Bobcat (Lynx rufus)

Image November 28, 2014 jmore-admin

This bobcat was taken from the wild and turned into a house pet, then was terribly malnourished and confiscated by the state. He eventually wound up at the zoo and, under their care, was given medical treatment and moved over to a diet of true meat (as opposed to the frozen fish sticks he had been eating). This photo was taken on the first day he was allowed outside in his new home. You can tell that he’s not entirely sure what’s going on.

One year later, I visited again. I could get no photos because, once he became healthy, he became a wild animal once again and it was no longer safe for me to be near him.

Photographs are a moment in a time. At the time I took this photo, he was a sick, scared, wary little cat. Today, he is a powerful, dominant near-wild animal. While I’m somewhat sad that I can’t get photos of him anymore, I’m happier at the same time.

Lie, Reptile

Turtle Hand

Image November 27, 2014 Josh More

Even if all you use your hands for is digging around in the mud, there’s nothing wrong with treating yourself to a nice manicure once in a while.

Lie, Mammal

Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens)

Image November 27, 2014 jmore-admin

Red panda pondering the ultimate meaninglessness of existence, realizing that life is finite and, once gone, is gone forever. Also, a tad peckish and desiring some grapes.

Bird

Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus)

Image November 27, 2014 jmore-admin

When the males aren’t around, it’s a lot easier to see the colours in the females.

Bird

Woodpecker … in progress

Image November 26, 2014 Josh More

union{
  body {<0, 0, 0>,1.5 rotate<0, 10, 0>
    texture {
      pigment{ color rgb<0, 0, 0, 0>}
    }
  }
  head {<0, 1, 0>,1.5 rotate<0, 0, -90>
    texture {
      pigment{ color rgb<1, 0, 0, 0>}
    }
  }
  texture{
    finish { feathers 1.2 phong 0}
  }
}

Lie, Mammal

Bactrian Camel (Camelus bactrianus)

Image November 26, 2014 jmore-admin

It’s the eye of the camel
It’s the thrill of the flight
Spitting through a gap of white enamel
And the last living mammal
Stays awake through the night
And he’s watching us all with the eye of the camel

Lie, Mammal

Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens)

Image November 26, 2014 jmore-admin

Red pandas are not well trained in the art of debate.

Bird

White Chicken

Image November 25, 2014 jmore-admin

Things white chicken says:

“Of course I prefer to hang around with other chickens like me. It’s just a class thing.”
“Privileged! I had to WORK for what scratchings got.”
“I prefer to be referred to as a chicken of European descent.”
“We live in a post-breedist barnyard.”
“I don’t understand why those hungry chickens get extra feed. I work just as hard as them.”
“Actually (despite the fact that birds have five different types of photo-receptors), I’m colorblind.”

Lie, Mammal

Asian small clawed otter

Image November 25, 2014 Josh More

If you don’t pay careful attention to the instructions, you could wind up with unused material left over from your otter kit. If this happens, be sure to fix it before the glue sets or you’ll have to stick the extra bits on way they’ll fit.

Lie, Mammal

Bactrian Camel (Camelus bactrianus)

Image November 25, 2014 jmore-admin

Many people get a new camel once the lips start falling off, but this is actually an easily solved problem and one that is much less likely to occur if the regular maintenance is performed.

Mammal

Russian Red Tree Squirrel

Image November 25, 2014 jmore-admin

This is a Russian red tree squirrel, which is white in the winter, living at the Red River Zoo in Fargo, which is white in the winter.

Bird, Lie

Nicobar Pigeon

Image November 24, 2014 Josh More

Though Nicobar pigeons mostly eat fruits and seeds, they do live on islands and will sometimes pick up a seed on the beach. Though rare, occasionally, a grain of sand does get stuck under their tongue. That is where pigeon pearls come from.

Lie, Mammal

Bobcat (Lynx rufus)

Image November 24, 2014 jmore-admin

The smaller a cat is, the better it tastes. Or maybe that’s the other way around.

Mammal

Llama

Image November 24, 2014 jmore-admin

Nobody puts Baby in a corner. That’s where the llamas go.

Lie, Mammal

Amur Leopard

Image November 23, 2014 Josh More

Wikipedia states that amur leopards are “extremely conservative in their choice of territory”. That is why you find so many in North Dakota and Wyoming.

Bird

Victoria Crowned Pigeon

Image November 22, 2014 Josh More

Sometimes it seems as though different generations will never see eye to eye.

Lie, Mammal

Antelope

Image November 22, 2014 Josh More

Here, we see an adult antelope teaching a young one how to fight. Shortly after this shot, they entered a training montage through which the young antelope become quite skilled, grew to the age of maturity, and became ready for his final battle with the bully that had oppressed him his entire life.

Lie, Mammal

Bush Dog (Speothos venaticus)

Image November 22, 2014 Josh More

As noted earlier, bush dogs have no sense of humor. Its very presence offends its senses, so it must block its nose to keep even the hint of humor in this joke from befouling its environment.

Joke: A sibyl, a haruspex, and a rhabdomantist walked into a bar. The sibyl said, “There’s going to be this big flood, and it’s going to be terrible.” And the haruspex was looking at this dead animal, and he said, “Yeah, it’s going to rain hard and wipe everything out, and it’s going to do all kinds of damage.” And the rhabdomantist said, “That’s terrible! Why…I’ll be out of a job!”

Lie, Reptile

Caucasus Viper (Vipera kaznakovi)

Image November 21, 2014 Josh More

Caucasians like to hang out in groups and seldom let others into the inner circle.

Fiction Friday

Blue Tree Monitor (Varanus macraei)

Image November 21, 2014 Josh More

Halfway up, he pauses, questioning.

His instructions were as specific as they were simple. Climb to the top. Do not speak. Do not look back.

Violating any rule would bring ruination. It would be the end of all he had worked for. Stealing the map from the mammoths of Lyrcea. Choosing a reed from the Minnorie, making from it the flute, and charming the guardian of the gates. The eons of walking across the shards littering the floors of the caves of death. Arrival. The endless days of debate and negotiation. All for the goal he finally achieved, that he knows is almost his. Behind him, unseeable, unhearable, unsmellable, trailing.

At least, he thinks. He hopes. But he how can he know?

Can he really trust the lords of the dead? Stories abound, of tricks and lies, of slippery words and slithering tongues. True, he’d done his best. He’d driven a hard bargain, given up less than he had feared. Yet, was it too little? Should it have hurt more, cost more?

He re-runs the talks in his head. Did he err? He had traded years of his life and half of his soul. Was that enough? What was the value of a year, to those that lived forever? What was the value of a soul, to those that had a multitude? He had wagered his skill against their champion, and won. But had he? For a champion, she had seemed flawed. Surely she could have sustained higher trills and more mournful lows. Why did she give it less than her all? Was he truly more motivated, as he had thought? Had she felt some measure of pity?

Or was it a trick?

It may have been. Perhaps in a century, stories would be told of his folly in the underworld. How he had hazarded it all and been played a fool. He wants to look back, to calm his fear and assuage what remains of his soul. A slight turn of the head, a shift of the eyes, and he can know.

But no. He will climb to the end. Or until, unable to continue, he will fall, damning himself and his love forever to death. No. If he is to fail, it will not be from weakness.

He pauses, tensing his muscles, resting a mere moment, then continues his climb.

Starmind Conservation

Bobcat (Lynx rufus)

Turtle Hand

Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens)

Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus)

Woodpecker … in progress

Bactrian Camel (Camelus bactrianus)

Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens)

White Chicken

Asian small clawed otter

Bactrian Camel (Camelus bactrianus)

Russian Red Tree Squirrel

Nicobar Pigeon

Bobcat (Lynx rufus)

Llama

Amur Leopard

Victoria Crowned Pigeon

Antelope

Bush Dog (Speothos venaticus)

Caucasus Viper (Vipera kaznakovi)

Blue Tree Monitor (Varanus macraei)

Photos, Stories, and Lies