Lin, wonderful pictures. Things we inlanders don't get to see
very often unless we travel a lot to the coast.

Especially the manatee. I have never seen one for real. And with
a baby. Wow.

I live in the lakes region of western Kentucky, probably not far from you, Shirlee, and I know not far from Tee. I know ahead what kind of weather she'll have in the next hour or so. That close.

In the last 15 years or so we've had lots of herons and egrets as well as a pelican or two a couple of times a year. It was unusual when they first came, but not so much anymore. We also have gorgeous mink families that live along the water's edge.

It's been a few years since we had a house boat and traveled/lived on the water most of the summer when I wasn't teaching, so all my pictures are in scrapbooks not on my computer. I need to get a printer that is also a scanner.

Lots of beavers in our waters too. Little beaver dams everywhere.
It's interesting to note the variety of wildlife represented here on this forum.

Thanks Shirlee! I know I take a lot of our local wildlife for granted because it's what I'm used to. I never tire of seeing the Manatees. Many years ago some friends kept their large sail boat at a marina here in town and manatees would swim up to the side of the dock. People would turn their garden hose on, hang it off the dock and the manatee's would drink fresh water from the hose ... some folks would feed them heads of lettuce too and that was a lot of fun to watch.

I remember a restaurant on the water years ago that had a dolphin penned up behind the facility for the benefit of tourists. Later there were laws passed and that is not allowed anymore. A few years after the law was passed we were out in our boat one day and a dolphin swam right up to the side of the boat and I was able to pet it! Later someone told me it was probably one of the dolphins that had been penned up behind a restaurant so it was used to humans.

Sharon: That is so neat that you get shorebirds in your area, the types of birds that one usually sees on the coast.

I've never seen a mink. My sister in North Georgia used to live in a neighborhood where her house backed up to a preserve/reserve area and there was a waterway right behind her house with beaver families. I thought it was interesting to see the chewed trunks of trees and those beavers ended up doing major damage in the area. I was shocked when I visited her one year and so many trees were down from beavers. They had to hire critter trappers to come and trap and remove the beavers to try to keep the damage down as much as possible.

Critters in their natural habitat have a reason to be there. I say in their natural habitat because it's those whose habitats have been eradicated that cause the most damage. Same with most critters.

Beavers: The ponds, wetlands, and meadows formed by beaver dams increases bio-diversity and improves overall environmental quality. The ponds and lakes their dams create are the best wetlands nature-wise. Pure and natural if they haven't been damaged by human plunders.

Of course, no one wants that in an area where homes have been built, but I'll bet at one time that area might have been a natural beaver habitat.

But it's all part of life cycles and Mother Nature.

So right Sharon! Mother Nature shares her world with us ..flora and fauna!

When we used to live in Los Angeles county, it was easy enough to join short cruises in Long Beach...found this pod of seals hanging on the floating buoy. Sometimes we just have to seek and view wildlife wherever they are and just amaze at their dexterity

Isn't that something, Tarev.
I love seals. They have the most gorgeous faces, but I don't know a thing about them.

Oh...love manatees!! One of my very favorites!

When we moved here in 2007 we had thousands of bats around here in the summer. It was so cool to watch them. The population of Brown Bats was very nearly wiped out here in Indiana. They are starting to recover but now where near the numbers there were, but we have spotted a few the last 2 summers.

I just remembered...I have this photo of a very small primate found in the Philippines. It is called the Philippine tarsier. It is quite small usually around 3.5 to 6.3 inches tall, and found only in the jungle. My cousin shared this photo to me during one of their vacation trips to the islands.

At first glance, looks like a bat with no wings..but it is a primate...imagine seeing one of these at night ..these are nocturnal animals.

Now that is amazingly cute, Tarev.
No matter what it is, it is cute.
Look at those fingers and toes!

Thanks Sharon! Long slender digits for this cute little one indeed! As I see lots and lots of cute squirrels..I guess this would be the Philippine version of a squirrel, though not a rodent at all..a primate, closely related to lemurs and bushbabies I'd rather have these around than rats..that's for sure!

I have no clue what a bushbaby is.

Oh my goodness, now that is the cutest little thing I've ever seen! Love those eyes ... and those fingers & toes ... that little guy makes me think of ET from the movie! I had never heard of a Tarsier either so I had to google for more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T...


I'd never heard of a Bushbaby either ... look at those big eyes! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...

We sure do have some interesting and amazing critters on this earth ... it's such a shame that we humans are causing the demise of many of them.

That's ok Sharon! I also knew of the bushbaby just about today I was only familiar with the Philippine tarsier, and upon further search they kept on referring to a bushbaby..so more research..images...indeed...they have similarities..both very wide eyed and cute!

Thanks for the links Lin! Love talking about things..and discovering more things along the way

Now who likes this lovely Koala? Photo courtesy of another friend..during their trip to Australia a few months ago..such a darling looking one! The kind of wildlife you would want to tame for keeps if allowed

AWWW! I want one!

Cute and adorable!

mistyfog said: Imagine trying to garden with alligators, pythons,
etc., oh my!

This was a couple hundred yards from my house this summer. I used to swim in this canal as a kid.

Ack!!! Jay.
Ugly scary critter.

Scary!

Jay, that would scare me to death. How long would you say that
one is? Yikes, thinking about you swimming in that canal as a kid
makes me shudder. Who knows where one may have been lurking.