Of course, wherever there are fornicating grasshoppers, there’s sure to be a nice romantic double rainbow nearby. This was taken Sunday night in the Fakahatchee Strand area of Big Cypress National Preserve in southwestern Florida.
I had to be in Florida on Friday for work so I figured I’d stay the weekend and search for newly hatched baby alligators, Florida panthers and the state’s spectacular birdlife. What I ended up with were fornicating grasshoppers. These three inch lovers are called eastern Lubber grasshoppers, or, as they are more commonly known, Florida giant orange grasshoppers. Â They move quite awkwardly and slowly and can only jump short distances. They are, however, toxic to most predators and their bright coloration acts as a warning sign.
We were on our way to go visit the meerkats one morning in the Makgadikgadi Pan area of the Kalahari Desert when we came across this baby steenbok blocking the road. From the photo, it’s tough to get a sense of scale, but this guy was tiny. Not much bigger than the average housecat. We couldn’t see the mother, but she was most likely hiding in the bushes somewhere nearby.
Looks like a bit of a domestic squabble here between these two lions. Laying in the grass behind them were six cubs – three belonging to this mating pair and three belonging to another mating pair in the pride.
This is a red-knobbed hornbill from Tangkoko National Park in Sulawesi, Indonesia. From the top of the head to the tip of the tail, these hornbills can be four to five feet long. It was quite a sight to see (and hear) them flying through the forest. Usually timid of humans, this particular bird allowed me to take quite a few photos before flying off.
Wildebeest don’t get much respect. In fact, their awkwardly gangly appearance has led to the description — made up of all the unwanted parts from all the other animals on the savannah. They also happen to be very tasty to top predators like lions. Usually they roam in large herds, but this guy was walking alone across the desert in the Central Kalahari — an area not particularly teaming with predators, but certainly not devoid of any either.
Every now and again, the meerkats would make a mad dash across the open sections of the salt pan. It was in these grassless areas that they were more susceptible to predators. I was never quite sure which direction they would run, but occasionally I guessed right and was able to get into position to get shots of them running toward camera.
Yes, this is, in fact, a wild animal. I know it looks like a common housecat but it is an African wild cat. And yes, it is about the same size as a domestic cat. I saw three of these guys in Botswana, always at night. This one was perched on top of a termite mound in the Okavango Delta.
It was getting very dark when we saw this leopard in the Okavango Delta of Botswana, but we were able to track her for a while and get the occasional good look. I liked when she paused in this almost circular clearing in the thick bush.
Last winter I posted a vertical photo of these calla lilies. Here’s a horizontal version where you can see the little creek that runs into the ocean. The location is Garrapata State Park in northern Big Sur, California.