I’ve been trying to get a shot like this for years. The only thing spoiling it is that the scorpion’s claws are too close together and are blocking his “face”.
I declined to reach in and reposition them.
Tag Archives: Denver Zoo – Denver
Bench
Only half of this bench is safe to sit on. Most places would just replace the whole thing, but zoos are all about recycling and re-use, so there you go.
African Wild Dog (Lycaon pictus)
Trust is hard.
Peacock
Peacocks know when you’ve gotten bored at the zoo and equipped your fancyass art lens. That’s when they start posing.
Green Araçari (Pteroglossus viridis)
This is a green araçari. This is not, as most of the zoo signs say, a green “aracari”. I mean, completely ignoring the fact that of all the colours this bird is, green isn’t one of them, “araçari” vs “aracari” matters because one way is correct and the other one makes you sound like a biologically and linguistically uneducated idiot … which is fair if it’s true, but not at all fair because some sign designer somewhere couldn’t be bothered to use the damn character map tool. It’s right there in operating system, people! I’m not asking people to memorize unicode character sequences here. Just know how to pronounce the words before you put them on the sign.
Sheesh.
Northern Ground Hornbill (Bucorvus abyssinicus)
Those stupid picnic group party games that you are pushed into through peer pressure aren’t limited to humans.
De Brazza’s Monkey
Monkeys are really quite particular when it comes to selecting guitar picks.
Mexican Leaf Frog (Pachymedusa dacnicolor)
“Pardon me, but have you heard the good word?”
.
.
.
“It’s ‘gambol’. I just think it’s a really good word and more people should use it, so I’m going door to door to let people know.”
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
The goose paths are well established in the abandoned/unused enclosures at the zoo.
Inca Tern (Larosterna inca)
Sometimes a shadow doesn’t match its source very well.
Gibbon
He had been so looking forward to it. He’d crafted the perfect moment. The weather was warm and slightly breezy. The hill had overlooked the lake. He’d waited for her to arrive. They were going to dine and then he was going to ask her the question he’d been wanting to ask for months now. He had the ring. Everything was set for the perfect picnic.
He’d planned for everything … except for her to so hungry. Now he sits and ponders his error.
He should have packed something more substantial than honey, sassafras and moonshine.
Mossy Frog (Theloderma corticale)
Mammals are, frankly, lazier than amphibians. When an amphibian wants this type of colour camouflage, they spend millions of years working on it. Mammals just spend a few hundred years and invent dyes.
Greyface Moray Eel (Gymnothorax thyrsoideus)
I took this photo over a year ago and I am still baffled at how a pupil can cast a shadow.
Horseshoe Crab
Horseshoe crabs have stayed largely unchanged for millions of years.
At some point in the past, one of them evolved this form and all the rest of them were like “Daaaayum! Dude! That is the *perfect* look!”
Giant Hump-headed Lizard (Gonocephalus grandis)
The really rich lizards have money to spend on iris-jazzing.
Giant Elephant Shrew
Somewhere in this world, there is a group of genetic engineers working to create the animals that do not exist but that we all wish did. These “Seussists” are not yet public, but every once in a while, one of their creatures escapes their lab and is “discovered” to slowly adjust our level of what we find acceptable in species.
Eventually these guys will be available in long haired blue/green varieties.
Fish
It’s really hard to be a fish nerd. I mean, sure, they have to use wax pencils when they play D&D, but most books and computers don’t even work under the water.
They must do a lot of LARPing.
Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)
I know it’s hard to tell from the camouflage at work and the fact that he’s crouching down like that, but there’s a cheetah in this photo.
Chestnut-backed Thrush (Zoothera dohertyi)
Once upon a time, I thought I knew how balance worked.
Catfish
Without those whiskers, catfish would just all roll straight to the bottom of the lake.