Leighton Photography & Imaging

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  • A successful ambush - a green lynx spider eating a small green stink bug from inside a garden flower in Jefferson County, Florida.
    Green Lynx Spider
  • I was crouched down in a field in the Withlacoochee State Forest  in Central Florida photographing butterflies when I noticed this amazing sight among the wildflowers in front of me.
    Green Lynx Spider
  • "Island Style" key lime made with "Nellie & Joe's" key lime juice and graham cracker crust.
    Mike's "Killer" Key Lime Pie
  • A massive golden silk spider catches a cicada - a testament to the strength and power of these predators. Note the much smaller male hanging around in the background.
    Golden Silk Spider
  • Creamy New York-style cheesecake with crushed berries and basil.
    New York Cheesecake
  • Delicious pecan pie infused with chocolate chunks and toasted coconut.
    Toasted Coconut Chocolate Chunk Peca.. Pie
  • Corn Pancakes with Blueberry-Kahlua Syrup
    Corn Pancakes with Blueberry-Kahlua ..yrup
  • Lobster Eggs Benedict
    Lobster Eggs Benedict
  • Bloody Mary
    Bloody Mary
  • Ave4-Edit.jpg
  • Ave9-Edit.jpg
  • The massive rufous garden slug (Arion rufus) photographed here in the West Hylebos Wetlands in Federal Way, Washington.
    Rufous Garden Slug
  • The Cascades frog is a high altitude-loving frog found in both theCascade and Olympic mountains of the Pacific Northwest. This one was seen in August in Washington's Stevens Pass near the edge of a beautiful and remote subalpine mountain lake.
    Cascades Frog
  • Strawberry Seduction
    Strawberry Seduction
  • Park Avenue
    Park Avenue
  • Five Alive
    Five Alive
  • Crème Brûlée Martini
    Crème Brûlée Martini
  • Chocolate Hazelnut Bang
    Chocolate Hazelnut Bang
  • Fresh Organic Kiwi
    Fresh Organic Kiwi
  • Pearini
    Pearini
  • Blue Pearl
    Blue Pearl
  • Mimosa
    Mimosa
  • Eventually the King of the Florida Everglades ends up getting eaten. This alligator met its demise in the Fakahatchee Strand, and provided a meal, ready to eat for this black vulture. Without carrion birds such as this to keep the ecosystem clean from decay and rot, very little of the habitat would be safe for wildlife.
    Black Vulture
  • A great blue heron catches a northwestern garter snake in the wetlands in the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge just outside of Olympia, Washington on a beautiful springtime afternoon.
    Great Blue Heron - Dinner for One
  • Tortellini
    Tortellini
  • Shrimp & Scallops with Fresh Tomato and Basil
    Shrimp & Scallops
  • Rack of Lamb
    Rack of Lamb
  • Pork Rustica
    Pork Rustica
  • Mediterranean Salmon
    Mediterranean Salmon
  • Grilled Flounder
    Grilled Flounder
  • Baklava Cheesecake
    Baklava Cheesecake
  • One of the best natural areas in all of Florida - Fisheating Creek in South-Central Florida. This creek is full of fish and alligators, and can only be accessed by canoe or kayak.
    Fisheating Creek
  • Eastern ribbon snake lunching on a treefrog in the Florida Everglades. Just in the right place at the right time for this shot!
    Eastern Ribbon Snake
  • Grilled Scallops with Sun-Dried Tomatos, Basil and Beurre Blanc with Garlic Whipped Potatoes.
    Sicilian Scallops
  • Grouper Matichiati
    Grouper Matichiati
  • Greek Salad
    Greek Salad
  • Filet à la Rossini
    Filet à la Rossini
  • Seared Ahi Tuna with Wasabi Aioli
    Blackened Tuna
  • Skirt Steak
  • One of the best natural areas in all of Florida - Fisheating Creek. Completely rural with no signs of modern life - this is our favorite canoe trip for stepping back into time!
    Fisheating Creek
  • Already becoming a skilled hunter - this juvenile green heron easily catches a blue dasher dragonfly.
    Juvenile Green Heron with Dragonfly
  • This stunningly red relative of the firefly, the bloody net-winged beetle uses aposematic coloration (warning colors) to its advantage. The bright red and black coloration/pattern is a strong warning to others that might want to eat it that it is toxic to eat and best left alone. This one was photographed just as it landed on a desert shrub below the Chisos Mountains in West Texas, near the Rio Grande River.
    Bloody Net-winged Beetle
  • Ranging from toxic to poisonous to humans and several species of animals - particularly fish, the common snowberry is an important food source for wildlife. Moose, elk, deer, bighorn sheep, and pronghorns will readily eat the foliage, while bears birds, rabbits and other small mammals can safely eat the waxy white berries. This snowberry bush was found growing next to the Green River about 20 miles south of Seattle, Washington on a warm summer day.
    Snowberry2020-3.jpg
  • Ranging from toxic to poisonous to humans and several species of animals - particularly fish, the common snowberry is an important food source for wildlife. Moose, elk, deer, bighorn sheep, and pronghorns will readily eat the foliage, while bears birds, rabbits and other small mammals can safely eat the waxy white berries. This snowberry bush was found growing next to the Green River about 20 miles south of Seattle, Washington on a warm summer day.
    Snowberry2020-2.jpg
  • Ranging from toxic to poisonous to humans and several species of animals - particularly fish, the common snowberry is an important food source for wildlife. Moose, elk, deer, bighorn sheep, and pronghorns will readily eat the foliage, while bears birds, rabbits and other small mammals can safely eat the waxy white berries. This snowberry bush was found growing next to the Green River about 20 miles south of Seattle, Washington on a warm summer day.
    Snowberry2020-1.jpg
  • This female mountain goat (also called a doe or nanny) was found and photographed just under the top of Hurricane Ridge on the Washington's Olympic Peninsula. Too busy eating to worry about a human nearby, she did keep an eye on me and her youngster (also called a kid) who was learning which plants to eat by copying its mother.
    Mountain Goat Nanny
  • Looking much like a miniature watermelon, the creeping cucumber is in fact a native cucumber that grows in the American Southeast as far north as Illinois and Pennsylvania and west to Texas and Kansas on long vines with grape-like leaves. While considered edible, it's just one of those things you wouldn't go out of your way to eat. These were found in the Big Cypress National Preserve in Southwest Florida.
    Creeping Cucumber
  • Saskatoons, or western serviceberries (or “pomes” in botanical terms) are apple-like fruits that look very similar to salal berries  and are one of my favorite foraged berries in the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountains. Distantly related to apples, they taste like an beautiful mix of blueberry, salal, crabapple and Oregon grape. You can eat them fresh (my favorite!), dehydrate them like raisins, make them into jelly, jam or wine, or bake them into pancakes, pies and pastries. These perfectly ripe beauties were found growing in Montana's Glacier National Park in midsummer.
    Ripe Saskatoons
  • A busy  female mallard takes a break from showing her eight bundled ducklings how to find and eat peamouth minnow eggs from a shaded tiny creek in Bellevue, Washington on a warm spring afternoon.
    Mallard Family
  • Working alongside mushrooms and other fungi, banana slugs are detritivores that help turn decaying matter into soil humus. They eat leaves, dead plant materials, moss, fungi, and animal droppings and help in the movement of nutrients throughout the forest and prefer mushrooms over other foods, much to the detriment of human mushroom foragers. Because slugs do not have teeth, food is broken down using its ribbon-like radula, which works like a millstone to grind food into smaller and smaller particles that are then ingested. This one was found in a disturbed suburban park in Kent, Washington.
    Pacific Banana Slug
  • This great find in a purplish prickly pear cactus flower (Opuntia azurea) in Big Bend National Park in West Texas was an exciting one for me. This bee assassin bug is a clever hunter of bees and other pollinating insects found throughout much of North America. It is most often found inside flowers waiting to stab the unsuspecting insect attracted to the flower's sweet nectar with its sharp proboscis, where it will literally drink its prey dry. Even though this one is covered in pollen, you can still see the warning colors of black and red (aposematic coloration) warning birds and other predators that this bug is not safe to eat or hunt.
    Bee Assassin on Purplish Prickly Pear
  • These very beautiful bittersweet nightshade berries found ripening on the vine are native to Europe and Asia, and arrived roughly in the 1860's and were used by the Makah Indians as a medicine for stomach issues. Now naturalized throughout most of North America, this relative to the potato is an invasive weed that can grow in huge thickets and can compete with native plants. This plant is known to be VERY DANGEROUS to both humans and other animals and has caused people to die. It is said that once the berries are fully ripe (when they are bright red) that the amount of solanine - the toxic alkaloid, is greatly reduced. Seeds are spread by the common song sparrow and a few other birds that eat them, who are unaffected by the poisons the berries carry.
    Bittersweet Nightshade
  • These very beautiful bittersweet nightshade berries found ripening on the vine are native to Europe and Asia, and arrived roughly in the 1860's and were used by the Makah Indians as a medicine for stomach issues. Now naturalized throughout most of North America, this relative to the potato is an invasive weed that can grow in huge thickets and can compete with native plants. This plant is known to be VERY DANGEROUS to both humans and other animals and has caused people to die. It is said that once the berries are fully ripe (when they are bright red) that the amount of solanine - the toxic alkaloid, is greatly reduced. Seeds are spread by the common song sparrow and a few other birds that eat them, who are unaffected by the poisons the berries carry.
    Bittersweet Nightshade
  • These very beautiful bittersweet nightshade berries found ripening on the vine are native to Europe and Asia, and arrived roughly in the 1860's and were used by the Makah Indians as a medicine for stomach issues. Now naturalized throughout most of North America, this relative to the potato is an invasive weed that can grow in huge thickets and can compete with native plants. This plant is known to be VERY DANGEROUS to both humans and other animals and has caused people to die. It is said that once the berries are fully ripe (when they are bright red) that the amount of solanine - the toxic alkaloid, is greatly reduced. Seeds are spread by the common song sparrow and a few other birds that eat them, who are unaffected by the poisons the berries carry.
    Bittersweet Nightshade
  • These very beautiful bittersweet nightshade berries found ripening on the vine are native to Europe and Asia, and arrived roughly in the 1860's and were used by the Makah Indians as a medicine for stomach issues. Now naturalized throughout most of North America, this relative to the potato is an invasive weed that can grow in huge thickets and can compete with native plants. This plant is known to be VERY DANGEROUS to both humans and other animals and has caused people to die. It is said that once the berries are fully ripe (when they are bright red) that the amount of solanine - the toxic alkaloid, is greatly reduced. Seeds are spread by the common song sparrow and a few other birds that eat them, who are unaffected by the poisons the berries carry.
    Bittersweet Nightshade
  • These very beautiful bittersweet nightshade berries found ripening on the vine are native to Europe and Asia, and arrived roughly in the 1860's and were used by the Makah Indians as a medicine for stomach issues. Now naturalized throughout most of North America, this relative to the potato is an invasive weed that can grow in huge thickets and can compete with native plants. This plant is known to be VERY DANGEROUS to both humans and other animals and has caused people to die. It is said that once the berries are fully ripe (when they are bright red) that the amount of solanine - the toxic alkaloid, is greatly reduced. Seeds are spread by the common song sparrow and a few other birds that eat them, who are unaffected by the poisons the berries carry.
    Bittersweet Nightshade
  • These very beautiful bittersweet nightshade flowers here in the Mercer Slough of Bellevue, Washington are native to Europe and Asia, and arrived roughly in the 1860's. The berries were used by the Makah Indians as a medicine for stomach issues. Now naturalized throughout most of North America, this relative to the potato is an invasive weed that can grow in huge thickets and can compete with native plants. This plant is known to be VERY DANGEROUS to both humans and other animals and has caused people to die. It is said that once the berries are fully ripe (when they are bright red) that the amount of solanine - the toxic alkaloid, is greatly reduced. Seeds are spread by the common song sparrow and a few other birds that eat them, who are unaffected by the poisons the berries carry.
    Bittersweet Nightshade
  • This striking yellow fungus seen here in Eastern Washington near the Idaho border  is a type of lichenized fungus found growing on trees. The bright yellow color comes from pinastric and vulpinic acids - two substances only found in lichens that are believed to repel the insects and other wildlife that might eat it. According to Swedish peasant folklore, this lichen will kill foxes, but is completely safe for wolves and dogs.
    Brown-Eyed Sunshine (Vulpicida canad..sis)
  • North Florida's salt marshes around St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge is full of alligators, where there is plenty to eat and lots of cover. You can easily see how this one left the water to cross into the next marsh… check out that tail drag!
    Gator Tracks!
  • This smallest member of the chipmunk family in North America is found in coniferous forests, juniper woodlands, and sagebrush deserts where it feasts on mostly seeds, but will also eat flowers, buds, leaves, grasses, fungi, and even insects, eggs, and carrion!
    Least Chipmunk
  • Almost ready to eat! These golden currants are about to burst with tart, fruity goodness along the banks of Cowiche Creek as it flows through the desert steppe in Central Washington.
    Golden Currant
  • Closeup of salal flowers next to Deep Lake near Enumclaw, WA. Found in many places across the Pacific Northwest, this common native woody shrub is found in forests and woodlands and is of great historical importance to the native tribes who have inhabited the region for thousands of years. The delicious, intensely sweet edible berries that will come later in the summer were used to make dried cakes that would provide nourishment throughout the winter. It is said that cakes of pure salal were reserved solely for the chiefs to eat, and anyone else had to have theirs mixed with other local berries, such as huckleberries or elderberries as was the custom.
    Salal
  • A wild northwestern ringneck snake posed in an antelope bitterbrush shrub solely for this photograph. This fast, secretive, nocturnal and beautiful small predator is a subspecies of the ringneck snake found all over North America. Unlike most other subspecies, instead of the normal black background, this group has a blue-gray color variation with the typical striking bright orange belly and neck ring. Notice the curled tail, which serves as a "warning flag" - a common threat display warning a bigger predator (me in this case) that it is toxic to eat, which is entirely a bluff.
    Northwestern Ringneck Snake
  • A tachinid fly feeds on the flowers of Queen Anne's lace outside of Imboden, Arkansas. These specialized true flies have a very interesting reproductive behavior. The eggs (or newly hatched larvae - depending on the species) is laid on a very unlucky host (usually a caterpillar) where the larvae bores into the body. It will begin to eat its host alive, eventually killing it, and soon after emerge as an adult, ready to breed and repeat the cycle.
    Tachinid Fly (Belvosia borealis)
  • Edible Indian plums growing in a wooded area in Southern King County in Washington, ready to eat! These small native fruits grow west of the Cascades in the Pacific Northwest from British Columbia to California. Caution is recommended as in all wild edibles, as the distinct flavor in these fruits (like that in almonds) comes from high amounts of hydrogen cyanide. Best practice - consume in moderation.
    Indian Plums
  • This mountain forest-loving red-flowering currant may not produce the edible currants many of us love to eat, but these flowers will certainly draw many spring hummingbirds! Color varies from bright red to pale pink.
    Red-flowering Currant
  • Eastern gray squirrel feeding on some birdseed left out in Naples, Florida. It faced quite a dilemma - run from the camera or eat as much as it could!
    Eastern Gray Squirrel
  • The incredibly colored lubber grasshopper is a very common sight in South Florida in the summertime. These insects eat anything and everything!
    Southeastern Lubber Grasshopper
  • Viceroy butterfly in the heat of a summer day in the Corkscrew Swamp in SW Florida. This is one of the several species to mimic the Monarch's colors and pattern - known to birds for being toxic to eat.
    Viceroy
  • This emerging Leucocoprinus birnbaumii (more commonly known as the plantpot dapperling or flowerpot parasol) is an tropical to subtropical common mushroom that is more widely known for popping up in cultivated flowerpots in hothouses far north of its natural range. While considered to be toxic and nearly impossible to get rid of, it's best to just learn to enjoy their delicate beauty and try not to accidentally eat them. This one was found growing on some old wood in a hardwood hammock on Key Largo, Florida.
    Plantpot Dapperling (Leucocoprinus b..mii)
  • Recently, the western scrub jay was split into two distinct species: the California scrub jay (which is a brighter blue and is found in the coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest) and the Woodhouse's scrub jay (which is a duller blue and found in more interior regions away from the coast.) Much like any jay or other corvid, these often loud and very inquisitive birds will eat just about anything they can overpower or steal. These California scrub jays are easy to recognize from their neighboring cousins by the distinct blue "collar" around the neck. This one was found screeching in a maple tree in Southern King County, Washington on a chilly afternoon.
    California Scrub Jay
  • Recently, the western scrub jay was split into two distinct species: the California scrub jay (which is a brighter blue and is found in the coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest) and the Woodhouse's scrub jay (which is a duller blue and found in more interior regions away from the coast.) Much like any jay or other corvid, these often loud and very inquisitive birds will eat just about anything they can overpower or steal. These California scrub jays are easy to recognize from their neighboring cousins by the distinct blue "collar" around the neck. This one was found screeching in a maple tree in Southern King County, Washington on a chilly afternoon.
    California Scrub Jay
  • A male juba skipper pauses for a moment on a clump of asters on a windy spring day on Whiskey Dick Mountain in Central Washington just west of the Columbia River near Vantage. Similar in appearance to other related skipper species in the sagebrush deserts and plains of the northern western states, this one is dependent on certain native grasses for their young to eat.
    Juba Skipper
  • Saskatoons, or western serviceberries (or “pomes” in botanical terms) are apple-like fruits that look very similar to salal berries  and are one of my favorite foraged berries in the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountains. Distantly related to apples, they taste like an beautiful mix of blueberry, salal, crabapple and Oregon grape. You can eat them fresh (my favorite!), dehydrate them like raisins, make them into jelly, jam or wine, or bake them into pancakes, pies and pastries. These perfectly ripe beauties were found growing in Alberta, Canada's Waterton Lakes National Park in midsummer.
    Ripe Saskatoons
  • Saskatoons, or western serviceberries (or “pomes” in botanical terms) are apple-like fruits that look very similar to salal berries  and are one of my favorite foraged berries in the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountains. Distantly related to apples, they taste like an beautiful mix of blueberry, salal, crabapple and Oregon grape. You can eat them fresh (my favorite!), dehydrate them like raisins, make them into jelly, jam or wine, or bake them into pancakes, pies and pastries. These perfectly ripe beauties were found growing in Montana's Glacier National Park in midsummer.
    Ripe Saskatoons
  • Saskatoons, or western serviceberries (or “pomes” in botanical terms) are apple-like fruits that look very similar to salal berries  and are one of my favorite foraged berries in the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountains. Distantly related to apples, they taste like an beautiful mix of blueberry, salal, crabapple and Oregon grape. You can eat them fresh (my favorite!), dehydrate them like raisins, make them into jelly, jam or wine, or bake them into pancakes, pies and pastries. These perfectly ripe beauties were found growing in Montana's Glacier National Park in midsummer.
    Ripe Saskatoons
  • Saskatoons, or western serviceberries (or “pomes” in botanical terms) are apple-like fruits that look very similar to salal berries  and are one of my favorite foraged berries in the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountains. Distantly related to apples, they taste like an beautiful mix of blueberry, salal, crabapple and Oregon grape. You can eat them fresh (my favorite!), dehydrate them like raisins, make them into jelly, jam or wine, or bake them into pancakes, pies and pastries. These perfectly ripe beauties were found growing in Montana's Glacier National Park in midsummer.
    Ripe Saskatoons
  • These very beautiful bittersweet nightshade berries found ripening on the vine are native to Europe and Asia, and arrived roughly in the 1860's and were used by the Makah Indians as a medicine for stomach issues. Now naturalized throughout most of North America, this relative to the potato is an invasive weed that can grow in huge thickets and can compete with native plants. This plant is known to be VERY DANGEROUS to both humans and other animals and has caused people to die. It is said that once the berries are fully ripe (when they are bright red) that the amount of solanine - the toxic alkaloid, is greatly reduced. Seeds are spread by the common song sparrow and a few other birds that eat them, who are unaffected by the poisons the berries carry.
    Bittersweet Nightshade
  • These very beautiful bittersweet nightshade berries found ripening on the vine are native to Europe and Asia, and arrived roughly in the 1860's and were used by the Makah Indians as a medicine for stomach issues. Now naturalized throughout most of North America, this relative to the potato is an invasive weed that can grow in huge thickets and can compete with native plants. This plant is known to be VERY DANGEROUS to both humans and other animals and has caused people to die. It is said that once the berries are fully ripe (when they are bright red) that the amount of solanine - the toxic alkaloid, is greatly reduced. Seeds are spread by the common song sparrow and a few other birds that eat them, who are unaffected by the poisons the berries carry.
    Bittersweet Nightshade
  • These very beautiful bittersweet nightshade berries found ripening on the vine are native to Europe and Asia, and arrived roughly in the 1860's and were used by the Makah Indians as a medicine for stomach issues. Now naturalized throughout most of North America, this relative to the potato is an invasive weed that can grow in huge thickets and can compete with native plants. This plant is known to be VERY DANGEROUS to both humans and other animals and has caused people to die. It is said that once the berries are fully ripe (when they are bright red) that the amount of solanine - the toxic alkaloid, is greatly reduced. Seeds are spread by the common song sparrow and a few other birds that eat them, who are unaffected by the poisons the berries carry.
    Bittersweet Nightshade
  • A possibly abandoned yearling California sea lion on a beach in Los Angeles, California shows that it is far too thin. This has been a common sight in recent years with far too many pups and yearlings not getting enough food to eat. Warmer waters in recent years means that the mother has to venture out further to sea to get enough food to nourish her young.
    California Sea Lion Yearling
  • A southeastern lubber grasshopper in the Fakahatchee Strand (in the northwestern part of the Florida Everglades) does what grasshoppers do best - eat vegetation!
    Southeastern Lubber Grasshopper
  • This huge batch yellow flag iris was found growing along the Yakima River in great profusion the eastern bank of the Yakima River, just north of Selah, WA. Although incredibly beautiful, they are considered a pest as they completely take over river banks. Because they lack the diseases and wildlife that eat them found in their native Europe, they can multiply unchecked - crowding out North American native plants that don't enjoy such an easy advantage.
    Yellow Flag Iris
  • A quick stop for a rest and bite to eat on their way to their summer breeding grounds in Alaska and the Canadian Arctic, this migrating  pair of greater white-fronted geese wade in the wetlands in the Nisqually River Delta near Olympia, WA where there are plenty of aquatic plants and insects.
    Greater White-fronted Geese
  • Glacier lilies are an important source of food for many animals in the American west. The leaves and bulb-like structures (corms) are rich in nutrients and are eaten by deer, bears, bighorn sheep, elk and several rodents such as ground squirrels. Native Americans have long used the leaves as a (or part of) salad and eat the corm either boiled or fresh. This was photographed<br />
 on the eastern side of Washington's Cascades Mountain Range.
    Glacier Lily
  • One of the more interesting plants found growing in the Pacific Northwest is the yellow skunk cabbage - also know as the western skunk cabbage or swamp lantern. These stinky water-loving plant blooms in the late spring and early summer in wet bogs or swamps and actually produces enough heat to melt snow away from it. Bears are known to eat the roots after their winter slumber to induce a laxative-like effect. While it is potentially toxic to humans, the native peoples of the Pacific Northwest used the large leaves (largest in the PNW) for lining the insides of baskets and for wrapping salmon before cooking them.
    Yellow Skunk Cabbage
  • A Texas patch-nosed snake (Salvadora grahamiae lineata), a subspecies of the more common and widespread eastern patch-nosed snake warms up in the sunshine on a surprisingly chilly winter late afternoon in Southern Hidalgo County in Mission, Texas - about 5 miles form the Mexican border. This snake gets its name from the unusually large scale on the tip of its snout and is completely harmless to people and reach about 2 to 3 feet in length. This snake primarily eats anything they can catch which is typically lizards, eggs, small rodents and other snakes.
    Texas Patch-nosed Snake (Salvadora g..ata)
  • A Texas patch-nosed snake (Salvadora grahamiae lineata), a subspecies of the more common and widespread eastern patch-nosed snake warms up in the sunshine on a surprisingly chilly winter late afternoon in Southern Hidalgo County in Mission, Texas - about 5 miles form the Mexican border. This snake gets its name from the unusually large scale on the tip of its snout and is completely harmless to people and reach about 2 to 3 feet in length. This snake primarily eats anything they can catch which is typically lizards, eggs, small rodents and other snakes.
    Texas Patch-nosed Snake (Salvadora g..ata)
  • Extremely common throughout North America and easily overlooked, this native lily with small nondescript white flowers can be found mostly around mountain forests up to around 9000 feet in elevation. While the berries may be considered edible, some people complain of an upset stomach after eating them. The local Blackfeet Indians have been known to use a powder made of the roots of this plant to treat wounds. These ripe berries were found above Petty Creek in Alberton, Montana on a rocky mountain slope.
    Common False Solomon's Seal Berries
  • Extremely common throughout North America and easily overlooked, this native lily with small nondescript white flowers can be found mostly around mountain forests up to around 9000 feet in elevation. While the berries may be considered edible, some people complain of an upset stomach after eating them. The local Blackfeet Indians have been known to use a powder made of the roots of this plant to treat wounds. These ripe berries were found above Petty Creek in Alberton, Montana on a rocky mountain slope.
    Common False Solomon's Seal Berries
  • Banana slugs are highly variable in appearance, but most tend to be either a solid light to bright yellow (hence the name banana slug) or yellow with brown spots. Sometimes brown, green or even white ones are seen, and color can often an indicator of the slug's age, health, how moist or dry it is, or even can be a clue as to what it's been eating. The body structure of the banana slug is very simple. It has a "foot" that is used for locomotion in the same way terrestrial or aquatic snails move about. The "hump" part of the back is called the mantle, and has an opening on its right called a pneumostome that is a simple airway for the single lung that it uses for respiration. Their entire body is covered in a thick slime helps it retain moisture and aids in "sliding" through the forest. This one was found in a disturbed suburban park in Kent, Washington.
    Pacific Banana Slug-9.jpg
  • This round-tailed horned lizard would not have been spotted had it not suddenly dashed out from where it stood motionless right in front of me in the Chihuahuan Desert in New Mexico's Socorro County. One of the smallest of the horned lizards, these delicate desert-dwellers make their living eating mostly harvester, honey-pot and big-headed ants, with the occasional termite, small insect or larvae. What is most amazing about them is their natural camouflage!
    Round-tail Horned Lizard
  • This round-tailed horned lizard would not have been spotted had it not suddenly dashed out from where it stood motionless right in front of me in the Chihuahuan Desert in New Mexico's Socorro County. One of the smallest of the horned lizards, these delicate desert-dwellers make their living eating mostly harvester, honey-pot and big-headed ants, with the occasional termite, small insect or larvae. What is most amazing about them is their natural camouflage!
    Round-tail Horned Lizard
  • This round-tailed horned lizard would not have been spotted had it not suddenly dashed out from where it stood motionless right in front of me in the Chihuahuan Desert in New Mexico's Socorro County. One of the smallest of the horned lizards, these delicate desert-dwellers make their living eating mostly harvester, honey-pot and big-headed ants, with the occasional termite, small insect or larvae. What is most amazing about them is their natural camouflage!
    Round-tail Horned Lizard
  • This round-tailed horned lizard would not have been spotted had it not suddenly dashed out from where it stood motionless right in front of me in the Chihuahuan Desert in New Mexico's Socorro County. One of the smallest of the horned lizards, these delicate desert-dwellers make their living eating mostly harvester, honey-pot and big-headed ants, with the occasional termite, small insect or larvae. What is most amazing about them is their natural camouflage!
    Round-tail Horned Lizard
  • This round-tailed horned lizard would not have been spotted had it not suddenly dashed out from where it stood motionless right in front of me in the Chihuahuan Desert in New Mexico's Socorro County. One of the smallest of the horned lizards, these delicate desert-dwellers make their living eating mostly harvester, honey-pot and big-headed ants, with the occasional termite, small insect or larvae. What is most amazing about them is their natural camouflage!
    Round-tail Horned Lizard
  • This most common of the orb weaver spiders found in Washington State, the cross orb weaver is found in a wide range of habitats. It has extremely variable markings and patterns, but they all have a white cross on the back of the abdomen. This large female was found eating its prey - some sort of flying insect - that she trapped in her web next to Coal Creek in Bellevue, Washington on an early fall afternoon.
    Cross Orb Weaver
  • This most common of the orb weaver spiders found in Washington State, the cross orb weaver is found in a wide range of habitats. It has extremely variable markings and patterns, but they all have a white cross on the back of the abdomen. This large female was found eating its prey - some sort of flying insect - that she trapped in her web next to Coal Creek in Bellevue, Washington on an early fall afternoon.
    Cross Orb Weaver
  • This most common of the orb weaver spiders found in Washington State, the cross orb weaver is found in a wide range of habitats. It has extremely variable markings and patterns, but they all have a white cross on the back of the abdomen. This large female was found eating its prey - some sort of flying insect - that she trapped in her web next to Coal Creek in Bellevue, Washington on an early fall afternoon.
    Cross Orb Weaver
  • The black huckleberry is considered by many to be the prize of the mountain berries. These juicy, sweet member of the blueberry family are found from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean (with a few isolated locations eastward) and have been enjoyed by wildlife and humans for millennia. This official state fruit of Idaho is a particularly important food source for grizzly and black bears, and traditionally the Native Americans have been eating them in dozens of different ways: fresh, dried, smoked, crushed up in soups or mixed with salmon roe - to name a few. These huckleberries were photographed (then eaten) just below the tree line at the edge of a subalpine meadow in the North Cascades National Park, near the Canadian border in Washington State.
    Black Huckleberry
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