Mouse Opossum
This little guy is a mouse opossum I came across one night in the Pampas region of Bolivia. As the name implies, they aren’t much bigger than a mouse, but they are marsupials and not rodents. There are 55 different species of mouse opossum living in Central and South America and they are all nocturnal.
Koala
I figured it was just about time I posted another koala. In a rare moment of wakefulness (they spend up to twenty hours a day sleeping), I photographed this one on Kangaroo Island in South Australia. Note the spectacular overbite.
Capped Heron
I only saw a couple of these capped herons in the Pantnal of Brazil. They are very unique birds with their blue beaks and tassels on the back of their heads.
Comet Moth’s False Eyes
The comet moth is one of the largest moths in the world. It has two sets of “false eyes” on its furry wings — an adaptation to confuse predators. These guys are native to Madagascar, and this one was photographed one morning in Ranomafana National Park.
Bighorn Running in Snow
This photo of a bighorn ram was taken over the Christmas break in Yellowstone National Park. There were two of them together kicking at the snow, hoping to uncover some grass to eat. Apparently this guy wasn’t too happy with what he was finding so he took off through the snow.
Sea Otter
When I was in California a couple of weeks ago, I visited Elkhorn Slough, one of my favorite spots between San Francisco and Monterey. This is an almost can’t miss location to observe sea otters — and almost always, they are in the water. It’s rare to catch one on land. I crawled over the sand very slowly and quite a distance to photograph this one. It didn’t seem bothered at all by my presence, and it even crept closer to me a couple of times as the tide rose. As you can see, unlike the river otters that I’ve been posting lately, sea otters generally have a much lighter head and neck than the rest of their body. They also happen to have the densest fur of any animal on earth.
Polar Bear Face
As I mentioned in a previous post, the Seal River Lodge in northern Manitoba, Canada has a fenced in backyard where guests can go at anytime while not out hiking. Curious bears will often come right up to the fence, enabling very tight portraits. I tried to take advantage of that with this close up of just the bear’s face.
Sea Nettles
I don’t usually post shots that were taken in zoos or aquariums, but the jellyfish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California are so spectacular that I had to share. Each tank in the jellies exhibit is a work of art in itself and lit to illuminate the translucent beauty of the animal. The jellyfish in this photo are called sea nettles. They live off the California coast and they do sting, but aren’t venomous enough to cause death in a human.
Calla Lilies
I had seen photos of these calla lilies before but had never been able to find their exact location. Last weekend I was driving down the Pacific Coast Highway south of Carmel, California when I had to turn around due to road closures from landslides. That’s when I stumbled upon this spot in Garrapata State Park on the northern edge of Big Sur. It pretty much rained all weekend but I was able to get the camera out during a few quick dry spells in between the downpours. The lilies grow along a small river that empties into the Pacific.