 Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman in a kiddie pool in my apartment. From the years 1993 to roughly 1999, several other critters joined my captive collection. I had a collection of Tokay Geckos, a Mexican Spiny-tailed Iguana, a Tegu, Green Anoles, House Geckos and several others. Of the lizards, my meanest was by far a Nile Monitor. They are notoriously aggressive, even when captive raised from hatchlings. Mine was no different. He was my “garbage disposal” lizard. Whatever mice weren’t eaten by the snakes overnight, he’d happily gobble up the next night. As he grew, he was housed in an 8-foot long cage with a trap door in the top into which to drop his food. As the little door opened, he’d jump to catch the falling rodent mid-air! He was nearly impossible to handle without getting bit. I still bear the scars of his claws on my arms to this day. My biggest lizard was a Savannah Monitor. Well, perhaps I shouldn’t say “biggest”, but fattest! He wasn’t very long, perhaps three feet, but he was just as wide! I bought him from an individual as a big adult but soon realized why they had decided to re-home him. His food was strictly large rats and canned can food. Input equals output… and it was quite messy and odiferous!  My large Savannah Monitor getting some sun in the backyard. Also to join my collection for period of time were a baby Spectacled Caiman and a Cuvier’s Dwarf Caiman. As the baby caiman began to grow so rapidly, I soon realized my folly and gave him to a friend who could better house him. At just two feet, the Dwarf Caiman was much easier to fit in the kiddie pool in the corner of my bedroom. Unfortunately, he passed away after a few months, perhaps from intestinal parasites.  Cuvier's Dwarf Caiman in a kiddie pool in my apartment.
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 William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, landscape, birding and nature photography blog documenting the wonders of God’s creation. 1 Kings 4:32-34 Solomon wrote three thousand wise sayings and composed more than one thousand songs. He could talk about all kinds of plants, from large trees to small bushes, and he taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish. Kings all over the world heard about Solomon’s wisdom and sent people to listen to him teach.  Young Black Ratsnake with a full belly found in Clarke County, Georgia.  Amos 3:5 Does a bird ever get caught in a trap that has no bait? Does a trap spring shut when there’s nothing to catch?  Great Crested Flycatcher, April 23, 1998 Even back in the 1900’s I used to carry my film camera with me quite often. One afternoon, while on a door-to-door outreach in an Athens, I came across this Great Crested Flycatcher, Myiarchus crinitus, trapped inside of the stairwell of an apartment complex.
According to www.allaboutbirds.org, the Great Crested Flycatcher is “a large, assertive flycatcher with rich reddish-brown accents and a lemon-yellow belly that is a common bird of Eastern woodlands. These flycatchers swoop after flying insects. They are the only Eastern flycatchers that nest in cavities, and this means they sometimes make use of nest boxes.  Psalm 143:5 I remember the days of old. I ponder all your great works and think about what you have done.  A pair of Canada Geese raised their goslings on a pond off Lexington Road in Athens, Clarke County, Georgia. April 1998. Every morning and afternoon from 1996 to 2006 I would have to drive by a small pond near the Athens-Clarke County jail to pick up and drop off the inmate laborers that worked in our animal shelter. Even on this small pond with very little cover, the Canada Geese would raise goslings, and the herons and egrets would fish.  September 1998 - Canada Geese swim in a small Clarke County pond while a Great Blue Heron fishes in the background.  September 1998 - Great Egret with a catch.  Great Blue Heron  Psalm 143:5 I remember the days of old. I ponder all your great works and think about what you have done.  Juvenile Black Ratsnake; Clarke County, Georgia. A baby Black Ratsnake, most likely removed from someone’s home on an animal control call in 1998. The photo was taken on an old wood pile outside my apartment.
 Proverbs 30:28 "Lizards—they are easy to catch, but they are found even in kings’ palaces."  Eastern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus); Clarke County, Georgia. A small Eastern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus) I caught around my house in Athens, Georgia and photographed before letting him go. The eastern fence lizard is a medium-sized species of lizard in the family Phrynosomatidae. The species is found along forest edges, rock piles, and rotting logs or stumps in the eastern United States. It is sometimes referred to as the prairie lizard, fence swift, gray lizard, northern fence lizard or pine lizard.  Eastern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus); Clarke County, Georgia.  Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them. Full of splendor and majesty is his work. Psalms 111:2  An Eastern Mud Turtle photographed (according to my old photo album) in Madison County, Georgia on April 13, 1998. |
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In December 1993 I came to know the Designer and Creator of this wonderful planet and its creatures: Jesus Christ.
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