Wildlife Chat, News and Photos

[Alpha1]

Please share anything wildlife here, on this thread...thanks!
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Here's a couple of pictures I took of some deer in the area behind my house.

Deer watching.jpgDeer.jpg

[Alpha1]

A couple of shots I took of Elk...


ELK.jpgELK2.jpg

[Alpha1]

Was watchin' my back, in case mama was close by.


MOOSE.jpgMOOSE2.jpg

[skarlett88]

Great pics Alpha1! You're lucky to have so much wildlife around you. Here are a couple pics I have taken of the wildlife out West (BC). Wildlife photography is one of my hobbies so I have a good camera for the job ^_^

A heron (I think) on the shores of Denman Island:
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A deer in the interior of BC. I later saw her with two spotted young ones, but unfortunately didn't have my camera!
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[Alpha1]

British Columbia has some beautiful scenery and chock full of wildlife, we've been there before while camping. Those photos you took are great, thanks for sharing.

My camera is just an older pocket camera, but it's water-resistant and does the job for me. It's a 4 Megapixel Pentax. There are times though, especially when taking distant pics, like a bird high in a tree, that I'd like a better zoom feature.

Years back, I had a more elaborate camera, but it seemed by the time I set it up properly, the animal was gone. We were driving on a dirt back road in British Columbia when a beautiful Grizzly bear walked across in front of us. Looking back, I should've spent every second admiring the beautiful golden brown coat on this massive bear, instead of wasting time fumbling with the camera.

[skarlett88]

A camera can definitely be more of a burden than it's worth when you're out in the wild like that, and I can't believe you saw a grizzly bear! I have not seen one YET. What part of BC did you go camping in? I have enjoyed both the Kootenays and the Comox Valley.

A woodpecker near Kootenay Lake, British Columbia.
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And here's a photo I took of a very friendly squirrel. He hung around for a while and was "talking" so I figured he was posing just for my camera. ^_^
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I use a Fujifilm Finepix S2100 10 megapixels and 15x zoom. I bought it off ebay primarily for the zoom feature and I love it. It's a mid range, so not too burdensome when out exploring. But it doesn't fit in my pocket either.

[Alpha1]

Nice shot of the woodpecker, and the squirrel is so cute! We drove and camped throughout BC, it was a long time ago, and we also spent time in the Yukon and Northwest Territories in the past. Looking to visit Canada and Alaska again sometime in the future. Wild and wonderful country to be sure!

[Alpha1]

By Agence France-Presse
Tiny primate ‘talks’ in ultrasound

One of the world’s smallest primates, the Philippine tarsier, communicates
in a range of ultrasound inaudible to predator and prey alike, according to
a study published on Wednesday.



No bigger than a man’s hand, Tarsius syrichta can hear and emit sounds at a
frequency that effectively gives it a private channel for issuing warnings
or ferreting out crickets for a nighttime snack, the study found.

Only a handful of mammals are known to be able to send and receive vocal
signals in the ultrasound range, above 20 kilohertz (kHz), including some
whales, domestic cats and a few of the many species of bats.

And few of these can squeal, screech or squawk at the same sonic altitudes
as the saucer-eyed tarsier, which up to now had been mistakenly described as
being “ordinarily silent,” researchers found.
Its finely-tuned ears are capable of picking up frequencies above 90 kHz,
and it can vocalise in a range around 70 kHz.

By comparison, humans generally can’t hear anything above 20 kHz, and a dog
whistle is pitched to between 22 and 23 kHz.
A team of scientists from the United States and the Philippines led by
Marissa Ramsier of Humboldt State University in California gathered their
inaudible results in two ways.

First they captured six of the docile nocturnal creatures and placed them
inside custom-build sound chambers to test their sensitivity to high-pitched
sounds.
After the experiments, the rare and endangered animals were returned
unharmed to their natural habitat, on the Philippine island of Mindanao.
To measure the frequency of the tarsier’s ultrasound chatter, the
researchers recorded another 35 specimens in the wild.

“The minimum frequency of the call — 67 kHz — is the highest value of any
terrestrial mammal, excluding bats and some rodents,” said the study,
published in the British Royal Society’s Biology Letters.
What advantages do the tarsier’s high-end vocal acrobatics confer? There are
several, the researchers suggest.
One is being able to sound a silent alarm.



“Ultrasonic calls can be advantageous to both the signaller and receiver as
they are potentially difficult for predators to detect and localise,” the
researchers explain.

The tarsier’s exceptional hearing may also facilitate acoustic eavesdropping
on noises emitted by prey, which range from crickets and cockroaches –
their staple diet — to the occasional moth, katydid or hatchling bird.
Finally, the study speculates, being able to communicate in ultrasonic
ranges filters out all the low-frequency “noise” and hubbub of a tropical
environment.

Tarsier’s have five-digit hands that eerily resemble — in emaciated form –
their human counterparts.
Lacking the typical “night vision” of other nocturnal creatures, they also
have — in relation to their body size — the largest eyes of any primate on
Earth.

[Alpha1]

Nice story of how a deer became protective of a mother goose.

Quote:

Bambi Protects Mother Goose by Rebecca (animaltalk.us) on April 9, 2011 in Animal Pictures,Animal Stories,Cute Animal Pictures,Unusual Friends BUFFALO, NY – It’s a scene right out of a Disney movie, a mother goose has lost her lifelong mate and was left alone to create and tend to her nest. She spends the day sheltering her eggs from the cold spring air inside an empty cemetery urn chosen as home. The loss of her male partner now makes her vulnerable to any would-be predators who choose to approach the nest. But, in an unlikely twist of fate, an adult deer has befriended the mother goose, taking over the role of protector. This animal arrangement is highly unusual, since there’s no known way that a deer and goose can communicate. Yet somehow the deer has come to understand the need of the nesting mother. The deer now spends its days near the urn acting as guardian when needed. As passersby approach the area the deer stands and places itself between the person and the nesting goose. On one occasion the deer even took a protective stance taking on a barking dog near the area of the urn. How this nature story ends is anyone’s guess, and there’s no telling if the deer and goose will part ways after the goslings hatch or whether this special friendship will continue beyond the nest. Either way we’ll keep a watchful eye on these two friends and let you know how it works out. Meteorologist Andy Parker http://northbuffalo.wgrz.com/news/environment/bambi-protects-mother-goose/54141

[skarlett88]

By Agence France-Presse
Tiny primate ‘talks’ in ultrasound

One of the world’s smallest primates, the Philippine tarsier, communicates
in a range of ultrasound inaudible to predator and prey alike, according to
a study published on Wednesday.

Wow, that's one neat creature! and the first photo seriously reminds me of Yoda. I wonder if this was some inspiration. Interesting!

[skarlett88]

Nice story of how a deer became protective of a mother goose.

Inter-species bonding is always such an amazing thing! Maybe they don't speak each other's language, but if you pay attention you can still understand what another needs. (I think.)

[Alpha1]

Inter-species bonding is always such an amazing thing! Maybe they don't speak each other's language, but if you pay attention you can still understand what another needs. (I think.)

I agree, I absolutely think we can all understand each others needs if we pay attention and are open-minded.

[Alpha1]

Pics of a young deer I took while on vacation...


YOUNG DEER.jpgDeer2.jpg

[wombat]

I love all the wild animal pictures and the mountainous scenery where you live is beautiful too Alpha1.I will have to see if I can find some wild animals to take pics of, about six months ago we had a big grey kangaroo jumping up the walking track oposite our house, but he was too fast to get a snap of, they only ever come down this way if green grass is scarce in summer, as it was he was probably feeding on the nice green grass down at the play ground as the council keeps it watered and green.

[skarlett88]

I would certainly love to see photos of those kangaroos wombat! You're lucky to live "down under" with all those strange and beautiful creatures.