Furry and non-furry friends

October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!

For the last two months I have been sneaking around school grounds with a camera trying to collect these photos of my animal neighbors.  To bring these National Geographic quality photographs to you, I have spared none of my dignity as I tried to hide behind trees and jump out at small, unsuspecting animals.  I am glad to say, it has been worth it.  Enjoy.

Bugs:  In honor of Halloween, we’ll start out with the creepy crawly.  If the pictures are difficult to look at, try to imagine me photographing them.

 

Millipedes- These things live everywhere!  They look like fat earthworms but trust me, they’re not.  They are trying to be good jogging buddies, some mornings I will count up to 15 of them on my way out to the soccer field.  The biggest are about 6 inches long.

 

 

Ants (not photographed)- I figured we all know what ants look like.  But really, they’re the thing I see the most.

 

 

Beetle- I don’t know what kind it is but it is about the size of a mouse.  To get this shot, I made Oliver shake a bush until it ran out.

 

 

 

Spiders (not photographed)- There are all kinds here.  No photo because after these close encounters, I spend half an hour hyperventilating.  The largest has been about the size of my hand- and in my pit latrine unfortunately.

Birds: They often drink from our Jojo tank but fly away when I try to take their picture so most of the shots are from the telephone lines.

 

 

 

Black Bird with White Belly- I really don’t know anything about it but I think it is quite handsome.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bluish Bird- This bird is so cool!  It is all iridescent and sings an interesting song.  Some of them live in the roof of the house across from ours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bird with Orange Head and Black and White Belly – The birds’ tail feathers are really long.  I don’t see too many of them, but they always made me run for the camera (in a very quiet, and stealthy manner).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bird with a Long Bill- I just think this bird is funny.

 

 

 

 

 

 

White Birds- Usually these guys are hanging out with the cattle.  Their necks are quite long.

 

 

 

 

Yellow Birds- Their color is so bright and they are always in large groups.

 

 

 

Reptiles and Amphibians:  I welcome any of these guys that eat bugs into my home.

 

 

Fat Frog- I almost stepped on him walking back from the bathroom one night.  Oliver and I got down for a closer look and we couldn’t stop laughing.  He is only about the size of a quarter but he is bloated with these tiny little legs.

 

 

 

 

Skinks – These guys live in the foundation of our house.  They come out on warm days.  But whenever they see me they make a pretty quick getaway.

 

 

 

 

 

Camouflage Lizard- I don’t know what it’s called but see if you can spot it!

 

 

Gecko (not photographed)- There’s a pinkish gecko that visits our kitchen from time to time.

Mammals: I wish I could say I’ve seen more of the cute and furry type, but alas…

Mouse (not photographed)- When I opened the door to our pit latrine one night, instead of a giant spider I found a little mouse, which was a nice surprise.

Bats (not photographed)- They live in our attic and sometimes I see something swooping around in the darkness that I can only hope is them.

 

 

 

Something Fierce- The scariest animal of all!

 

 

 

 

 

-Rebecca

Rebecca is Currently Reading: The Golden Notebook

Oliver is Currently Reading: Peace Corps Manuals

We are Currently Watching: 30 Rock, Season 2