Coastal Taipan

Coastal Taipan, a photo by alumroot on Flickr.

The coastal taipan (Oxyuranus scutellatus) is one the most venomous snakes in the World. Taken at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, NSW, Australia. This has been linked to by some blogs as a fierce snake, but it is not. THIS IS NOT A FIERCE SNAKE. Fierce snakes are inland taipans, a different species Oxyuranus microlepidotus.

Escalator

Escalator, a photo by alumroot on Flickr.

I'm pretty sure that this is Dupont Circle on the DC Metro. It has been too long since I worked in B&W, I was not sure what I was going for. The people coming down made it harder, because I would have gone higher contrast except for what it would have done to the details of their faces. I am also not sure about the symmetry. I wonder whether it might be better not to have the overall symmetry given the asymmetrical distribution of riders. Suggestions are welcome

Crescent Moon

Crescent Moon, a photo by alumroot on Flickr.

The crescent moon shines brightly over the lake glowing at sunset. Pickerel Lake Oneida County, Wisconsin

baby turtle belly buttons

baby turtle belly buttons, a photo by alumroot on Flickr.

A recently hatched Blandings turtle. In the center of its plastron you can see where the yolk sac was attached, so that is its belly button. You can see its face in this shot, where it looks annoyed with me.

the terrible poison frog

the terrible poison frog, a photo by alumroot on Flickr.

Phyllobates terribilis, is more commonly called the golden poison frog. It generates some of the strongest frog toxins, and in the wild it is unwise to handle them with your bare hands, lest you absorb the poison through any small scratch. When I was an active herpetologist I was speaking with a friend who studies dendrobatids in the field. He told me that is was common practice in the field to test the strength of the toxin by touching the tip of your tongue to the frog to see if it went numb. This practice largely stopped upon the discovery of how toxic this frog is, as doing that with this animal in the wild might kill you. They quickly lose toxicity in captivity because they are not fed the insects from which they derive the toxins. Still, better safe than sorry, I always wore gloves when handling its congener, Phyllobates bicolor. Taken at the Audubon Aquarium, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

Rana septentrionalis (mink frog)

Rana septentrionalis (mink frog), a photo by alumroot on Flickr.

A mink frog the from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan taken in the summer 1995. Its one of my favorite species of frogs. They are found primarily in the northern Great Lakes states and Canadian provinces from Minnesota and Manitoba to Maine and Nova Scotia. This shows one on the easiest recognized characteristics, spots on leg (rather than stripes found in green frogs). Taken with a Minolta X370 and a Tamron 60-300 SP (probably at 300mm, I don't know how I lived without exif data).

Looking for mister right

Looking for mister right, a photo by alumroot on Flickr.

Green frog Rana clamitans -- taken in the University Commons area of Ann Arbor Michigan on 11 May 1997. A gravid female making a bee-line to the calling males in the ponds in the area. I think she is so dark because it was pretty cool yet, only 10 degrees C (50 F) in the late afternoon.