Beautiful Animals

Adorable little frogs - love the cute character in the middle.



Phoey - you're right! Blade of grass! I took RH's words seriously!!!

there's a puddle...

you hang around cows (or buffalo) for more than a few minutes, and you'll see where that old saying about a cow and a flat rock came from.

(never bring this up when your wife is in the bathroom however)

It's a stone!

A very tolerant dragonfly:

Still laughing at this. Tears rolling down my cheeks laughing. I hate myself for this.

tsar, Glad you like the reptile. I've seen this commercial many times. I laugh every time. It's the "holy sh..." at the end that does me in. Thanks for posting it here.

vonny, Great shot of the eagle. Great definition. The wolf pic caused some serious plotzing. (Not thudding.) Gawgeous! Thanks for them both.

RH, What old saying about a cow and a flat rock? No such saying in there here parts.

FBM, Maybe the dragonfly isn't patient. Maybe it likes you! Stunning pics. Look at those eyes. Wow and thanks.

Roger, That's one of the best commercials I've seen in a very, very long time. Laugh away, kid. And may Snuffy RIP.

Coyote in NYC:

A rare Amur leopard

Ooops! Missed one!

Amazing! Love to see them in such detail.

I still can't get over the fact that it let me get so close!!

That's an awesome photo. I love it.

The eyes appear to be differentiated from top to bottom, not just by color but also by the size of the individual cells. I bet they are geared toward recognizing different visual signals.

The black spot looks illusional. When I stare at it, it seems to grow.

I've noticed before on Mantis' and on Dragonflies that the black spot on the eyes seems to move around on the structure. I have never known if that's a trick of reflection or if the animal somehow alters the cells physically when watching something. But the black spot always seems to follow me when I look at these things.

I just googled it to get the answer on the "black spot". It's called a pseudopupil and is essentially an artifact of reflection.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudopupil

Ah! Thanks! I'd wondered about that before, but never looked it up. Since I always try to get the near eye(s) in focus, I use that dark spot as a guide. Now I know what it is. And yes, it grows when I look directly at it, too.

This was taken in the 1940s I think. The duck and dog were fast pals.

if you say so ed.

that duck looks a lot like dinner to me...

The duck was on one farm and it took a liking to the family dog. But it got into too much trouble so was sent to the neighbor's farm. There it met the dog in the picture. They were good friends. But the farmer had issues with the duck. It ended up back at the original farm.