Nature's Best Photography

. Slender and arboreal, vine snakes can reach lengths of six-and-a-half feet and range in color from bright green to rusty brown. Slow moving, they depend upon camouflage for protection.

. Elephant society is highly complex and arranged around family units of closely related females and their calves. Family units often join up with other bands of females, and larger herds may number well over a hundred individuals.

. Giraffes usually live in loose herds of 10 to 20 individuals, although herds of up to 70 have been observed.

. The dominant feature of the proboscis is the male’s large nose, which is used as a resonating chamber to amplify the monkey’s call as it swings through the forest canopy.

. Considered sacred in many parts of India, these langurs are active during the day and use trees primarily for sleeping.

. The hippo spends the day in water and emerges at night to feed. Using the water only as a retreat, it does not eat aquatic vegetation.

. Orangutan populations on Borneo have been declining for many years and the species is in danger of becoming extinct. They are protected by law, but poaching still occurs and they are losing habitat to palm plantations.

. The ring-tailed lemur inhabits dry brush and scrub, as well as closed canopy forest.

. Every other year, female grizzly bears produce one to four offspring that weigh about only about one pound. The protective sow cares for her young for up to two years.

. Coyotes are among the most adaptable mammals in North America, with an enormous geographical distribution raging from northern Alaska south to Panama.

. Red foxes are the most widely distributed wild carnivores in the world, occurring in North America, Asia, Europe, and North Africa.

. The most distinctive features of walrus are its tusks, present in both sexes. The tusks are elongated upper canine teeth that continue to grow throughout the life of the animal, becoming externally visible at about one year of age.

. Musk oxen are well adapted to their cold Arctic habitat, with short, stocky bodies and a thick coat of ground-length hair, enhanced in the winter by woolly underhairs for added insulation.

. Although lions drink regularly when water is available, they are capable of obtaining their moisture requirements from prey and even plants, and thus can survive in very dry environments.

. Leopards are agile climbers and can descend from a tree headfirst.

. Cheetahs usually bear three to five cubs, although litters can number up to eight young. During the first few weeks of life, mothers move their cubs every few days to avoid predators.

. Highly sociable animals, African Cape buffalo travel in large, imposing herds of more than one thousand individuals.

. The cane toad may live up to 10 years and weigh over a pound.

. Swedish doctor-botanist Carl Thunberg traveled to Japan in the 18th century and named this maple “palmatum” after the hand-like shape of its leaf.

. During the breeding season, the male stag beetles use their magnificent mandibles as a warning signal to other males. They raise them in a defensive and aggressive posture to fight off a contender. They are skillful wrestlers and can even stand up on their hind legs to throw an opponent.