Hiding

Bandits In the Bush

Published July 10, 2023 | By Bill

This pair of very young Raccoons were attentive while trying to blend into the scenery. They were photographed under a bunch of day lilies on the front lawn of our rural Kewaunee, Wisconsin home.

We came home from work one evening to find three of these little rascals roaming around our yard. We never spotted an adult. A couple of evenings later we saw four of them in at late dusk. (At least we think we did.) Still, never saw an adult.

The little ones could be seen at various times and places, with their noses planted in the grass – foraging for bugs and grubs, I imagine. After a few days we only saw two. After a few more days, we only saw one. The one stayed around for about a week.

I’m hoping they moseyed through the farm field that surrounds our house to the woods beyond. I don’t believe we have enough variety in our short grass to satisfy the appetites of a growing tribe.

I’m thankful for the short visit because they were so over-the-top cute, way fun to watch and, of course, I was able to get a number of fun photos. Watch for a couple more to show up in the near future.

If you’d like a better look at these bright eyes, click on the photo and a full-screen version will open in a new browser window.

Posted in Animals, Pops Photos | Tagged Animals, Baby, Bill Pevlor, Cute, Hiding, Juvenile, Masks, Nature Racoon Raccoo, Nocturnal, Pair, Pops Digital, Procyon, Procyonidae, Sony A7III, Twins, Two, WI, Wild, Wildlife, Wisconsin

Sneaky Snake

Published July 1, 2013 | By Bill

I call this guy, Sneaky Snake. I stumbled upon him on a walk through the woods of northwest Missouri.

On vacation I got to spend some time in the woods with my camera. As I mentioned in an earlier post, when I’m alone in the woods I like to walk slowly, stopping often to look around me, taking my time to spot anything of interest. It was at such a stop on a path that I noticed this snake in the grass. I really don’t know how I spotted it, it was so well hidden.

This was an unusual find for me because the snake wasn’t on the ground. It had coiled itself up on some of the stalks of grass, resting in its own stand, about a foot of the ground.

It sat motionless as I tried to move my camera into a position that would allow me to get a shot through the grass. After snapping a few frames, I decided to try and move some of the grass that was obstructing my view since the snake was holding steady, with only the a slightest movement of it’s head. Using a stick, I tried to part some of the grass nearest me. The moment a blade of grass moved the stake dropped to the ground and was gone. It was freaky fast. No way to follow it through the tall grass.

I have no idea what kind of snake it was. I’m guessing its overall length was about three feet.

This image is much more impressive in the large size. Click on the photo to see the bigger version.

Posted in Animals, Pops Photos | Tagged Bill Pevlor, Grass, Hiding, Missouri, Pops Digital, Snake, Sony SLT-A77V, Wildlife

Shy Dove

Published June 7, 2013 | By Bill

I took my camera for a walk around the yard. It had been a rainy day and I thought I might get another perspective of the “normal,” since everything would still be wet.

While stooping down to take a photo of some bleeding hearts in the flowerbed, I saw something run from one clump of plants to another. It took some stalking to finally get a look at what had moved.

It’s a young mourning dove; very young and apparently too small to fly. I was able to catch this shot before it darted, again, into the brush. It must have thought it was hidden pretty well. I saw it again, the next day, hanging out with other birds, grazing under some bird feeders. When they saw me, the birds flew off…and this one ran for the safety of the flowerbed.

To view a larger version of this image, click on it.

Posted in Birds, Pops Photos | Tagged Bill Pevlor, Bird, Dove, Hiding, Mourning Dove, Pops Digital, Shy, Sony SLT-A77V, Spring, Wet