Stop and Smell the Lilies

...You never know what you might find in them.

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Flamingo Friday: Beak YOU

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Caprine Adventures off of Interstate 69

[Nearby storm viewed from Interstate 69]

A few weeks ago, Annie and I were in the Midwest visiting family.

Due to a series of bizarre car-related events that I will not go into (except to say that you should never, ever believe AAA if they claim a locksmith is being sent out to your car, even if they give you an ETA), our car was in a McDonald’s parking lot for around 18 hours. Some of the time we kept our car company; some of the time we did not.

During one of the times when I was with our car, I happened to hear bleating coming from the back of another vehicle’s trailer. Sheep? I wondered.

But, no, they were goats!

I love goats, so of course I had to go see them. And I wasn’t the only one; a woman in a Harley jacket was also smiling at the goats and got into conversation with me about how great non-human animals are compared to people. (I quite agreed, although I think we use slightly different arguments to provide evidence of animal intelligence.)

Soon enough the driver of the trailer arrived, and the woman asked him if the goats (all with carefully tagged ears) were—as she had speculated—on their way to a fair. He said that in fact they were going to be bred.

He headed out of the rest stop with his charges, but not before the woman had shouted encouragingly to the goats, “You’re in for a fun night, ladies! Wooo-eee!”

I don't know how the goats felt, but I thought it was a kind of nice send-off.

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Flamingo Friday: Flamingeleh Time!

Nothing is as ugly-cute as a baby flamingo!

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Seal Snouts

The National Zoo has introduced several new individuals into its pinniped exhibit, so now both harbor and grey seals glide with languorous strokes through the water and perform twirls and underwater spins for our and their amusement.

Among the many photos of these guys that I took this weekend are several that illustrate one of the main differences between grey and harbor seals. In short: grey seals have long noses, and harbor seals have snubbed ones.

For example, this is a grey seal:

And this is a harbor seal:

Grey seal:

Harbor seal:

See? Now you can tell them apart if you’re ever at a cocktail party with them.

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Bastille Day: The Tricolor in Invertebrates

Allons, insectes de la patrie!

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Flamingo Friday: Folds and Feathers

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Vacation Photos

Some people like landscapes, or pictures of themselves, or of those they’ve visited.

I prefer photos of toadstools,

Or simply toads:

[Seen in Angola, Indiana]

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Flamingo Friday: Bird Banding

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