Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: skin

May 1st, 2011 was the start of Snake Monitoring in a local park. We get both the Red-sided Garter Snake and the Wandering Garter Snake - thankfully, not the size seen in my macro photo, lol! Each snake was measured and, starting that year, weighed (i.e. gently placed in a tall plastic container which was then placed on a scale). They were also marked behind the head with green felt marker of some kind, so that we could tell if we got a recaptured snake. The monitoring season started late that year because of the endless winter. I didn't check how many snakes were found and recorded (my guess would be about a dozen+), but just as we were leaving the area, one of the team members did a great job of spotting two mating balls high on the slope, barely visible amongst the trees, shrubs and dead leaves. We left them alone, of course. On our first day of monitoring the previous year, we had 107 snakes to catch (not me, I only took photos, if I got the chance!) and record!! The reason that I originally joined this program was to see if it would help me be less fearful of snakes - they are most definitely not my favourite things. Just imagine being afraid and having 107 snakes slithering down the hillside towards where you were standing, ha!

These wonderful feet belong to a Gentoo Penguin, ha. Taken at the Calgary Zoo on March 15th. "When it's really cold, Penguins rock backwards on their heels, holding their toes up. How do they stop themselves from falling over backwards? They support themselves by their stiff tail feathers that have no blood flow and so lose no heat. So in the coldest conditions, penguins sit there supported on a tripod of two feet (heels) with reduced blood flow and a stiff tail through which they lose no heat at all." The average life span in the wild is 15 to 20 years. www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/science/c... I am always amazed by this short video, of a Gentoo Penguin that is being chased by a Killer Whale - and what it does to escape! youtu.be/SJaMtBKnN-I

Such a treat to come across two of these tiny Boreal Chorus Frogs when we botanized Horseshoe Canyon on 13th June. They were both down on the floor of the canyon. Horseshoe Canyon is a 1 1/2-2 hour drive north east of Calgary, across the prairie grasslands until suddenly one comes across the Badlands, our very own mini Grand Canyon : ) www.srd.alberta.ca/BioDiversityStewardship/WildSpecies/Am...