A few nice photo of animals images I found:
Tunisia-3340 - A Large Floor Mosaic
Image by archer10 (Dennis)
PLEASE, no multi invitations, glitters or self promotion in your comments, THEY WILL BE DELETED. My photos are FREE for anyone to use, just give me credit and it would be nice if you let me know, thanks - NONE OF MY PICTURES ARE HDR.
Many of these were so large I could only take parts of them. Viewing them in anything but original size does not do them justice. All the attached pictures are available also for viewing larger.
The El Djem Museum contains many things that belonged to the city’s superb villas and public buildings. The fantastic mosaic pavements are undoubtedly amongst the finest of Roman antiquity.
This mosaic shows cupids gathering grapes, while Dionysiac figures, including satyrs with wild animals, are depicted at the margins … Second half of third century AD
Bullfight
Image by Mait Jüriado
It's quite hard to post those photos. Bullfighting is very long traditional event in Spain but people like me from outside of Spain might think it's brutal. For me it's more like documenting what I saw not I liked it so much. I think it should be forbidden.
From a technical point of view it has three parts called “tercios” or “suertes”: sticks, barbed darts and finally the matador’s stick with a red flag attached to it. The president of the fight, which includes six fights lasting 20 minutes each.
When the bull enters and during the first part, the matador in his traditional costume raises the red and gold flag. He makes sweeping motions with the cape and helpers both on foot and on horseback drive their lances into the bull, gauging the liveliness and characteristics of their opponent.
During the second part of the fight three pairs of darts are driven into the bull’s neck. In the final and the most distressing part of the fight the bullfighter becomes a killer.
This is the most dangerous part where he attracts the injured animal towards him. At the last moment he must kill the beast with a single thrust of his sword.
"For one week a year, thousands of locals and tourists gather, and pay to witness the a ritual which is advertised as glorious and entertaining (for the benefit of pompously dressed up males with questionable skills in avoiding collision with a big animal) but is in fact nothing short of gorry, gruesome and truly sad. Old and sick bulls are chosen to be killed in those rituals, and they are being weakened for weeks before the "fight".
They put laxatives in their food and heavy sandbags on their backs. They are often beaten. They file their horns down to the tender quick and they drug them. Prior to the Running, electric prods and sharp sticks are used to rile the bulls in a frenzy. Petroleum jelly is put in their eyes to blind them. Wet newspaper is stuffed in their ears and their vocal cords are cut to prevent the audience to hear their cries. Lances are driven into the bulls' neck muscles so they can't lift their heads. By the time the matador appears the bulls are weak from blood loss and disoriented from being chased in circles.
When the "fight" finally begins, the bull is already on the verge of collapsing, held only by his last instinct of survival. All dignity is stripped down from him and he is confused, desperate and suffering. Then, in the ring, the toreador slaughters the bull by stabbing the bull repeatedly in the spine. The bull's death is slow and not just ugly, it's petrifying and maddening. Often he wears long blankets to hide their entrails, which spill out when they are gorged and disemboweled."
