Merry Christmas to all Zafodians and to all the pets around the world.
Dolphin gets playful with a dog
Golden Retriever playing with dolphin in Australian waters (April 2017)
Macaws are a group of New World parrots that are long-tailed and often colorful. The macaws shown here are from Central (i.e. Costa Rica) and South (i.e. Brazil and Bolivia) America.
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Chameleons, with the occasional dragonfly emergency landing. 😀
Chameleons' eyes are independently mobile, and because of this the chameleon’s brain is constantly analysing two separate, individual images of its environment.
Is this grey seal hovering in a gliding motion over a sandy beach? The illusion is all down to this photo's focus and perspective (courtesy of Frederic Desmette), which captured our seal friend precisely in the midst of a flop whilst it was just an inch off the ground, as it was making its way to the sea to get its lunch. Quite a mind trick, wouldn't you agree?
No trip to Olympic National Park in the state of Washington would be complete without a stop at the Tree of Life, a mysterious tree suspended in the air over a parted cliff along the Pacific coast, clinging to the earth by just a few roots.
Originally the Tree of Life was just another spruce tree, but then, in the 1960s, at Kalaloch Campground, near the Kalaloch Lodge, a culvert was built to redirect water just a few hundred yards away. A minor bit of engineering, but that newly directed water made its way to the beach and began to carve out a tiny canyon — one that moved right under this spruce tree growing on the sandy bluff.
Shaped like a giant bonsai, its upper limbs have grown to endure the winds off the ocean. A stream trickles underneath, a modest burble that has nevertheless sculpted a cavern into being, washing away enough clay and dirt underneath the tree to expose its tentacles, whilst its remaining anchors clutch either side even as many of its roots now reach to nowhere.
A natural wonder, something delicate yet representing enormous tenacity, the Tree of Life has become one of the Olympic Peninsula’s best-known attractions.
The puma, a large cat native to the Americas, is the most widely distributed wild, terrestrial mammal in that region. It holds the Guinness world record for the animal with the greatest number of names, with over 40 in English alone, such as cougar, panther, and mountain lion.
Pumas can be found in most American habitat types, especially habitats with dense underbrush, and rocky areas for stalking, but can also be found in open areas. Pumas can live in all forest types, lowland and mountainous deserts, as well as in open areas that have little vegetation up to an elevation of 5,800 m.
Shown here (from top) are two cubs running over shallow water that has frozen over, a stalking puma, and lastly a puma looking regal at night in the Andes.
The Joshua tree, native to the Mojave Desert, is known for its unique and almost alien-look. It’s got a fibrous trunk that rises straight up and branches out into what looks like smaller trunks with spiky brushes at its tips.
Joshua trees aren’t actually trees — they’re succulents, a type of plant that stores water. In their dry ecosystems, however, they are considered trees of the desert. The Joshua tree is an important part of the Mojave Desert ecosystem, providing habitat for numerous birds, mammals, insects, and lizards. Joshua tree forests tell a story of survival, resilience, and beauty borne through perseverance.
The Joshua tree, which grows in fiercely adverse conditions, was seen by the Irish rock band U2 as a symbol of faith and hope amidst the dry and barren desert.
Kind rescue of three-toed mama sloth, and her baby
A traffic police officer assists a three-toed sloth in crossing a busy asphalt road, but later he discovers her baby hiding timidly in the tall grass on the other side of the road!
