American Bison twin calves
One of my neighbors has a captive herd of American Bison,Bison bison. I often have a look at them as they are kept in a large pasture. It was interesting to see that they had three new calves. Two stuck together with one cow and I assume they are twins. They are considerably lighter in color than the adults and I see they have beginnings of horns. In reading various accounts of the species, it seems that twins are a rare ovvurence.
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Eastern Fox Snake,Elaphe gloydi
The Eastern Fox Snake,Elaphe gloydi, has a very restricted range near the Great Lakes Huron and Erie, and found in Ontario in Canada and Ohio and Michigan in the U.S. Even in this range it is uncommon. It is said to be fairly docile, biting only if handled. Here in Ontario it is listed as Threatened and protected under the Species at Risk Act.
Eastern Fox Snake,Elaphe gloydi
They are yellowish brown with dark blotches and have a coppery colored head. They are quite large, from three to five feet when fully grown.
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Brown Anole, Anolis sagrei
The Brown Anole, Anolis sagrei, is native to Cuba and the Bahamas and has been widely introduced elsewhere including Hawaii where this image was taken. It is very invasive, attaining high population densities and out competing other lizard species such as the Green Anole, Anolis carolinensis .
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Green Anole, Anolis carolinensis
The Green Anole, Anolis carolinensis, is native to North America, ranging from the coastal plains of the Eastern United States to the Caribbean coast of Texas. It has also been introduced to Hawaii. They are very teritorial and males will display their colorful dewlap at the throat, as seen in the image.
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Green Anole, Anolis carolinensis
Hawaiian Monk Seal, Monachus Schauinslandi
The Hawaiian Monk Seal, Monachus schauinslandi, is one of the rarest of the seal mammals. It is estimated that there are less than 1400 individuals surviving. It is, however, faring a bit better than it’s other warm water cousins, the Caribbean monk seal, which is extinct, and the Mediterranean monk seal which is reduced to less than 600.
It is normally found in the uninhabited northern islands of the Hawaiian Island chain, so it was a bit of a shock to see this one on Maui early one morning in what would soon be a busy and popular spot. I went by a few hours later, and luckily, it had gone.
From these images, its not easy to realize how large it is, which I estimate at about 350kg (800 lbs) and perhaps 2.25 meters ( 8 feet) in length.
Hawaiian Monk Seal, Monachus Schauinslandi
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White-Nosed Coatimundi
Related to the Racoon family, White-Nosed Coatimundi, can be found from the southern U.S. to South America. They can often be seen in large groups. In Costa Rica,on a quiet back road, we came upon two dozen of them who ran to our car. They apparently had become used to human handouts
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Three-toed Sloth, Bradypus variegatus
One of the wonderful surprises you might run across in the forests of Panama and Costa Rica is the Three-toed Sloth, Bradypus variegatus. They can be quite common in places like Manuel Antonio Park in southern Costa Rica, and when you see one, you can be sure it will stay long enough for a good look.
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Young Giraffe
I thought this young Giraffe was cute, he kept peeking around his parent to take a look at me. And you have to love the hairstyle!!
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I saw these images on Pixdaus and thought they were kind of cute.
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Many people are surprised to learn that that amazing cougar image on their calender, or the Grizzly Bear in a magazine are not taken in the wild. Many of these great images are taken at game farms like Triple D. or controlled situations. When they find this out, they are often upset, feeling like they have been tricked or fooled.
I saw the above controlled scene with a giraffe and trainer, and a crew that was photographing and filming it. They would guide the trainer to move to certain position with a pail of food to get the shots they wanted. If we were to see the product of this shoot, we would probably think it was of a wild animal in Africa.
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