be a lone entry in a personal diary or a whispered confession to a worried friend. It manages to condense the myriad of tragic details and everyday actions that can remind us of a person who, for whatever reason, is gone from our lives.

Image: Chris Briggs

Another story set in the realm of speculative fiction, this one introduces us to a classic trope of the genre: Teleportation. But have you ever thought about how the machine actually works? Maybe it is just destroying you and making an exact replica somewhere else, with all your memories and thoughts. But it just isn’t you anymore, because the original was vaporized instantly. And even if that existential problem is out of the way, what happens if it malfunctions? Well, I’m not buying a teleporter any time soon. Beware, early adopters!

Image: Yuvraj Singh

From strangers to lovers, then strangers again? Sadly, an almost universal experience! This six-word narrative traces the arc of a relationship with an economy of words that's as powerful as it is poignant. And while a bit depressing, it can be an honest timeline of how most human relationships go.

Image: Geetanjal Khanna

This one could work great as the ending of a noir fiction novel or as the departing words of an antihero protagonist who ultimately decides to sacrifice himself for the greater good. It’s no wonder this is the tone that this short story conveys because its author is none other than comic book wizard Frank Miller, known for his dark stories and brooding characters.