View allAll Photos Tagged coldblooded
A River Otter (Lontra Canadensis) enjoying a meal of it's freash caught Red-Eared Slider (Tachemys Scripta Elegans) in Luces Bayou, Lake Houston, Houston, Texas, USA. To have my first Otter photograph to be this awesome is amazing. I was in my kayak and paddling to photograph this bird when I saw movement to my right. I picked up my camera and focused to see this little guy having lunch. I snapped off a few shots with the intention of moving to get a better angle, but he took off (with his turtle) right after snapping this shot. The IBIS in the OMD’s is amazing. This photo was taken handheld from a moving (slowly drifting by) kayak, while twisting body as far as possible to the right, at an effective 600mm, with a shutter speed of 1/320.
We think too small, like the frog at the bottom of the well. He thinks the sky is only as big as the top of the well. If he surfaced, he would have an entirely different view.
- Mao Tse-Tung
Island Of Madagascar
Off the East Coast of Africa
Palmarium Reserve
Best Viewed in Lightbox -
www.flickr.com/photos/42964440@N08/40368476312/in/photost...
Wikipedia-
The panther chameleon (Furcifer pardalis) is a species of chameleon found in the eastern and northern parts of Madagascar in a tropical forest biome.
Panther chameleons are zygodactylous: on each foot, the five toes are fused into a group of two and a group of three, giving the foot a tongs-like appearance. These specialized feet allow the panther chameleon a tight grip on narrow branches.
Their eyes are the most distinctive among the reptiles and function like a gun turret. They can rotate and focus separately to observe two different objects simultaneously; their eyes move independently from each other. It in effect gives them a full 360-degree arc of vision around their bodies.
Panther chameleons have very long tongues which they are capable of rapidly extending out of the mouth. The tongue extends at around 26 body lengths per second. The tongue hits the prey in about 0.0030 sec. At the base of the tongue, a bone is shot forward, giving the tongue the initial momentum it needs to reach the prey quickly. At the tip of this elastic tongue, a muscular, club-like structure covered in thick mucus forms a suction cup. Once the tip sticks to a prey item, it is drawn quickly back into the mouth, where the panther chameleon's strong jaws crush it and it is consumed.
After a very cold spell an American Alligator (Alligator Mississipiensis) enjoys a rare warm winter day on a small island in 40 Acre Lake at Brazos Bend State Park, Texas, USA.
For three days he laid on my table where I had placed him in the sun. Lifeless. But this morning when I went out to check on him, he was gone. I searched my fenced and gated yard in case a raccoon had dragged him off to feast on him, but he wasn't there either. Gone.
I hope he was up in the bamboo near me looking down at my concern. And chuckling.
Living in a Jungle
The American Alligator is one of the success stories of U.S. wildlife conservation. It was hunted nearly to extinction for its skin, which was used to make purses, boots and other leather goods. But in 1967, this species was placed on the endangered species list, which banned hunting these reptiles. Alligators made an amazing comeback. Today, they are no longer endangered, and some states even allow them to be hunted again.
American alligators are highly successful carnivorous predators. They have protection through bony plates called osteoderms, which line their back. Their long bodies, powerful tails, and webbed feet make them powerful, agile and swift in water. Their snouts are upward facing, which allows them to breathe while nearly completely submerged. Their coloration provides ideal camouflage; In passing, they almost look like floating logs!
-- American Alligator 'Did You Know'? --
‧ America alligators are part of the Alligatoridae family, which they share with other alligators and caiman.
‧ They live around freshwater-based habitats in the south and southeastern United States.
‧ The average male grows to about 11 feet (3.4 meters), while some become much longer.
‧ A female typically lays 35 to 50 eggs at one time.
‧ As an alligator's teeth are worn down, they are replaced. An alligator can go through 3,000 teeth in a lifetime.
‧ The sex of an egg is determined by temperature of its nest.
-- Technical Information (or Nerdy Stuff) --
‧ Camera - Nikon D7200 (handheld)
‧ Lens – Nikkor 18-300mm Zoom
‧ ISO – 2000
‧ Aperture – f/8
‧ Exposure – 1/2000 second
‧ Focal Length – 250mm
The original RAW file was processed with Adobe Camera Raw and final adjustments were made with Photoshop CS6.
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11
The best way to view my photostream is through Flickriver with the following link: www.flickriver.com/photos/photojourney57/
We are fortunate to have a number of Blue Tongue lizards in our garden.
I think it is in large part due to Caroiln's hard work over the last few years, transforming the garden into a native habitat for Australian animals, with an emphasis on plants that would have grown locally pre-European times. This attracts a lot of native flora and fauna desperate for habitat. We also designed features of the steps and garden to provide plenty of hiding places for them where cats and kookaburras cannot easily nab them.
Our neighbours house is mostly unoccupied, with a somewhat overgrown garden, which provides further range for them to live undisturbed.
Last year we had three or four blue tongues, although we did not see them for the latter half of the summer and worried that some devices we installed to try and deter cats had in fact deterred the lizards.
It has been wonderful over the past few weeks to see them more regularly in our garden once again. This morning, I scored the trifecta of seeing three on the stair way that leads to our front door.
The Northern Leopard Frog is named for the spots across its back that resemble that of a leopard. These frogs inhabit wetlands across North America. Sometimes they venture far from water and are found in pastures and meadows.
Northern leopard frogs play an important role transferring nutrients between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. They are an indicator species that reflect the health of the wetland ecosystems where they live. Currently these frogs are uncommon or rare in many areas but can be locally found in suitable habitat.
Quick fact: Neither frogs nor toads will give you warts!!!
Belgium.
Antwerp National Zoo.
Antwerp Zoo (Dutch: ZOO Antwerpen) is a zoo in the centre of Antwerp, Belgium, located next to the Antwerpen-Centraal railway station. It is the oldest animal park in the country, and one of the oldest in the world, established on 21 July 1843.
The Original Turtle Neck
A good look at where clothiers came up with the name for the Turtle-neck sweater.
Something cold ........ blooded.
One of the snakes that was brought to our local photography club this Thursday night, this one is a Pastel Pied Royal Python. Hayley regularly brings some of her varied managerie along for us to sharpen our macro skills.
I didn't handle this one, but I have handled some snakes in the past, and can say that they do not feel as you would expect, but they are very tactile.
124 Pictures in 2024, theme # 98 Something Cold
On our visit to Sakansen we went through the Aquarium where we found some very cool reptiles. This is a Green Emerald Boa Constrictor or a Green Tree Boa.
The Serpent's Blood
"Do you see it?" asked the teacher.
"Behind the rock," I replied.
It was a snake, brown and black, and slithering in the desert sand.
"What do you know about snakes?" he asked.
"I know to avoid them."
"Nothing more?"
"Not much."
"What you should know is that snakes are cold-blooded."
"Why is that important?"
"You're warm-blooded. And because you're warm-blooded, you can run and keep running. But a snake, being cold-blooded, is limited in its ability to endure, to keep going. Therefore, you can outlast it."
"That's good to know," I replied.
"In the Scriptures, the serpent is a symbol of evil."
"Why is that?"
"Not because snakes are evil in themselves but because they provide a representation of evil. They often move by twisting. And so the nature of evil is to twist. A lie is the twisting of the truth. The impure is the twisting of the pure. And evil, itself, is the twisting of the good."
"So then if snakes are cold-blooded, then, so, in some way, is evil?"
"Yes," said the teacher. "Evil is cold-blooded. What that means is this: Though evil may have its day, its victories, its time to move and strike - it remains cold-blooded. Therefore, it can never endure. No matter how powerful the evil may appear, no matter how triumphant and unstoppable it may seem, it cannot last. Deception is cold-blooded. Hatred is cold-blooded. Slander is cold-blooded. Oppression is cold-blooded. All evil is cold-blooded. And so the power of evil is only for the short-term and the momentary. Its days are always numbered. And in the long run, it always fails."
"But the good is not cold-blooded," I said.
"Yes," he said. "So, in the end, the good will always outlast the evil. Therefore, persevere in the good, keep going in what is true, keep standing for what is right, and you will overcome and prevail in the end."
The Mission: In the face of whatever evil, trouble, attack, or sin you're dealing with, don't give in. Don't give up. But press on in the good.
www.bible.com/reading-plans/3006-the-book-of-mysteries-14...
YES Their tongue's really are this blue. Beautiful creations these are. This one was found in our back yard so we saved her from our dog and moved her to the neighbours garden.
An American Alligator (Alligator Mississippiensis) slowly glides thru the moss covered lake at Brazos Bend State Park, Texas, USA.
Island Of Madagascar
Off The East Coast Of Africa
Berenty Reserve
Another image of the unknown chameleon I first posted from Madagascar, but this time I found out the name of the chameleon and changed it. The previous image shows the chameleon with a slightly different color pattern.
The first image can be seen in the first comment section.
Wikipedia-
Furcifer verrucosus, also known as the warty chameleon, spiny chameleon or crocodile chameleon, is a species of small reptile endemic to Madagascar. It was first described by Georges Cuvier in 1829.
The warty chameleon is found only on the island of Madagascar including Manderano in the Tulear region. It occurs over much of the west part of the island and in drier parts of the south. It is seldom found in primary rainforest but favours arid disturbed land, including near the sea. It is a terrestrial species and also climbs around in low bushes. In hot weather it sometimes retreats into a sandy burrow to keep cool.
There are two subspecies, Furcifer v. verrucosus and Furcifer v. semicristatus, the latter being found mainly in the southernmost part of the island. This chameleon is closely related to Oustalet's chameleon Furcifer oustaleti (Malagasy giant chameleon), the pair forming a species complex, but each member of the group may be a cryptic species (two species indistinguishable in the field and currently believed to be a single species) and the exact taxonomical relationship between members of the group is unclear.
The warty chameleon feeds largely on insects which it catches with its long sticky tongue. The female lays one clutch of 30 to 60 eggs a year and these are incubated for about 200 days. They hatch into juvenile chameleons which may take six months to a year to become mature.
© Jay Fine
"There are some who will say that Charlie Hebdo tempted the ire of Islamists one too many times, as if coldblooded murder is the price to pay for putting out a magazine. The massacre was motivated by hate. It is absurd to suggest that the way to avoid terrorist attacks is to let the terrorists dictate standards in a democracy." NY Times