Mother and baby Pronghorn photographed in Grand Teton National Park
This mother pronghorn and her youngster were hanging out in Grand Teton National Park.
While the little baby was as hyper as could be – jumping, running and prancing around, the mother was all business, keeping a watchful eye for predators.
The pronghorn looks quite like an antelope (but isn’t), which is why many people call them pronghorn antelopes.
Amazingly fast, the pronghorn is said to be the fastest mammal in all of the Americas! The Cheetah in Africa is believed to be the only land animal that is faster than these graceful creatures.
A Turtle - Probably the Florida Cooter - in Everglades National Park
It is May 23rd, so Happy World Turtle Day!
I saw a good number of turtles when I was in the Everglades, but didn’t realize until afterwards that there are apparently 16 turtle species found in Everglades National Park.
One of the more common ones seemed to be this type of turtle, which as far as I can tell, is the Florida Cooter.
While this turtle was safe in a National Park, this species is one considered so plentiful in the USA that it can be caught in the wild and exported for a life as someone’s pet or someone’s dinner in places like China and Taiwan. Did you know that millions of turtles are raised on farms in the US and caught in the wild for human consumption?
There aren’t many animals out there with a better name than the Lava Lizard.
Seriously, try and think of a cooler named animal…I bet you can’t!
The Española Lava Lizard (Microlophus delanonis) one of 9 Endemic Lava Lizards in the Galapagos
Visit the Galapagos Islands and you’ll undoubtedly come across these skittish little creatures. While not unique to the Galapagos (Lava lizards are common to other destinations, in particular Peru), there are nine Lava Lizard species that are endemic to the Galapagos Islands. As with the birds, tortoises and larger iguanas; the lava lizards have evolved on each island to be genetically unique.
A Floreana Lava Lizard (Microlophus grayii) photographed at Punta Cormorant
That’s one of those oddly interesting things about the Galapagos. You can sail to a different island in a couple of hours and see similar-looking animals, but their size, colour and habits will be slightly different – unique – from their relatives found on the other islands.
Some Galapagos Lava Lizards are brightly coloured, others are quite dull. (Females are often bright red in colour, males are dull grey or brown). Different islands have different sized Lava Lizards too, but they’re all pretty similar. I tried to challenge myself to find as many different species as I could on the islands, I spotted Lava Lizards on Espanola, Floreana, Bartolome, Sombrero Chino, South Plaza, San Cristobal and Isabela Islands.
A San Cristóbal Lava Lizard (Microlophus bivittatus) photographed at Isla Lobos
I captured decent photos of four different species, each pictured in this article, which help show the different shapes, colours and sizes of these lizards.
A Galápagos Lava Lizard (Microlophus albemarlensis) seen on Isabela Island
Unfortunately some of them were too elusive for the camera, so my photos of them are just tails, or specks too far away. I also failed in spotting any Lava Lizards breathing through their eyelids. Sadly that seems to be a myth from the classic baseball movie Bull Durham. Lava Lizards breathe through their nostrils. (Click on the Espanola or San Cristobal photos and you should see their nostrils.)
Another Galapagos Lava Lizard (Microlophus albemarlensis), the most widespread of the Galapagos species. This was on South Plaza Island.
A photo of a Red Fox in Northern Ontario, with the Cross Fox Colour Morph
The only species of Fox that calls Northern Ontario home is the Red Fox, but this fox doesn’t look very red does it?
Interestingly, there are two major colour morphs to the Red Fox – the Silver Fox and the Cross Fox. The latter of which accounts for 1/4 to 1/3 of the Red Fox population in Canada.
So…this is a Red Fox, but it is also a Cross Fox. Confused yet? You can tell this is a Red Fox because despite the black and morphed colouration it still has a white-tipped tail. The only other species of Fox in Ontario is the Grey Fox (in Southern Ontario), which has a black-tipped tail.
I can say it is definitely the ugliest fox I’ve ever seen. But this Cross Fox was a great hunter, I managed to follow it hunting for over an hour and saw it successfully catch one mouse-like critter, perhaps a vole. This Cross Fox was photographed near Esker Lakes Provincial Park in Ontario.
