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.

UNDER THE RADAR

9 Words That Are Way More Interesting Than They Seem

Image: Mick Haupt

Most words we use in everyday life have interesting stories to tell. Behind the facade of triviality, the history of whole languages (and the people who spoke those languages) unfolds like a rich tapestry of meaning and social threads. English is a language with a long history, and over the years, some words have changed in unexpected ways, sometimes even completely reversing their original meaning!

Don’t let the ubiquity of these words deceive you. Here’s a list of our favorite origin stories!

Image: Jeff Dunham

According to etymologists, nice wasn’t always a good thing to say. The word comes from the Latin nescius, meaning ignorant or foolish. When the word was eventually assimilated into English, it still carried its original meaning, but that didn’t last long. Around the 14th century, its common usage changed completely, as it started to signify something agreeable or pleasant. And by the 18th century, it already carried the more polite meaning we know today.

Image: Mick Haupt

Ironically, the etymology of this word is in actual shambles. The leading theory is that the term derives from the Latin word scamillus, meaning a small stool. Then, it began to be used to mean a stool where something is sold. And since more often than not that something turned out to be meat, the word became associated with meat markets and, eventually, with slaughterhouses!

Image: Tara Evans

This one makes a lot more sense than the previous two. Its modern use is tied to the Greek legend of the Minotaur, or more specifically, to the little trick Theseus used to escape the fabled labyrinth: a ball of yarn. Clew, a word of probable Germanic origin, was used to refer to the aforementioned element, but it ultimately lent its meaning to the broader sense of having something to guide your path, a hint, or a little help to avoid getting lost.

Image: Ali Kazal

A very popular word today, awkward experienced an interesting shift in meaning, from spatial or physical unease to social discomfort. The term finds its origins in the Old Norse afugr, meaning "turned the wrong way" or "crooked," blending with the suffix -weard in the mid-14th century. Originally signaling an orientational blunder, the word later shifted to describe physical clumsiness and, by the 18th century, extended to convey social discomfort or embarrassment.

Image: VD Photography

The term checkmate has roots in the Persian phrase shāh māt, meaning "the king is helpless." As chess migrated to Europe through the Arabic world, an alternative interpretation emerged - "the king is dead." However, in the context of chess, the king is never actually killed but rather strategically cornered, defeated by being put into an inescapable position.

Image: Nguyen Dang Hoang Nhu

Quiz is a quirky word that has confused etymologists for many years. Some maintain that it originates from the Irish cuisle, meaning "a pulse" or "vein," cleverly alluding to a quick test as if it were checking your pulse. Others think that it might have evolved from the Latin qui es ("who are you?"), the first question asked in oral exams in ancient grammar schools. In any case, by the late 18th century it acquired the meaning we are more familiar with: a form of light entertainment that involves impromptu questions to test general knowledge.

Image: Jason Leung

The almost universal term for self-operating machines was originally coined by a Czech science fiction writer called Karel Čapek in the 1920s. Derived from the Czech word robota, meaning "forced labor" or "drudgery," the term originally described artificial beings tasked with performing menial duties for their human masters.

Image: Bernard Hermant

Surprisingly, the word hazard is believed to originate from 13th-century Arabic, where al-zahr referred to dice used in gambling games. As with any gamble, these games always posed certain risks, and this connotation was brought back to Europe by the Crusaders who learned it during their military campaigns in the Middle East.

Image: Lindsay Cash

This very mundane word finds its roots in the Hindi word champna, which, in turn, derives from the Sanskrit capayati. Translating to "pounds" or "kneads," the Sanskrit term suggests a massaging motion. Through the British colonies, the word eventually integrated into the English language, referring to the act of cleansing and massaging the scalp, and later acquiring its modern meaning as a liquid preparation used for washing hair.