Critters Big and Small Volume #3

Whew, Elphaba. You're right; never ignore the hairs on the back of your neck.

I think you're right Mrs. Ed!!

ALWAYS believe and listen to your spidy senses!!

heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek,Elphaba, that would have sent me running for sure.

Yeh, but the alligator is high-tailing it outa there as well. LOL

Elphaba, I hope you carry a big stick with you while your walking those trails. :(

This message was edited May 22, 2010 11:15 PM

Elphaba, how in the world did you hold the camera so steady to get such a awesome shot?
Christine

Elphaba, seeing that alligator reminded me of the time that myself and my brother-in-law were fishing from his bass boat in Lake Eufaula (in eastern Alabama). We were kinda drifting with the current/wind out in the water, casting our lures toward the bank. We observed, which to me, was a rather large alligator (he looked to be be the same length as our 15 ft boat) up on the bank, laying there, minding his its own business I guess we got too close, because all of a sudden the thing raised up on all fours and simply leaped into the water, like a torpedo being launched from the deck of a warship.. Now, it didn't attack us, or anything like that, but needless to say, from that point on, I kept my eyes open.

BTW, we didn't catch anything in its vicinity, I guess it fished better than we could.

Hack

This message was edited May 23, 2010 8:22 AM

Hack, I bet you didn't catch any fish b/c the alligator scared them into hiding! I rarely get decent bullfrog photos b/c they hop in the water before I even see them, but in this case, the alligator had just made a big splash getting into the water and this bullfrog was not about to leap in after him. I guess he decided that me and my camera were a little less dangerous!

Oh that is good!

Saw a rather unusual site thru my front window today and I had to go take a closer look.

Yup...a Snapping Turtle crossing the road!

Kept doing this...pointing its head up like that.

I had to press it a bit...lucky I have a good camera and didn't really have to get that close!

Nice photos, nanny.

Nanny, that's a great frontal pic of the snapping turtle. Don't see that in the neighborhood everyday.

Elphaba love your shinning prince. Love the setting he's in also.

I found this chippy at my pond this afternoon.

That thing took forever to get off the road. I was scared to death it might get hit since it was trash day and that big ole truck was going to be coming along any time! I live in a semi-rural area so local traffic is all we have going by here thank goodness.

The subdivision we lived in before had a retention pond behind our house. Some idoit released 2 snappers into it. Of course the next year they mated and had little snappers. Tori was like 4 at the time. SHe found a little one and picked it up...BAD IDEA!!! That little guy nailed her good! She is 10 now and still talkes about that! LOL

I love those turtle shots Nanny. He looks very wise like a silly rabbit should be running circles around him. Amazing toe nails too.

Burn, CUTE!

A painted turtle from the marsh today.
Nanny I remember my nephew coming up to me and saying hey look what I caught...think he was 7.. he had a 10lb snapper... me and my brother were like heyyy (put that down!!) lol

That's a gorgeous turtle Burd! I've never heard of a Painted Turtle before -- the coloring is great.

Here's a little Slider Turtle from yesterday. I call this photo "Swan Dive."

Nice one Elphaba! Funny some of the poses you can see when turtles are sunning themselves. lol

Pretty Burd....

Elphaba...too funny!

Butterfly, have no clue what kind, I don't know very many.

Nice Burd, I find those are hard to get. It's either a Question Mark or a Comma. If you have a photo of the underside of the wing, there will be a tiny white mark. If it looks like a question mark, it's a Question Mark. If it looks like a comma, well you get it.

I think I only have one small set of pics of a Question Mark and one pic of a Comma. Can't find the Comma but here's a Question Mark from a few years ago.

Mrs. Ed shared this with me and I have a copy of it in my BF folder.

This message was edited May 30, 2010 9:15 AM

That's cool Nanny! I did not know that. So I guess Burd's is a Question Mark.

Odd names for butterfly's but thanks for the info...that makes it easier for sure.

Here's a Damsel Fly...

this Common Water Snake was only about a foot long..but looks much bigger with 560mm used. lol

Made a quick collage with Picasa same pic one is cropped.

cool!

Chipmunk that was in a shrub....

Really cool snake photo Burd.

Nanny, your chipmunk looks like he's straight out of a disney movie. He makes me think of a mouse who painted himself to look like a chipmunk.

Here's another bullfrog. I'm getting better at not scaring them.

I really wanted a pic in the sun of this spider b/c he was blue! Couldn't get him to surface though.

Hey, just so everyone knows, that picture nanny posted is from the Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network, Tom Peterson.

Thanks Mrs. Ed....hope it was okay to share.....hmmmm

well, just in case! ;)

Cat has been telling "us" forever about that mark, but helps to see it.

Nice shots of your critters Nanny and Elphaba!

This Cottontail is very good at expressing himself. Here are 4 of his expressions.

First is called...the plan.

The Wink.

the gasp...

lastly the embarrassment...

Oh Burd...fabulous job!! Those are to cute...would make a great poster!

I LOVE those Burd! Great shots and captions!