Camera Critter Meme #16

One of my favorite critters to shoot is one of the busiest in world. So for this week's Camera Critter Meme, I'm showcasing a recent photo of one of them.

They never seem to sit still long enough to allow their portrait to be taken. They fly from flower to flower looking for anything they like and sometimes return to the same spot over and over again.

In the Pacific Northwest, there are many species of bees. This bumblebee is one of five different types I found in the small area of wildflower near Tumalo Falls west of Bend, Oregon.

Camera Critter Meme #15

I have several friends in the area who were local policemen. One, a Deschutes County Deputy Sheriff, told me a story which relates to my Camera Critter Meme post this week.

It seems one day many, many moons ago, he was called to the scene of an accident on the main road between two local towns. A man driving a pickup had hit an animal trying to cross the road.

When my friend arrived on the scene (it was getting on close to darkness at the time), he was confronted with a truck with a fairly well damaged front end, the carcass of the unfortunate animal and the driver of the vehicle nearby, possibly in shock.

As the deputy went about his business, he learned the driver was from Texas and was passing through the area when the accident occurred. My friend then continued gathering information for his report and watched as the driver paced back and forth muttering something to himself.

A moment later, the driver walked up to my friend and said, "Damn, I'm from Texas and I always thought we had the largest deer in the world there, but these Oregon deer beat ANYTHING I have ever seen back home. Those antlers are HUGE!"

The driver turned, walked away still muttering, while my friend couldn't help but crack a smile to replace busting out laughing.

It seems the Texan had collided with an Elk, not a Mule Deer and my friend didn't have the heart to correct the driver. And yes, elk have some mighty big racks...especially when farm grown.

Camera Critters Meme No. 14

A week or so ago, I was at one of my favorite places in Oregon...the 7,950 foot or so summit of Newberry volcano. You can see photos of that trip on my Flickr page.

Seven years, I was also at that spot. During that trip, I fired off some shots with my old Sony Mavica FD-91 camera.

One of the things I wanted to accomplish during the recent trip was to duplicate the shots I took during the 2001 trip.

For the most part, I was able to trade my low resolution images with higher and better images which made me happy.

However, there was one shot I wasn't able to duplicate. At the right spot, I waited and waited for the scene to duplicate itself. But alas, my traveling party wanted to go elsewhere and I didn't see the scene repeat.

So, rather than display a higher resolution and better quality image for this week's Camera Critters Meme, I'll show you a low res, okay quality image of a Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel sitting on a rock at the 7,949 foot high peak of Paulina Peak located within the Newberry National Volcanic Monument of central Oregon.


I earlier called this critter a Belding Ground Squirrel. Sure was a senior moment there..hehehe.

Camera Critter Sunday No. 13

If you know me at all, you know I really enjoy photographing the lizards of the area. However, there is another critter of the High Desert, and everywhere else for that matter, which makes a rather cool critter to image.

They look totally alien, and at the same time, can be very comical. They are one of the few insects I have crossed paths with which seems to looks around and at things with intelligence.

This creature is the Praying Mantis. I hope you enjoy my entry for this week's Camera Critter Meme.