These two lions were quite young. The male had just started to grow his mane. It was very early on a misty morning in Kenya and they were engaged in a bit of foreplay before an attempt at mating. From what I could tell, it was just that — a half-hearted attempt before they both settled back down into the grass.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 330mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/80th of a second
I was talking to someone at the office today who has a bit of a mouse problem. She is disgusted by them and was asking what she could do to get rid of them. My advice was to enjoy their company and be happy that they had chosen her house to co-habitate in. This, of course, was not a satisfactory answer. I was reminded of a pleasant mouse encounter I had in the wild some years ago — well, it was sort of in the wild. I was hiking in Allegheny National Forest in northwestern Pennsylvania. At the trailhead there was a box containing trail maps. When I reached into the box I quickly realized that a family of deer mice had other plans for those maps. They had torn them to shreds and used them as nesting material to line the bottom of the box. About eight mice scattered from the nest, including this little guy who decided to asses the situation from behind the relative safety of the box post.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 200, f/7.1 at 1/60th of a second, Nikon SB-800 flash
Friday it was the elk at twilight, today the maned wolf. For this photo I had the benefit of a few flash units to help with the lighting. Some of you might remember the maned wolf from previous posts. They are sometimes referred to as a fox on stilts. They are, in fact, the largest wild canid, standing over four feet tall. It is thought that their long legs are an adaptation to the tall grasslands in which they live. They range across central south America, mostly in Brazil, where I saw this one.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 35mm) ISO 800, f/4.5 at 1/50th of a second, two Nikon SB-800 flash units positioned off camera
Point Reyes National Seashore isn’t that far north of San Francisco. In fact, the northern suburbs of the city can be seen below this ridge where elk often graze. It was well past sunset when I took this picture and I had to crank my ISO up to 3200 to have enough light to record the scene. A bed of fog (of course, it’s San Francisco) settled into the valley below as the elk began to wind down another day.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 135mm) ISO 3200, f/2.8 at 1/25th of a second
As I mentioned in a previous post, I saw four different eyelash vipers on the recent trip to Costa Rica — two yellow and two green. You can clearly see the “eyelashes” on this guy. They are actually raised scales above the eyes that are thought to aid in camouflage by breaking up the snake’s outline as it hides among the foliage. I’m not quite sure I get that explanation, but that’s what the experts say. I prefer the myth that the snake will mockingly flash its lashes by winking at victims after a strike. Apparently, this isn’t physically possible, but I still like the sound of it. Either way, eyelash vipers are not aggressive by nature, but if agitated can be deadly.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 105mm macro lens, ISO 1600, f/3.2 at 1/250th of a second
Every country seems to have it’s scrappy canine. For us, it’s the coyote. For India, it’s a close cousin of the coyote, the golden jackal. I photographed this one in Bandhavgarh National Park, which is in central India.
Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/400th of a second
I photographed this northern harrier hawk last year on my snowy owl trip to British Columbia. There were quite a few of these hawks in the area, fighting with short eared owls for voles and mice.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1000, f/4 at 1/1250th of a second
It’s been a while since I posted a meerkat. Here’s one that was running straight toward my camera. As usual when I get the chance, I was face down on the ground. It was a challenge capturing focus on these little guys — they’re pretty quick — but I was able to get quite a few shots like this during my three day stay at Makgadikgadi Pan in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/8 at 1/1000th of a second
Meet the smoky jungle frog. These guys are big. Very big. They can grow to eight inches in length — and as you can tell from the picture, they pack quite a bit of girth into that length. They also happen to have a voracious appetite, eating frogs, lizards, snakes and even smaller mammals and birds. My guide told me that he once saw one eating a chicken.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 380mm) ISO 800, f/8 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-900 flash units
A springbok stops to pose for the camera in front of the rising sun in the Kalahari Desert.
Nikon D700 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 160mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1600th of a second