This is a young (pup) Eastern spotted skunk (Spilogale putoius). They are a fairly unknown species in the Eastern half of the United States. I study them and other carnivores in Missouri where I was getting my PHD. From 1940-1980 their population numbers throughout their range declined precipitously by 99% (conservative estimate). They are excellent tree climber like gray fox, they do have a smelly scent gland for defense like the better known striped skunk, but they only weight about 2-3 pounds so they are much smaller by half. Curious and highly intelligent, they are actually better mousers than cats. This was an abandoned one that we took in and raised for educational presentations. It’s affectionately called Charley “Squirt” Whiff!
STALKING TIGER Slowly through the grass / The tiger stalked his prey / His movement long and languid / In the middle of the day / The sun was high and bright / As a vivid burning orb / His body moving slowly / Less heat there to absorb / Gazelles were moving fitfully / Around the waterhole / Nervous eyes were flitting wildly / As the world they did behold / A movement in the distance / And the animals did jump / The nerve ends all a jangling / Each one with quivering rump / Then like avenging angels / The tiger now does pounce / Gazelles are scattering wildly / With a death like spinning dance / And one of them is slower / No longer held at bay / The tiger now triumphant / As it finishes its prey Phil Sanders (aka Brummieboy) / 5/4/07 Thanks for the wonderful poem Phil!
Blue-winged teal. Eagle Bluffs CA, Missouri.
Green katydid grasshopper
This is the spring counterpart to my other Barred owl called Winter’s watchman Taken in the same general area in April 2005. You can tell he was just in the swampy water below, either bathing or chasing after a snake to eat, by the wetness present on his feathers.
St. Louis Arch – Gateway to the West.
Not sure of the Name of this Owl. Photo taken at the World Bird Sanctuary in St. Louis, Mo. 50% of any sales of this photo will be donated to the worldbirdsanctuary.org
The Gateway Arch, St. Louis, Missouri / / It was raining and extremely foggy, so this is the clearest shot I could get, but it just shows how high up it is to be enveloped by clouds. / / / / The Arch is the tallest national monument in the United States at 630 feet; it is the city’s best known landmark and a popular tourist attraction. / / Construction began February 12, 1963 and the last section of the Arch was put into place on October 28, 1965. / / The Arch is a structure known as a catenary curve, the shape a free-hanging chain takes when held at both ends, and considered the most structurally-sound arch shape. The span of the Arch legs at ground level is 630 feet, the same as its height. / / Each year, approximately a million visitors ride the trams to the top of the Arch. The trams have been in operation for over 30 years, traveling a total of 250,000 miles and carrying over 25 million passengers. / / The Arch weighs 17,246 tons. Nine hundred tons of stainless steel was used to build the Arch, more than any other project in history. / / The Arch was built at a cost of $13 million. The transportation system was built at a cost of $3,500,000. / / In order to ensure that the constructed legs would meet, the margin of error for failure was 1/64th of an inch. All survey work was done at night to eliminate distortion caused by the sun’s rays. Since the Arch was constructed before the advent of computer technology, relatively crude instruments were used for these measurements. / / The Arch sways a maximum of 18” (9” each way) in a 150 mph wind. The usual sway is 1/2”.
Image by photographer Glennis Siverson, www.glennisphotos.com. Captured in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Canon 5D with 17-40 mm lens mounted on a tripod. I also used a Canon EX580 flash and fired it twice, off the camera without any TTL or other readings, holding it off to the right of the image above.
Dedicated to my favorite Baseball team, St. Louis Cardinals.
Wild American kestrel (Falco sparverius) in flight, stooping from left to right (Taken at Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area, 5 miles southwest of Columbia, Missouri). Perhaps the most colorful raptor in the world, the American Kestrel is the most common falcon in North America. It is found from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, and in towns as well as wild lands. Identifying marks inlcude small size, rufous back and tail, and two dark mustache marks on face. Male has blue-gray wings and a lightly spotted chest and belly. The larger female has rufous wings barred with black, and streaking on the chest. This particular bird is a female. Their call is a loud series of “klee-klee-klee” notes when excited. As with many other raptors in North America, their population n umbers dramatically declined in the 1950’s and 1960’s, but have increased greatly in recent decades with increasing deforestation of North America. They are aslo commonly called Sparrow hawk. Although hover-hunting is conspicuous, this foraging method actually is used rather infrequently. It is used most often when suitable perches are not available, or when winds are strong enough to create updrafts favorable to hovering. In winter in many southern parts of the range, female and male American Kestrels use different habitats. The female uses the preferred more open habitat, and the male uses areas with more trees. This situation appears to be the result of the females migrating south first and establishing winter territories. The males then are forced into the less preferred areas. Nestling kestrels back up, raise their tails, and squirt feces onto the walls of the nest cavity. The feces dry on the cavity walls and stay off the nestlings. The nest gets to be a smelly place, with feces on the walls and uneaten parts of small animals on the floor. Source used to construct this page: Smallwood, J. A., and D. M. Bird. 2002. American Kestrel (Falco sparverius). In The Birds of North America, No. 602 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. MORE INFO ON Am. Kestrel HERE 100% of all proceeds from sales of this image will go to the HawkWatch International DONATE ONLINE
Sumatran tiger – original photograph, digitally accented. Captive animal. / / Name: Panthera tigris sumatrae (Sumatran Tiger) Description: The Sumatran tiger has the darkest coat of all tigers. Its broad, black stripes are closely spaced and often doubled. Unlike the Siberian tiger, it has striped forelegs. Sumatran tigers are the smallest tiger subspecies. Males average 2.4 meters (8 feet) in length from head to tail and weigh about 120 kilograms (264 pounds). Females measure approximately 2.2 meters (7 feet) in length and weigh about 90 kilograms (198 pounds). Distribution: The Sumatran tiger is found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra in habitat that ranges from lowland forest to submontain and montain forest with some peat-moss forest. Biology: The Sumatran tiger eats wild pig, big deer (called rusa), and small deer (called muntjak or barking deer). The specific range size of this tiger is not know, however the population density is approximately 4–5 adult tigers/100 km 2 (39 mile 2) in optimal lowland rainforest. As elevation increases through submontain and montain forests, the number of tigers in any given area decreases because there is less prey available. Status in the wild: 400-500 wild Sumatran tigers were believed to exist in 1998, primarily in the island’s national park areas, but no island-wide census or monitoring system has been possible. Tiger numbers have continued to decline because of poaching of tigers to supply the illegal trade in tiger parts. The last remnants of lowland forest are being eliminated to establish oil palm plantations and for shifting agriculture by recent settlers from other areas of Sumatra and Indonesia. Ongoing road development makes many formerly inaccessible mountain areas accessible to illegal logging even on the steepest slopes, and many mountainous areas are being converted into plantations for coffee and other products for international markets. Tigers are legally protected but are not highly valued. Captive breeding: For three years, the Indonesian Zoological Parks’ Association (PKBSI) has been working with the Tiger Global Conservation Strategy to develop a conservation program for Sumatran tigers. In addition to the 65 Sumatran tigers living in Indonesian zoos, there are 55 tigers managed by North American zoos, 100 in European zoos, and 12 in Australasian zoos. This captive population is descended from 37 wild-caught founders. The Indonesian Sumatran Tiger Masterplan now has the potential to function as the heart of the Sumatran tiger population worldwide. It is designed to preserve sufficient genetic diversity to reinforce both captive and wild populations, thus fulfilling its goal to ensure that the in situ tiger program comprises verifiable founders permanently identified and registered in the Indonesian Sumatran Tiger Studbook. It also extends the capabilities of Indonesian zoo staff to professionally manage their tiger programs in Indonesia, and at the same time serves as a model for other range country tiger management programs in Southeast Asia.
Another Sumatran tiger, taken in the Dickinson Park Zoo. Name: Panthera tigris sumatrae (Sumatran Tiger) Description: The Sumatran tiger has the darkest coat of all tigers. Its broad, black stripes are closely spaced and often doubled. Unlike the Siberian tiger, it has striped forelegs. Sumatran tigers are the smallest tiger subspecies. Males average 2.4 meters (8 feet) in length from head to tail and weigh about 120 kilograms (264 pounds). Females measure approximately 2.2 meters (7 feet) in length and weigh about 90 kilograms (198 pounds). Distribution: The Sumatran tiger is found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra in habitat that ranges from lowland forest to submontain and montain forest with some peat-moss forest. Biology: The Sumatran tiger eats wild pig, big deer (called rusa), and small deer (called muntjak or barking deer). The specific range size of this tiger is not know, however the population density is approximately 4–5 adult tigers/100 km 2 (39 mile 2) in optimal lowland rainforest. As elevation increases through submontain and montain forests, the number of tigers in any given area decreases because there is less prey available. Status in the wild: 400-500 wild Sumatran tigers were believed to exist in 1998, primarily in the island’s national park areas, but no island-wide census or monitoring system has been possible. Tiger numbers have continued to decline because of poaching of tigers to supply the illegal trade in tiger parts. The last remnants of lowland forest are being eliminated to establish oil palm plantations and for shifting agriculture by recent settlers from other areas of Sumatra and Indonesia. Ongoing road development makes many formerly inaccessible mountain areas accessible to illegal logging even on the steepest slopes, and many mountainous areas are being converted into plantations for coffee and other products for international markets. Tigers are legally protected but are not highly valued. Captive breeding: For three years, the Indonesian Zoological Parks’ Association (PKBSI) has been working with the Tiger Global Conservation Strategy to develop a conservation program for Sumatran tigers. In addition to the 65 Sumatran tigers living in Indonesian zoos, there are 55 tigers managed by North American zoos, 100 in European zoos, and 12 in Australasian zoos. This captive population is descended from 37 wild-caught founders. The Indonesian Sumatran Tiger Masterplan now has the potential to function as the heart of the Sumatran tiger population worldwide. It is designed to preserve sufficient genetic diversity to reinforce both captive and wild populations, thus fulfilling its goal to ensure that the in situ tiger program comprises verifiable founders permanently identified and registered in the Indonesian Sumatran Tiger Studbook. It also extends the capabilities of Indonesian zoo staff to professionally manage their tiger programs in Indonesia, and at the same time serves as a model for other range country tiger management programs in Southeast Asia.
Hummingbird getting ready to land on the feeder. Canon 40D, Canon 70mm-200mm lens.
Name: Panthera tigris sumatrae (Sumatran Tiger) Description: The Sumatran tiger has the darkest coat of all tigers. Its broad, black stripes are closely spaced and often doubled. Unlike the Siberian tiger, it has striped forelegs. Sumatran tigers are the smallest tiger subspecies. Males average 2.4 meters (8 feet) in length from head to tail and weigh about 120 kilograms (264 pounds). Females measure approximately 2.2 meters (7 feet) in length and weigh about 90 kilograms (198 pounds). Distribution: The Sumatran tiger is found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra in habitat that ranges from lowland forest to submontain and montain forest with some peat-moss forest. Biology: The Sumatran tiger eats wild pig, big deer (called rusa), and small deer (called muntjak or barking deer). The specific range size of this tiger is not know, however the population density is approximately 4–5 adult tigers/100 km 2 (39 mile 2) in optimal lowland rainforest. As elevation increases through submontain and montain forests, the number of tigers in any given area decreases because there is less prey available. Status in the wild: 400-500 wild Sumatran tigers were believed to exist in 1998, primarily in the island’s national park areas, but no island-wide census or monitoring system has been possible. Tiger numbers have continued to decline because of poaching of tigers to supply the illegal trade in tiger parts. The last remnants of lowland forest are being eliminated to establish oil palm plantations and for shifting agriculture by recent settlers from other areas of Sumatra and Indonesia. Ongoing road development makes many formerly inaccessible mountain areas accessible to illegal logging even on the steepest slopes, and many mountainous areas are being converted into plantations for coffee and other products for international markets. Tigers are legally protected but are not highly valued. Captive breeding: For three years, the Indonesian Zoological Parks’ Association (PKBSI) has been working with the Tiger Global Conservation Strategy to develop a conservation program for Sumatran tigers. In addition to the 65 Sumatran tigers living in Indonesian zoos, there are 55 tigers managed by North American zoos, 100 in European zoos, and 12 in Australasian zoos. This captive population is descended from 37 wild-caught founders. The Indonesian Sumatran Tiger Masterplan now has the potential to function as the heart of the Sumatran tiger population worldwide. It is designed to preserve sufficient genetic diversity to reinforce both captive and wild populations, thus fulfilling its goal to ensure that the in situ tiger program comprises verifiable founders permanently identified and registered in the Indonesian Sumatran Tiger Studbook. It also extends the capabilities of Indonesian zoo staff to professionally manage their tiger programs in Indonesia, and at the same time serves as a model for other range country tiger management programs in Southeast Asia.
This is an unedited photo taken of a summer trip. I loved the feel of this. I was shopping , on my way to get my nails done, and then I turned the corner. This was staring at me and I took the shot. At first, I was wishing the man at the door would move, but actually, he has grown on me with time! I hope you enjoy it like i do! ST. LOUIS< MISSOURI
Okay, I was mesmerized by the reflection of the street and buildings that abstracted the paintings in the art gallery window. This is one of 8 paintings for a commission I landed with a corporate client. Original ptg: 32” x 32” / acrylic on canvas private collection
Have you ever had that project or painting that just wanted to frustrate your best efforts? This painting had me half-crazy. Something about painting fluourescent lights that just bugged my hand/eye coordination. I painted and repainted and painted and ran stark-raving mad out of the studio several times. Then, it finally acquiesced to my persistence. That’s why I titled it SGURD. . . which is DRUGS spelled backward. OK, there’s a drugstore in the background, too. Original ptg: 32” x 32” / acrylic on canvas private collection
This photo reminded me of the SNL skit. What do you think…..Canon 50D, Canon 70mm-200mm f/4 L lens.
Bluejay at Forest Park, St Louis Missouri, Feb 2009 /
Phase One Infrared Camera
A little Photoshop “magic”
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