The woods are still.

They’re so still you can almost hear the heartbeat of the place thumping in your ears, though you’ve felt it pulsing through you in waves since you arrived a few hours earlier.

Suddenly, from behind a high thicket you hear a crack and brush as something moves.

Something large.

You reach in your pack as you crouch down out of sight, hands shaking and eyes wide. You hadn’t expected this so soon—you thought you’d have at least a few hours.

The creature stirs again, this time louder and more confidently. You listen as it steps out from behind the vegetation fearlessly and you gather your courage, wrapping your fingers around the cold, round metal in your backpack. You’re ready.

So much for the beauty of nature.

The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards captures the natural world we frequently revere in all its hilarious, clumsy fallibility.

And they are adorable!

Such beauty.

Such grace.

You can check out the full list of winners, and a tonne of submissions on the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards website.

~

Relephant:

Animals are People Too? {Unique photos}

Author: Erin Lawson

Editor: Erin Lawson

Images: Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2015 (Julian Rad, William Richardson, Graham McGeorge, Mohammed Alnaser)