Jessica Crabtree

Photo: Public domain

Click to see the full-size view – I never knew turtles had such interesting eyes.
See more of my free photos on my companion blog, Public Domain Nature Photos.

A beaver can hold its breath underwater for 45 minutes.

Vultures can fly for six hours without flapping their wings.

The hummingbird is the only bird that can fly backwards.

A honeybee can reach speeds of 15 mph; a dragonfly can fly up to 36 mph.

There are more caribou in Alaska than there are people.

Male kangaroos are known as boomers and females are known as flyers. It is impossible for a kangaroo to walk backwards.

The starfish is the only animal that can turn its stomach inside-out.

Porcupines float in water.

Thanks to Snapple.com for these wildlife tidbits (yes, I’m a huge Snapple fan!) They print these “Real Facts” on the inside of the lids. See their website for more.

Photo from National Geographic.

Mexican wolves are the rarest species of wolf in North America. They are a subspecies of the gray wolf, or timber wolf, with the most obvious distinctions being the longer ears, rounder head, and short tail.

They traditionally ranged through the American Southwest and northern Mexico. The surge of human population that accompanied white settlement and development of the region led to the decline of natural prey populations. When the wolves turned to livestock as a food source, they were essentially hunted to extinction. By 1950 none were known to exist in the wild.

Today about 300 exist in captivity. Attempts have been made recently to reintroduce them into the wild, but they remain a highly endangered species.

Lobos of the Southwest: The Official Site of the Mexican Gray Wolf http://www.mexicanwolves.org/
A beautiful website about a truly beautiful animal.

(Click for full-size)

This photo from Wikimedia Commons is in my opinion one of the best wolf pictures ever. The composition is perfect and I think it does a wonderful job of capturing the animal’s persona. Wolves are a favorite icon and images of them are a dime a dozen – but every now and then you run across a genuinely stunning shot like this one. Thanks to April King for this great photo.

Click for larger view.
Image from Photos8.com – free stock photography
(yes, completely free – a highly recommended source!)

Photo from National Geographic.

The other definition of “taking the family out for fast food”…

Photo from National Geographic.

Courtesy of the National Wildlife Federation 2009 Photo Contest.

A quick sketch of a rottweiler puppy, done in 4B graphite.

Image from National Geographic.

Image from National Geographic.