This juvenile female marten was captured in a live trap but was too young and small to collar. She got a basic checkup and was released. However, instead of running off into the forest, she returned to the researchers and spent quite a while checking us out. The orange color on her neck is natural. The light coming in from behind lit up her ears and fur.
American Badger, front view. Photographed in Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Montana, USA. June 23, 2004 Full-resolution image can be purchased at my photo gallery.
Owlet Lodge, Abra Patricia, Amazonas dept., Peru. We saw several Tayras in our travels, the first ones in the Amazon, and then several at Owlet Lodge in northern Peru, at a much higher altitude in the Andes. It is a member of the Weasel family (Mustelidae), and can become quite tame around human habitation. They are generally diurnal, and den in tree hollows or burrows, and will eat just about anything from fruit to birds' eggs, and will raid beehives. This one was feeding on banana put out at Owlet Lodge to attract tanagers and other fruit-eating birds.
This Tayra, Eira barbara, was photographed in Peru, as part of a research project utilizing motion-activated camera-traps.You are invited to go WILD on Smithsonian's interactive website, Smithsonian WILD, to learn more about the research and browse photos like this from around the world.siwild.si.edu/wild.cfm?fid=5177553876
This Tayra, Eira barbara, was photographed in Peru, as part of a research project utilizing motion-activated camera-traps.You are invited to go WILD on Smithsonian's interactive website, Smithsonian WILD, to learn more about the research and browse photos like this from around the world.siwild.si.edu/wild.cfm?fid=5177044652