Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: tongue

At the moment, so many millions of people are dealing with tremendous devastation from either wildfires or Hurricane Harvey and Irma. The west of our continent is going up in flames, while the east is drowning in floodwater or being torn apart by winds. So much damage and total destruction! My thoughts are with everyone who is dealing with any of this. All three photos posted today were taken on 5 September 2017, when my daughter and I drove E and NE of the city. She had a free day, so we decided to visit the Pioneer Acres Museum. The day started off with seeing three perched Swainson's Hawks, which were a bonus. We had passed the colourful old truck and tractor displayed on tall posts, to indicate Pioneer Acres, on various occasions and this time, we actually went to the museum. What an amazing collection of old farming equipment, some standing outdoors and many others in large sheds. Have to say that I am always attracted to older, rusty things, and there was no shortage of these, either. While we were walking round the grounds, visiting each massive shed in turn, my daughter spotted a Plains Garter Snake, and waved me over to see it. She also saw several birds running round behind one of the sheds, and when I went to check, I found there were four Gray Partridge running off in the distance. A distant Jackrabbit on the grounds of the museum completed our wildlife sightings, first noticed when it was standing tall and upright on its back legs. My mind wandered to Alice in Wonderland : ) Though we did not do a tour of the inside of the "Long" House, we found it an impressive building, complete with a few Sunflowers, Hollyhock and other flowers in the garden, and a windmill. "The "Long" House was built in 1914 by John Thomas on a farm just northwest of Irricana, Alberta. It has been lived in by three generations of the Long Family since 1914. The house was donated to Pioneer Acres, moved to our location, and restored to 1929 status." From the Pioneer Acres website. There is also an old schoolhouse on the Museum site. "The Crown School, built in 1905, was located west of Three Hills on Highway 583. It closed in 1953 and was bought by the district of Allingham for use as a community league. In 1996, the building was relocated to Pioneer Aces of Alberta Museum." From the Alberta Teachers' Association website. "Pioneer Acres is operated by a team of volunteer members who, in many cases, have extended their golden years of retirement, performing the duties necessary to meet the club's objectives. These include work to collect, restore, maintain and demonstrate the artifacts which were used by the pioneers of early Alberta. The end result is that present and future generations have the opportunity to glimpse into our pioneering past through the artifacts on display and demonstrated. Younger members of the club also learn the care, maintenance and operation of these living artifacts." From link below. www.pioneeracres.ab.ca/member.aspx After spending a long time walking round the grounds, we decided to drive through Irricana itself in order to get back to the highway. I had seen photos on the Internet of three murals there - sunflowers, crayons, and a view of the old grain elevators that had once stood nearby - and I wanted to go and see them. All near each other, as this town only has a few streets. I had never been to Irricana before and I was impressed with what a delightful place it is, full of brightly coloured murals, and well kept. One of the outer roads had many flower beds along the edge, watered by well water, looking most attractive. I had asked my daughter if she was interested in calling in at the Silver Springs Botanical Gardens in NW Calgary, if there was time after our drive east. I had planned the drive ahead of time, partly because I had also seen a photo somewhere on the Internet of a rather nice old barn that I really wanted to see. We were not disappointed, though it was a shame to see that the cupola had fallen from the roof since that photo was taken. I had never driven through the town of Airdrie before, but did the "drive" on Google Earth the night before and it looked simple enough. Returning to Calgary via Cochrane, my daughter told me how to get to Silver Springs. I had never driven there before, but I had been there with a friend last year, I think on 1 October, and thoroughly enjoyed these meticulously kept gardens. We were just too hot and tired to see every inch of the garden, but finished off with photographing sunflowers and enjoying the American Goldfinches that were feeding on them, before we continued on our way. A great day, despite the heat and smoke from the B.C. and Alberta wildfires (distant low visibility, too). Thanks so much, Rachel - hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. We drove 256 km (used about half a tank of gas, or less). I was absolutely tired out from the heat and driving unfamiliar roads.

A really close encounter with a Grey Wolf - but, of course, it's obvious why, LOL!

Not the most elegant photo of this Red Panda at the Calgary Zoo, but they have either been out of their enclosure or fast asleep, hidden inside their wooden tree houses the last two or three times I've been to the Zoo. Was lucky to see this little guy/gal taking a nap. "The Red Panda is classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN red list (2009.01), and is listed in CITES appendix I. It has been previously classified in the families Procyonidae (raccoon) and Ursidae (bears), but recent research has placed it in its own family Ailuridae, in superfamily Musteloidea along with Mustelidae, Procyonidae, and Mephitidae.[5] Two subspecies are recognized." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Panda

Well, it took a number of shots before I managed to catch the tongue coming out, LOL! Unfortunately, my camera focused on the body instead of the head and tongue : ) Thank goodness for 18x zoom (and a crop), ha, ha! After seeing f4h1m's comment, I thought I'd better just add that these Garter Snakes are harmless, for anyone unfamiliar with them. To me, a snake is a snake - harmless or venomous is beside the point! Very definitely not my favourite creatures : )

I know this is "just" a Canada Goose, but I love taking photos of these birds. Yesterday, at the Zoo, this male was standing his ground on the path in the Canadian Wilds area, and if someone happened to get a little too close for his liking, he hissed and hissed. I should add that no, he wasn't hissing at me, as I kept at just the right distance from him. What many people didn't realize was that his mate was up on a low roof just a few feet away, busy moving leaves and branches to make her nest. He was just being a good, protective partner : ) Because he was standing right in the middle of the narrow path, there wasn't much room to pass by him and it was easy for people to get a little too close for his liking. Thought it was interesting to see his tongue. The bill has lamellae, or teeth around the outside that are used as a cutting tool. You might just get to see another photo of him sometime - I took far too many shots, LOL.

We saw this single Red-sided Garter Snake yesterday morning at Confluence Park, while on a Botany walk. Yes, it was being gently held, but NOT by me!!! That will NEVER happen, LOL!

I'm still trying to get a good photo of the two types of Garter Snake that we see while monitoring at a local Hibernaculum. Some individuals are far more active than others, or more accurately, very occasionally we come across a slightly more docile one.

Finally, a photo showing the bright red tongue of the Wandering Garter Snake.