Visited the Virginia Zoo for the first time today and got these pictures of Chai, the Asian black bear! I have now officially seen all 8 extant bear species in the flesh!

🇨🇦🪿

However, one biogeographical error does seem to be the inclusion of chipmunks. There are Siberian chipmunks in several European countries today, but they were only introduced in the 1900s (being only to North Asia). The tortoise here also doesn’t closely resemble any European species. (3/3)

Notably, despite raccoons (which were present in the 1937 animated movie) and a blue jay being featured in the poster for the film, neither species thankfully appeared in the movie proper. (2/3)

One thing I liked about Snow White (2025) was that the majority of the woodland creatures the titular heroine befriends are indeed wildlife that would’ve been present in Medieval Europe. (1/3)

I love the expression in this photo I took last year of an Alaotra reed lemur at London Zoo!

I feel like throughout my educational career, it hasn’t been super rare for me to just be sitting there in class, not understanding the assignment… surrounded by peers who DO understand the assignment and are also talking very loudly amongst each other, making it even harder for me to get work done.

Common mergansers, wood duck, and a hooded merganser with a fish!

Photos taken on the Huron River in Ann Arbor

You may laugh but guess who is front of the fish queue when the ice melts...

A great blue heron on the frozen Huron!

Wild turkeys!

Common mergansers, common goldeneyes, and mallards on the Huron!

And that wasn’t all the raptor action! I found a red-tailed hawk and peregrine falcon on the same walk!

Two bald eagles I found along the Huron River yesterday!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Photo taken last October at North Bay Park, Ypsilanti, MI

A blue snake is partly curled up in a defensive position while holding on to a naked branch. The colour is darker along its back and on the top of its head. It gets progressively lighter down the side of its body and the side of the head. The jaw and belly is a very light blue with some white in between the scales. It is looking to the left of the camera. It is looking directly at the camera.

🐍Indonesian pit viper (Trimeresurus insularis).

Max. size 76 cm (2'6"). Females are larger than males.

Eats frogs lizards and rodents.

Nocturnal and arboreal.

Found from Java in the west to East Timor in the east.

Considered Least Concern by the IUCN.

📷by kuritafsheen77 on Freepik

Q: What’s the difference between Elon Musk and a lemur?

A: One made an electric car. The other Madeagascar!

More birds along the Huron - white-throated sparrow, mourning dove, belted kingfisher, and downy woodpecker!

Hooded mergansers plus a mallard and a great blue heron on the Huron River!

Happy Penguin Awareness Day!

Photos taken at:
Bronx Zoo (little blue penguin)
Detroit Zoo (king, chinstrap, and southern rockhopper penguin)
London Zoo (Humboldt penguin)
Whipsnade Zoo (northern rockhopper penguin)

Trumpeter swan on a frozen river!

How Endangered Shark Species Are Ending Up in US Grocery Stores A new study from researchers at UNC Chapel Hill reveals that shark meat sold at U.S. grocery stores and online purveyors often comes from critically endangered species. Analysis revealed that shark me...

Research Uncovers Critically Endangered Shark Meat in the US Food Supply

Researchers found that prohibited species may be sold under false labels.

www.foodandwine.com/shark-meat-s... 🦑🧪🌍🦈

Songbirds I found today! Northern cardinal, white-throated sparrow, song sparrow, and dark-eyed junco!

Common goldeneye on the Huron last week!

Greenwashing and denial won’t solve beef’s enormous climate problems Dive into the world of beef's environmental impact, from deforestation to climate change. Learn about the myths of "eco-friendly" beef and the industry's narratives.

Beef has a huge environmental cost. And the only real fix is to consume less of it.

drawdown.org/insights/gre...

Belted Kingfisher illustration recently finished. Watercolor, colored pencil, and a bit of gouache on 6x9" cotton paper.

#sciart #birds

Someone just called me a “Tylenol baby” in a thread about climate change and I fear that’s going to become a thing.

The front part of a snake on sand. The snake is greyish white on the throat and belly. It has alternating dark and greyish white longitudinal stripes on the sides and back. Behind the head are three orangey/reddish blotches. The snake is looking to the right in the picture.

🐍Cape sand racer (Psammophis leightoni)

Max size ~140 cm (~55.1"). Males tend to grow larger than females.

Mildly venomous.

Found in Angola, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.

Considered Least Concern by the IUCN.

📷by Nadine Marfurt on Unsplash

My name is Mary Peltola, and I'm running for U.S. Senate to fight for fish, family, and freedom – and that begins with fixing the rigged system in DC that’s shutting down Alaska.

We need systemic change if we're going to lower costs, save our fisheries, and fill our homes with abundance again.

Styracosaurus oil painting in warm tones with a loose naturalistic background.

I also have a new IG, if you didn't see my previous post!
www.instagram.com/sarahsmithna...
Dino painting to include something.