Hope everyone had a nice long weekend. Thought I’d start out the work week with a creature that hasn’t been seen on the blog in over four years. This is a fanaloka (also known as the Malagasy civet), and it was photographed in a rain forest in central Madagascar in Ranomafana National Park. Fanalokas are nocturnal and usually very secretive. This one was looking for scraps near a picnic area. These guys are about the size of a house cat, but are a bit more fox like in appearance. They are neither a feline or a canine, however, and are more closely related to the mongoose.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 92mm) ISO 200, f/5 at 1/60th of a second, Nikon SB-800 flash unit

I once saw a show on Discover, or one of those networks, and they were counting down the most stealth animals on the planet. Coming in at number one was the chameleon. They have it all — eyes that have a 360 degree field of vision and can look in two directions at once, a tongue that can lash out at record speed and distance, colors that can change to camouflage or attract, and tong-like feet that are specialized for gripping just about any kind of branch. Half of all the world’s chameleons live in Madagascar, where I photographed this guy late one afternoon while traveling upriver in a small boat.
Nikon D40X with Nikkor 18-55mm lens (at 19mm), ISO 200, f/4.5 at 1/160th of a second

Here’s another one from Madagascar (this will be the last post for the week as Karen and I are heading to Mexico tomorrow night for the Memorial Day weekend). This is a Verreaux’s sifaka lemur and it kind of looks like it’s ready for some sort of a duel — I say gunslinger, Karen says swashbuckler. Either way, what it really was doing was racing across the ground, getting from one tree to the next as quickly as possible.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 80mm) ISO 400, f/5 at 1/500th of a second

The comet moth is native to the rain forests of Madagascar and is one of the largest moths in the world with a wingspan of eight inches. They are considered an endangered species — like seemingly every other creature living in Madagascar — because of habitat loss. I came across this one in Ranomafana National Park on my 2007 trip to the African island nation, a place that is at the top of my list to revisit some day.
Nikon D40X with Nikkor 18-55mm lens (at 19mm) ISO 400, f/4.5 at 1/50th of a second

This is another lemur that goes by many names — although all are simple variations on appearance — the white-headed lemur, white-headed brown lemur, white-fronted brown lemur and white-fronted lemur. They live within a rather small range in northeastern Madagascar. This one was spotted on the island of Nosy Mangabe, just off the coast of the mainland. I was camping on the island for a few nights and woke one morning to find several males and females of the species resting in a tree just a few feet from my tent. I liked the way that this particular male was curled up in his tail (the males have the characteristic white heads, while the females have a grey head).
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 600mm f/5.6 manual focus lens, ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/60th of a second, Nikon SB-800 flash

It’s been a while since I posted one of my favorite animals, the ring-tailed lemur. These guys are sun worshipers and often look as if they’re meditating as they sit back and soak up the heat. The latin name for the ring-tail is lemur catta, because they meow like cats. The best place to see them is at Berenty Reserve in southern Madagascar.
Nikon D40x with Nikkor 18-55mm lens (at 55mm) ISO 100, f/5.6 at 1/500th of a second

The indri indri is the largest of all the lemurs in Madagascar. It kind of looks like a small man wearing panda bear pajamas. They are known for their eerie, wailing calls which can be heard two and a half miles away. They are also known to be quite acrobatic in the trees and can jump great distances. I caught this one just before it catapulted through the air to another tree.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 165mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/60th of a second, Nikon SB-800 flash

I’m not sure what species of chameleon this is, I just know that it wasn’t looking like it was too thrilled with the way its day was going. This one was taken at a chameleon farm in central Madagascar. Half the world’s chameleons live in Madagascar — 59 species of which live nowhere else on earth.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (200mm) ISO 100, f/22 at 1/60th of a second, Canon 500D close up filter, Nikon SB-800 flash

Sportive lemurs are a nocturnal species in Madagascar. This guy, however, must have been a light sleeper, and bit curious as I hiked past his daytime resting place in the hollow of a tree. He posed for several shots before disappearing back into the tree.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 200, f/5.6 at 1/4th of a second, Gitzo 1325 tripod

This guy is a black and white ruffed lemur photographed near Andasibe-Mantadia National Park in Madagascar. Of the fifty plus species of lemur, the black and white ruffed lemurs are among the most playful. This one was putting on a show, jumping from one branch to the next. It was getting pretty dark at the time, so I used flash to freeze the action.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 80mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/60th of a second, Nikon SB-800 flash