Beautiful Animals

You're right, Osso. Amazing clarity and simplicity.

TTH, Glad your wild bear petting days are over. Looking forward to new photos.

BTW, The bird I labeled yesterday as a hawk is in fact an osprey.

Two more from Lockhart:

Stellar Jays




The website copyright info said to add this if reposting an image that they own.

"This is a reproduction of a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife document and is not the official document or regulations of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The accuracy of the reproduction cannot be guaranteed by WDFW."

a couple more avatars





might see what i can do with that Harpy...

Thanks, Gus, for the possum playing possum.

Thanks, TTH for the bird photos. Lovely soft colors.

Reg, You're terrific with the avatars. You gonna be a snake? A boid? Or are you sticking with your mantis persona? Love dat snake one. I thought that was a spectacular photo. Ligthing, etc.


Speaking of mantids, here's the spiny leaf variety:





And yet another sea slug:

thanx Boida.
i'm sticking with the mantis for now.

You done good, Reg, with the harpy. Thanks, kid.



How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin
How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in,
With gently smiling jaws!

Lewis Carroll

Two photos by Kawika Chetron
of "Spanish shawls" -


Chetron's comment -

The vibrant colors of a Spanish shawl (Flabellina iodinea) provide
photographers with great raw material. Of course, there's always a catch: These inch-long slugs flap violently in the surge like one of those cat toys made from rubber bands on the end of a stick. As such, getting the rhinophores in focus is often an exercise in frustration. Even a really good macro lens has difficulty autofocusing on this type of subject. This shot was taken using a fixed focus and fine movements of the photographer's hand to achieve focus by moving the entire camera forward and backwards. The blurry orange arms are those of a blood
star (Henricia leviuscula).
"Shale Island", Monterey Bay, California
February 17, 2007

and,


his commentary -
This spanish shawl (Flabellina iodinea) appears to be in danger of
becoming a colorful snack for a onespot fringehead (Neoclinus
uninotatus). Thankfully for the shawl, its wild coloration is indicative of
it's ability to sting potential predators. Spanish shawls rove the reef in
search of the hydroids upon which they feed. Interestingly enough, a shawl's stinging ability comes from special cells called nematocysts which are captured from prey and passed through the digestive system without being discharged. It's possible that this fringehead wasn't interested in the passing slug because it was familiar with its defense mechanism. However, I suspect that it's more likely the fish was entirely unaware of its visitor. Fringeheads, apparently, have poor eyesight. I've seen them out hunting -- they're quite prone to mistaking rocks for prey.
"Anchor Farm", Monterey Bay, California
December 4, 2004

These are from his website -
http://www.coldwaterimages.com


Story of the photographer's recent death while on photo trip here -
http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=93954

(I still feel thrown by the death of such a young and talented person.)

Hiya osso, I saw the thread you started about the photographer, and went there to get some photos. I show up and and voila. Great minds, etc.

Here's a green sea turtle being cleaned by gold-ring surgeonfish and yellow tangs:





Yellow fin fringehead:

Roberta,
I wouldn't exactly say my "wild petting days" are over
These 2 pictures I took this morning in my front yard.
This plant attracts hundreds of honey bees and as you can see I pet
them.

Honey bee

TTH, Now you're petting bees? Speechless. And trust me, it's better that I am. Thanks for the photo. The flowers are lovely, and the bee seems nice too.

Flying gecko:





Royal walnut (regal) moth:

Prairie dogs:





Horses (don't know if they're wild or not):

I am not sure what this is but it is BIG, whale of some sort?

Photographer Lee Penn
Photo taken in Belize
http://www.dlpco.com/index.html

TTH, That's not a whale. It's a whale shark, the largest fish in the world. They are harmless--but big.

Oh, I was actually editing my post when you already posted.
I guess I was 1/2 right with the whale part. The photo wasn't labeled so I wasn't sure if it was a whale shark.

I emailed Mr. Lee Penn and asked permission to post his photo's on this forum and he was very nice and said it was fine.

TTH, You made me smile. I'm glad that Mr. Penn was gracious about letting you use his photo. And thanks for posting it.

Roberta, those horses are not wild ones. They're in snow with short hair. They are groomed on a regular basis. Wild horses in winter have a lot of dead hair in their coats. Also, the palomino has white feet that are in the same shape as the black feet on the paint. That can only come from proper hoof care.

Thanks a lot CowDoc. I appreciate the info. I went looking for wild horses in winter. Couldn't find anything that looked like what you described. But I did find this. Love the photo. I'll keep looking.

Not the greatest photo but it is the real thing.


And down by Kosciusko[sic], where the pine-clad ridges raise
Their torn and rugged battlements on high,
Where the air is clear as crystal, and the white stars fairly blaze
At midnight in the cold and frosty sky,
And where around the
Overflow the reedbeds sweep and sway
To the breezes, and the rolling plains are wide,
The man from Snowy River is a household word to-day,
And the stockmen tell the story of his ride.

Brumbies

(not so sure these are wild)


But this one is

Thanks, dadpad, for the pictures and the poem. The photos I found were too far away to be able to see anything.

I'm remembering a time I went riding the mountains in the winter. The horses were quite shaggy. I wonder if that might be characteristic of a particular breed. (Had a great time plunging through the snow.)