Oklahoma based photographer, writer and jack of all tracks.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Finally kicking myself to try and get some photo processing work done. I’m finally taking the leap to shooting more in the RAW format, using SilkyPix to develop the photos. If anyone has any tips on how I might learn to better work this, I’d really appreciate it.
First batch of photos from my first post surgery trip to the Oklahoma City Zoo, and my first shots using my new Panasonic GF3 camera. Here you see Yoda and KayDee, two of our red pandas and Rex, a bull elephant. It was really nice to get back to the Zoo, see some old friends and have fun taking pictures again.
How were my first two days back to work?
Here, I’ll let this red panda image sum things up for me. =p
Hey kids, guess what? It’s back.
Red Panda Fact #27 - Anywhere from nine months to a year and a half, most red panda cubs will be removed from their birth zoos and transferred to other facilities. There are two reasons for this. One, as they approach maturity, mothers will ween their offspring, and adult males will grow more and more territorial. The second is that most red pandas are part of an SSP, or Species Survival Plan. Zoologists will look at the red panda population on record and try to find a good match, so that strong genetics and diversity are well represented in the population. From time to time, even adult red pandas will be transferred for the same reason, particularly if a pair has had several litters together. This prevents genetic defects from becoming common in the zoo based populations.
Hopefully this will become a weekly thing again, or at least once every other week. But it feels good to be back doing this again.
I’m not sure when or if the red panda facts will resume, but I really wanted to post a red panda photo just to show I’m still kicking. Recovery from this surgery’s been tough, harder than any of the others, but I’m still going to beat it. And I’m going to post goofy red panda photos because they make me smile.
By the time you read this, I should hopefully be home from the hospital or at least getting close to that. But I couldn’t even let a hospital trip get in the way of a Red Panda Fact, could I?
Red Panda Fact #26 - Just how smart are red pandas? It’s a hard question to answer, largely because animal intelligence is hard to define. But red pandas are good associative learners and some have been taught a number of commands from both verbal and visual cues. There are a handful of anecdotal tales that red pandas will sometimes use their pseudothumbs to manipulate tools, but this doesn’t appear to be common.
A good example of learned behavior can be seen at the Oklahoma City Zoo, where the red pandas will rarely react to the sound of carts passing by. However, if one comes by when they know it’s feeding time, they’ll be on the branches waiting for food before the keepers have even unlocked the outer enclosure door. They’ll also get progressively more excited as they can hear doors being opened. This isn’t unique to red pandas by a long shot… most zoo animals will recognize signs they’re about to get fed. Yet another good reason why it’s a good idea to find out feeding times at your local zoo and visit during them!
Happy early Thanksgiving, everyone! To celebrate the holiday and my twenty fifth Red Panda Fact, have a bonus photo!
Red Panda Fact #25 - By now, you’ve probably seen the video or GIF of a very frightened red panda. The noise it makes when it falls backward is the grunting and bleating I talked about last week, in fact! The grunting is a good way to tell if two red pandas are play fighting or there’s actual aggression. Play fights are common among siblings and a mother and her cubs, while a territorial male is more inclined to fight for real, even with his own cubs.
And heck, one more holiday gift from me to you! If you head over to EsdeemPhoto.com, you can get 10% off your order with the promo code BLACKFRIDAY at checkout, from now until November 27th. It all goes to help me pay down my medical bills.
And speaking of all things medical, I’ll be automating next week’s Red Panda Fact, as I’ll be in the hospital for surgery #3 as of Monday. Hopefully it will be a short stay this time, but thoughts and prayers are very much appreciated.
Red Panda Fact #24 - Red pandas are largely silent creatures, particularly as they grow older. A shrill whistle can be heard from cubs in distress, and grunting and bleating are a common part of threat displays Less common is a contact call, most often heard during mating season. Many of these calls are accompanied by visual cues, such as standing on two legs and opening the mouth to bare teeth. A variety of factors contribute to their relative silence, but the infrequency of meeting other red pandas and avoiding revealing themselves to predators are two factors.
Enjoy reading the weekly Red Panda Facts on Tumblr and seeing red panda photos? Then check out Esdeem Photo, where you can find even more red panda photos and even buy prints of your favorites. All proceeds go toward helping me pay off the medical bills from my (soon to be) three surgeries in the last fifteen months.
Red Panda Fact #23 - The first image of a red panda seen by Western audiences was an illustration by Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. However, this drawing was based on the description provided by Frederic Cuvier, who had never seen a living panda. The first, truly accurate depiction came from Josef Wolf, widely regarded as the finest animal artist of his day. Wolf’s depiction was so striking that prints of it are still sold today, 150 years after its creation.
You might have noticed that I missed a week of Red Panda Facts. I’ve actually been busy revising my personal web site, as well as setting up a new one for my photography. You can check them out at esdeem.com and esdeemphoto.com.
One reason I’m mentioning this? Before the month is done, I’m going to have my third, and hopefully final, surgery stemming from health issues last year. This one should be routine, but the bills have really started to stack up. So a big reason for the new site is to offer print sales. Even if you can’t afford a print, passing the word along would really help.
Thanks again to everyone out there who has liked or reblogged these RPFs. As for next week, ever wonder what kind of sounds a red panda makes? If so, you’ll want to check out next week’s Fact!
(by tsukunepapa)
It sort of looks like he’s from a kung fu movie, has just done a set of amazing moves and now he’s in the “bask in my awesomeness” pose.
