Animalia

I Claim This Rock!

March 16, 2023 — 13 Comments

F/5.6, 1/250, ISO 800.

Muskrat

Why did the cookie go to the hospital?

He felt crummy!

Interesting Fact: Muskrats are most active at night or near dawn and dusk. They feed on cattails and other aquatic vegetation. They do not store food for the winter, but sometimes eat the insides of their push-ups. While they may appear to steal food beavers have stored, more seemingly cooperative partnerships with beavers exist, as featured in the BBC David Attenborough wildlife documentary The Life of Mammals.[22][23] Plant materials compose about 95% of their diets, but they also eat small animals, such as freshwater mussels, frogs, crayfish, fish, and small turtles.[5][6] Muskrats follow trails they make in swamps and ponds. When the water freezes, they continue to follow their trails under the ice. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muskrat#Behavior )

Hi I Exist!

March 13, 2023 — 21 Comments

F/6.3, 1/80, ISO400.

White-Tailed Deer

Who won the skeleton beauty contest?

Nobody.

Interesting Fact: The conversion of land adjacent to the Canadian Rockies into agriculture use and partial clear-cutting of coniferous trees (resulting in widespread deciduous vegetation) has been favorable to the white-tailed deer and has pushed its distribution to as far north as Yukon. Populations of deer around the Great Lakes have also expanded their range northwards, due to conversion of land to agricultural uses favoring more deciduous vegetation, and local caribou and moose populations. The westernmost population of the species, known as the Columbian white-tailed deer, once was widespread in the mixed forests along the Willamette and Cowlitz River valleys of western Oregon and southwestern Washington, but today its numbers have been considerably reduced, and it is classified as near-threatened. This population is separated from other white-tailed deer populations. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_deer )

 

Does Running Late Count As Exercise?

March 12, 2023 — 10 Comments

F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 160.

Gray Kingbird

What do bulls do when they go shopping?

They CHARGE!

Interesting Fact: Gray kingbirds wait on an exposed perch high in a tree, occasionally sallying out to feed on insects, their staple diet. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_kingbird  )

You Never Realize How Boring Your Life Is Until Someone Asks What You Like To Do For Fun.

March 12, 2023 — 20 Comments

F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 160.

Palmchat

What happened to the wooden car with wooden wheels and wooden engine?

It wooden go!

Interesting Fact: The species is endemic to the island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), including the adjacent Saona and Gonâve Islands, where it is common and widespread. It inhabits areas from sea-level to 1500 m asl where palm savannas can be found, or other open areas with scattered trees. Where its food trees are present, it has adapted well to city parks and gardens. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmchat )

You Give Me Goosebumps!

March 10, 2023 — 20 Comments

F/6.3, 1/640, ISO 160.

Greylag goose

What concert costs 45 cents?

50 Cent featuring Nickleback.

Interesting Fact: Greylag geese are gregarious birds and form flocks. This has the advantage for the birds that the vigilance of some individuals in the group allows the rest to feed without having to constantly be alert to the approach of predators. After the eggs hatch, some grouping of families occur, enabling the geese to defend their young by their joint actions, such as mobbing or attacking predators.[17] After driving off a predator, a gander will return to its mate and give a “triumph call”, a resonant honk followed by a low-pitched cackle, uttered with neck extended forward parallel with the ground. The mate and even unfledged young reciprocate in kind. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greylag_goose#Behaviour   )

Let Me Tell You A Secret.

February 3, 2023 — 8 Comments

F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 640.

White-Tailed Deer

Who did Bambi invite to his birthday party?

His nearest and deer-est friends.

Interesting Fact: Although most often thought of as forest animals depending on relatively small openings and edges, white-tailed deer can equally adapt themselves to life in more open prairie, savanna woodlands, and sage communities as in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. These savanna-adapted deer have relatively large antlers in proportion to their body size and large tails. Also, a noticeable difference exists in size between male and female deer of the savannas. The Texas white-tailed deer (O. v. texanus), of the prairies and oak savannas of Texas and parts of Mexico, are the largest savanna-adapted deer in the Southwest, with impressive antlers that might rival deer found in Canada and the northern United States. Populations of Arizona (O. v. couesi) and Carmen Mountains (O. v. carminis) white-tailed deer inhabit montane mixed oak and pine woodland communities.[21] The Arizona and Carmen Mountains deer are smaller, but may also have impressive antlers, considering their size. The white-tailed deer of the Llanos region of Colombia and Venezuela (O. v. apurensis and O. v. gymnotis) have antler dimensions similar to the Arizona white-tailed deer.  ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_deer )

Deer Me To Jump?!

January 9, 2023 — 9 Comments

F/13.0, 1/640, ISO1600.

White-Tailed Deer

What is the cheapest kind of meat?

Deer Balls, two for under a Buck!

Interesting Fact: White-tailed deer are generalists and can adapt to a wide variety of habitats.[20] The largest deer occur in the temperate regions of Canada and United States. The northern white-tailed deer (O. v. borealis), Dakota white-tailed deer (O. v. dacotensis), and northwest white-tailed deer (O. v. ochrourus) are some of the largest animals, with large antlers. The smallest deer occur in the Florida Keys and in partially wooded lowlands in the neotropics. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_deer )

 

 

 

What Drives You Nuts?!

December 21, 2022 — 14 Comments

F/6.3, 1/100, ISO 320.

American Red Squirrel

Why do squirrels swim on there back?

To keep their nuts dry!

Interesting Fact: Red squirrels can be easily distinguished from other North American tree squirrels by their smaller size, 28–35 cm (11–14 in) total length (including tail), territorial behavior, and reddish fur with a white venter (underbelly).[6] Red squirrels are somewhat larger than chipmunks. The Douglas squirrel is morphologically similar to the American red squirrels, but has a rust-colored venter and is restricted to the southwestern coast of British Columbia and in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. These species’ ranges do not overlap.  ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_red_squirrel )

Oh My Deer…

November 4, 2021 — 11 Comments

F/5.6, 1/250, ISO 400

White-Tailed Deer

What is it called when a tree takes time off from work in autumn?

Paid leaf.

Interesting Fact: Deer have a great sense of hearing and can even move their ears in any direction, without moving the head. Deer have an excellent sense of smell and can detect predators from a long distance away.

Should I Get A Tatoo Of A Human on My Back?

September 27, 2021 — 10 Comments

F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 250.

Butterfly

What do Butterfly learn at school?

Mothmatics !

Interesting Fact:  Butterflies are often polymorphic, and many species make use of camouflage, mimicry and aposematism to evade their predators. Some, like the monarch and the painted lady, migrate over long distances. Many butterflies are attacked by parasites or parasitoids, including wasps, protozoans, flies, and other invertebrates, or are preyed upon by other organisms. Some species are pests because in their larval stages they can damage domestic crops or trees; other species are agents of pollination of some plants. Larvae of a few butterflies (e.g., harvesters) eat harmful insects, and a few are predators of ants, while others live as mutualists in association with ants. Culturally, butterflies are a popular motif in the visual and literary arts. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly )