This little critter was captured during a camping trip at Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park in Ontario. There are two species of chipmunks in Ontario, this being the most common species and the least chipmunk being the other.
Photographing chipmunks is practically a camping tradition, so coming up with a different composition can be a challenge. I liked this one for how the foliage from the fern helped frame the chipmunk and put him in his natural environment.
It all began with a quiet scratching sound emanating from within the wall. Just beside my bed. Gradually the sound got louder, quicker. Then it was gone…
I’d been in Borneo for about a week, spending time exploring Mt. Kinabalu and most of the Sabah region.
It had mostly been a urban adventure up to now, cities and night markets and beaches and BBQ’s. But we had now arrived in a more wild part of Borneo.
The Kinabatangan River. This river is one of the last great wildlife refuges in Borneo where orangutans, pygmy elephants, rhinos, proboscis monkeys and an abundance of bird life still flourish.
It is also home to Geckozilla.
Now, I love Gecko’s. They’re usually a cool green colour, move kind of funny and remind me I’m in a tropical place – not at home. I admire the way they seem to glue themselves to walls and stealthily stalk flies and other prey, even smaller Gecko’s. Indeed, Gecko’s had a happy place in my travel heart – until I encountered Geckozilla.
Some memories are a bit fuzzy, perhaps subconsciously hidden in the deep, dark parts of my brain for my own sanity. But I’ll try to piece together the events leading up to when I was attacked by Geckozilla.
Day 1
Arrival at our jungle camp along the Kinabatangan River in Borneo. There are friendly land monitors and big birds hanging around. Our lodge is only accessible by boat, or a very lengthy hike through the jungle. A bit of paradise. The only place you might get a cell phone signal is right at the river’s edge.
I didn’t even try, I was there to enjoy nature.
All seems peaceful and relaxed. The lodge owner talks politics and likes that I’m from Canada. I drop off my bag in the simple rustic chalet, then head off for a longboat ride down the river in search of wildlife.
Monkeys, hornbills and more delight us all. We return back to the lodge for dinner and a much needed rest.
As I turn off the lights and lay my head down I hear a rustling inside the wall. Something wants to get out.
I turn over and ignore it, but it won’t go away.
Like the childhood boogeyman in the closet I take the ‘if you can’t see it, it doesn’t exist’ approach and put on some headphones. It works to drown out the noise, until the pauses between songs. Exhausted, I finally fall asleep.
Day 2 Early Morning
Waking early in hopes of more wildlife sightings I mention the thing living in the wall to my room mate. His non-reaction does little to calm my nerves. Seems he didn’t hear it.
Looking at the wall beside my bed I notice a rather large metal grate. About mattress height off the floor, and about a foot from where my head was lying at night. It seems out of place and serves no real function. Then it dawns on me that the grate is there for a singular purpose – to ensure the thing living in the wall, stays in the wall. Crap.
Heading off to breakfast I point the grate out to my room mate. He is slowly coming around and no longer thinks I am delusional about the thing living in the wall.
Day 2 Late Morning
Lots of birds and two wild orangutans were the highlight of the morning boat journey. Everyone is happy. We return from the boat ride and head to our cabins to prepare for a jungle walk to get closer to the critters of Borneo.
Back in the cabin there are no signs of foul play or animals lurking where they don’t belong. The wall is quiet.
Then something catches my eye as I go to leave the cabin. It’s in the shadows and scurries away. A Gecko, I think…but it seemed awfully large. Hmmm. No time to investigate, must head off on a jungle hike…
Day 2 Early Evening
Quiet time in the cabin to get cleaned up, do some reading and wait for dinner. We’d had an extra amazing afternoon. Reports of pygmy elephants down the river proved fruitful and we had seen some of the most amazing creatures in all of Borneo, plus more proboscis monkeys.
The creature in the wall and the large Gecko-like thing I saw were now the main topic of conversation in our cabin. Was it a Gecko? How big was it? How was it making so much noise when they’re usually so quiet? Both my room mate and I were a bit on edge now. Time for some beers and some food to take that edge off.
Day 2 Night
After celebrating a friend’s birthday late into the night, we’re happily fed and full of beer as we return to our cabin.
With the flick of the light switch, we immediately notice something different. There is a large object on the wall. There it goes -scurrying across the wall towards the bathroom!
We cautiously approach and see what must be the largest Gecko in the world. Both my room mate and I are spellbound by it’s size. It’s more brown than green, and blends in well with the wood cabin. But it is just a Gecko, and a huge sense of relief comes over us. Sure, probably it was just this big Gecko making those noises in the wall. Ha, funny…being afraid of a Gecko. We have a good chuckle.
Not long after, it’s time for sleep.
I find myself standing in the small bathroom, brushing my teeth. The Gecko of unbelievable size has scurried into the corner of the shower and is watching me intently. He chirps a couple of times from the relative darkness. How nice. Cute big Gecko.
Then it happens…he attacks!
Without provocation, without warning. As I’m brush my teeth, Geckozilla lunges from his perch high above my head and comes sailing down, head first, legs out, directly for me! I spot his attack from the corner of my eye and move slightly. He misses, but lands on my foot! I’ve been hit!
I let out a series of incoherent expletives and jump back out of the bathroom.
My room mate comes to investigate and I tell him I’ve been attacked by Geckozilla. It’s not a friendly Gecko after all, this is a blood-sucking man-eater of a Gecko. The lunge must’ve been at least 10 feet, a jump that surely would have injured a lesser Gecko.
Grabbing cameras, we both peer back into the bathroom, trying to locate the killer Gecko. Where is Geckozilla hiding?
He scampers from under the sink over the the shower and makes a run for the shower drain (half the size of the wall grate beside my bed). It’s closed. He can’t escape back to his lair inside the walls from there. He runs up the wall and towards the window, sneaking outside through a thin crack.
With the heart beat back to normal, I finish brushing my teeth.
Turning the bathroom light off we joke about Geckozilla and his brazen attempt on my life. Crazy how such an innocent looking creature could create so much noise in the wall. We’re just happy that he’s out of the cabin and we can get a good night’s sleep tonight.
I head to bed. Cabin light is turned off. Room mate and I say goodnight, thoughts moving on towards tomorrow.
A few seconds later there is a loud scratching a clawing at the grate beside my bed. But this time it goes on longer. It’s louder. Something is about to break through!
Then there is the sound of claws running up the other side of the wall, across the ceiling towards the end of our cabin, where the bathroom is. Finally, a loud metal crashing sound as the beast, the thing living in the wall, leapt from the roof of our cabin into the nearby jungle trees.
‘What the f@ck was that!?’ was all we said.
This little guy was lounging around at Half Moon Island when I visited Antarctica many years ago. This was taken with a borrowed camera, the first SLR I ever used. It was during this trip that my appreciation for the art of photography began to grow (as well as my obsessions with penguins). Five cameras later it is safe to say that photographic spark in Antarctica has now become a passion.
This is the second post in a three-part Everglades series during National Parks Week in the US. The first post was on Shark Valley.
Wildlife galore! The Anhinga Trail in the Everglades National Park was so nice I went there twice – in the same day.
Only 4 miles form the park entrance at Homestead, the Anhinga Trail is a short, flat trail that is partly along a paved route and partly along an over-water boardwalk. At less than 1 mile in length it had a surprisingly large number of creatures to keep me busy. I knew this trail would be a treat right away as pesky vultures and other big birds were hovering around the parking lot when I arrived.
The trail namesake – the Anhinga – is a bird that can be seen fishing and sunning itself in the trees beside the trail. Now, usually I am nto a bird-person, and I don’t quite get ‘birders’, but I’m open to any wildlife experience. With that said – I think I was extra lucky to find an Anhinga family perched in a nest near the trail, posing perfectly for photos. Not only did I get to see fluffy baby Anhinga birds, but I saw their parents fishing in the nearby waters and actually feeding the youngsters. Man those birds were hungry!
I also saw my first ‘mobile’ Alligator here. Over at Shark Valley I had only seen them swimming or lounging around on land. So I couldn’t really appreciate the size and shape of these prehistoric creatures. But, lucky again, I saw one walking along the sandy beach between two waterways. I had expected it to more or less slide along and drag it’s tail around, like a snake, but it actually picked up it’s entire body as it walked along, before vanishing back into the water. Pretty cool.
After these right place at the right time moments I ventured along the entire trail boardwalk for about half an hour, watching Alligators swim all around. It was a perfectly sunny day, so after the Anhinga Trail I drove on through the Everglades to hike a couple of smaller trails in the hot afternoon. But on the way home, at sunset, I had to stop by the Anhinga Trail again and get more photos during the golden hour of light.
With the hot sun fading, the Alligators weren’t as plentiful – they seemed to retreat back away from the trail boardwalk at this time of day.
The Anhinga birds were no longer feeding their young either, but there were all sorts of herons, including the Great Blue Heron, and other birds flying around or stealthily stalking their dinner. Overall, the Anhinga trail provided a very impressive wildlife show for such an accessible destination, and I’d have to give it a very slight edge over Shark Valley for my favourite trail and wildlife experience in the Everglades.
More bird photos from the Anhinga Trail in Everglades National Park:
This little guy was the first baby Alligator I saw in Everglades National Park. Great camouflage to these guys!
