March 16th, 2011

These amazingly fuzzy and funny looking creatures are just another species on my list of cute yet simultaneously frightening animals. I just feel constantly watched around them because of their huge eyes. It is just creepy and look slightly malevolent.

That is a face that screams, Yeah just get a little closer so I can bite your finger off. So creepy yet so fuzzy looking. It is like a death trap, you just want to get close and give it a pet but you know if you get too close it will eat your face. They are tricky animals, crazy one moment and totally zen the next.

What can I say, I am just attracted to deceiving animals. Why can’t they al just be simply cute?

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March 15th, 2011

Alpaca’s are fascinatingly ugly animals.With strange clumps of fur, jutting teeth, and eyes that watch you warily at all times; the alpaca is a shifty animal at best. I feel like I must constantly watch out for spit whenever I get near these animals. I have always felt something sinister about them and I think it is because of their teeth.

A face only a mother could love. Every time I look at a llama or alpaca I cringe. Yet for some reason I feel totally fascinated by them. I want to go in closer for a better look but my whole body screams stay back, it bites!

And then there is this guy.

This animal is terrifying in a sinisterly stupid way. Look at its eyes, so focused yet totally vacant, and its teeth just sticking out at odd angles. Evil I declare, and I will stay away because you frighten me. What else can I say?

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March 13th, 2011

Because I have so many photos from our zoo adventure I am going to break ti down for each animal we saw. The first is the Emu. An incredible creepy and slightly gross bird. Similar to an ostrich but weirder. There is only one thing I enjoy about emus, their eyes. They have such brightly colored eyes and it is there only redeeming feature to me.

Within an animals eyes lies all their beauty.

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March 12th, 2011

Sorry for the lack of posts… again. Life is hectic right now as my senior year brings me closer and closer to IB Exams. I have been working hard to catch up on my schooling after being gone for a week in Yellowstone.

However I got away from the hustle and bustle with some friends and took a road trip down to Cal Poly to see my brother. We went to the zoo and just hung out. More info on that will be coming over the next couple of days. I am hoping I will soon be back on track with posting. So here is a photo to tide you over, a funny look into the (inappropriate) life of Meerkats. (notice the guy just kind of chilling in the back ground watching).

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March 3rd, 2011

Today was our last day in Yellowstone and I can’t lie, it was pretty disappointing. The entire park was incredibly vacant of all life. There were so little animals that we saw almost nothing. This includes wolves. For the second year I am walking away from Yellowstone without a photo of a wolf. It is disappointing but I can not forget what a wonderful experience I have been blessed with. I got to see a fox, coyotes, eagles, buffalo, big horn sheep, and many other things. I have had a wonderful time but I really want to see the wolves.

Today was a really sparse day. I didn’t take any photos all day because there was absolutely nothing in the park. Near the end of the day we followed a coyote from round prairie to their family. There were four coyotes, a family, all playing and having fun. They were adorable and rambunctious.

They were far away but still really fun to watch as they chased and tackled each other.

After we left the coyotes it started snow extremely hard. Everything in the park was quickly covered in snow. It was beautiful to watch the snow coming down and coating the valley. We found some animals including buffalo covered in the snow. They sit so still that the snow just clings to them as if they were a part of the landscape.

Theses animals were about it for the entire day in the park. Except for the very last stretch of the road were we found a coyote trying to cross the road.

AS always, I wish I didn’t have t leave Yellowstone. There is never enough time to do everything. I hope I can return soon and hope to see and photograph wolves next time.

 

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March 2nd, 2011

Today the wildlife activity in the park seemed to pick up a lot. We saw all sorts of animals. We started out with a small coyote who crossed the road in front of us only to soon disappear into the snow.

We also saw some more coyotes later in the day. One of which had found what appeared to be a large elk bone and was chewing on it for quite some time.

We also were able to see some buffalo fighting on a snow bank. One was clearly the victor and the other left in a huff. It was really interesting to watch but a little scary having a fight so close to the car. They were locking horns and butting heads for a few minutes in front of us.

Even more exciting was what we spent the majority of the day doing; following around a little fox. Foxes are one of my favorite types of animals and I think one of the most beautiful wildlife species to be found in Yellowstone. I have photographed a fox before, but this fox was different. He had so much fur and color that made him look fantastic.

At first I had seen him a very long way away in Lamar Valley hunting. I predicted that if I waited long enough he would come closer to the road where I could get a decent shot of him. So I nestled down into the snow and sat out in the valley and waited for him for about an hour. I almost gave up to go find another animal because I heard wolves howling nearby when sure enough he popped up right where I thought he would be. He came trotting along and quickly made his way across the valley and yet again disappeared from view. I got a shot though so it was ok. Then we left and came back about an hour or two later and found him again on the other side of the road. We quickly realized he was going to cross the road at some point so we waited diligently for him to take action.

Sure enough he began to quickly head to the road and we followed him.

After he crossed the road he sat down on the snow embankment to watch all the people who were frantically trying to capture his beauty in a snap shot. He was awe-inspiring with his cat-like looks and beautiful red fur. He also had amazingly puffy feet that made him look slightly lopsided and funny when he walked.

He was a perfect example of the amazing wildlife that Yellowstone has to offer.

After the fox disappeared off into the snow covered valley we got to see many other animals like some more big horn sheep, deer, and prong horns. It was a really good day in the park. Still no wolves however and tomorrow is our last day in the park. I really want to get some good shots of a wolf, so hopefully we will get to see them before we are gone.

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March 1st, 2011

Outside our hotel is a group of deer that seem to hang around at all times. This morning they were especially cute; they were all huddled up next to a house trying to stay warm. It is a nice thing to wake up and have wildlife basically sitting on your doorstep.

There was a lot less wind and bad weather today and even some really nice sun that greeted us frequently throughout the day. The remnants of yesterday still remained and the snow plows and blowers were out in full force trying to clear away all the snow off the roads.

It was really fun to watch the snow being jettisoned hundreds of feet into the air. After the roads were cleared we decided to take advantage of the sun and go snow shoeing. We went out to Lost Lake which included a hike through the Petrified Forest, and a beautiful walk through a snowy canyon way tat led to the lake. We also found a kill. it was an old dead buffalo that had been eaten from the inside. It was gruesome but interesting to see.

After our snowshoeing was over we drove around Lamar Valley looking for animals. Sadly still no wolf sightings and in fact there are very little animal sightings at all. It seems like our luck may be changing soon however. We found a beautiful bull elk that we were able to follow for a while. This means that the elk are moving into the valley which means that the wolves should soon follow.

And as our final good sign for our changing luck was a couple of coyotes running across the road right in front of us. They didn’t stay long but we got a couple of pictures.

Tomorrow is a new day and with that we hope, as always, to find and photograph wolves.

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February 28th, 2011

Today was a snow storm. There was so much snow and wind that it felt like a snow hurricane. At certain times we couldn’t even see the road. This also meant that we didn’t see that much wildlife. Still no sightings of wolves but we saw plenty of other animals. There were a lot of buffalos hanging out in the snow, hunkering down for the storm.

We also had a couple of coyotes run across the road in front of us.

The big horn sheep were out again in their usual spot by the rocky outcroppings. We saw some bulls and some juveniles.

We also we able to get some shots of the pronghorn antelopes as we were leaving the park. They are one of my favorite animals in the park because of their majestic beauty. They are beautiful animals with good markings, ig black eyes, and little horns. There is something so beautiful about them that I find so enticing.

It was too windy and snowy to go snow shoeing but it was still a good day. We are hoping for better weather and always more wolves. Hoping for a better tomorrow.

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February 27th, 2011

Today was the first day of our real expedition. We headed out in sub-zero temperature in search of the wildlife and beauty that Yellowstone has to offer. We started out early and headed into the park. We got to see some more elk at Mammoth Hot Springs, one of which was nursing.

Then we started out on our long days journey to Lamar Valley. We saw all sorts of animals including coyotes, bison, elk, bald eagles, and big horns. However most of them were to far away to get actually decent photos of them. The big horns however decided to cooperate with us and get close enough to photo graph as they ate their lunch.

After that my dad and i went snowshoeing into a canyon at Pebble Creek. It was beautiful, with high stony walls, snow hatted rocks and a partially frozen river.

Due to fear that we may have been very close to encroaching upon a bear den we decided to take the safe route and return to our car for lunch. After that we headed out to see if the otters from last year were still in their same spot. Sadly we saw no otters today but hope to see them soon.

It was a beautiful day but the wildlife wasn’t super active. I am hoping for more activity tomorrow and hopefully some wolves. For now it was just another beautiful day in Yellowstone.

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February 26th, 2011

Today my dad and I arrived in Yellowstone in -20 degree weather. Yes, it was that cold. I have never been so cold in my life, and there is probably a week more of this weather in my future. Anyways, we headed down to Gardiner Montana after landing in Bozeman. It is a winter wonderland here, there is snow everywhere. AS we pulled into Mammoth Hot springs it was snowing and incredibly windy. My face still feels wind burned…

We did see a little bit of wildlife just with our quick peak in the park. I spotted some big horned sheep grazing on a ridge. There was a baby and it’s family all running around in the snow.

We also had a few run ins with a little rabbit as we walked around in the cold.

Funny little critter and good practice to get back into taking wildlife photography. No wolves to be seen yet but we are hopeful. There have been plenty of sightings. Tomorrow we are going snowshoeing and photographing. I will put up more photos tomorrow!!

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