Bacchus And Kitty © 2004 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith

Paradise © 2007 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith

Horses in Paradise New Zealand © 2007 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith

Horses in Paradise, New Zealand © 2007 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith

Scottish Highland Cow In New Zealand © 2007 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith

How Does He Do That? © 2005 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith Local fauna of Isle of Skye, Scotland

Wild Pacific Coast Rattlesnake © 2010 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith This is a photo of a wild Pacific Coast Rattlesnake I found while hiking yesterday. I went back to Mount Diablo State Park to see if I could find and photograph more wild tarantulas and came across this mature, very large, rattlesnake sunning himself on the trail. What an exciting find! It had been a very cloudy (and relatively cool morning) and the sun was just starting to come out when I encountered this little guy. Rattlesnakes pick up vibrations through their body muscles which send sound through to their jaw bones and on to their inside ear parts. Rattlesnakes do not have outer ears and therefore rely on vibrations to pick up sound. They tend to not be very aggressive and will choose to flee from you if given the chance. When I got too close to this large rattler, he turned tail, and moved away very quickly - he didn't even pause to shake his rattle. Posted 20 September 2010. Best viewed in the largest size. You can see a collection of all my Wildlife photos by going to www.colleenmgriffith.com/Galleries/Flora-and-Fauna/Wildlife

Wild Pacific Coast Rattlesnake © 2010 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith This is a photo of a wild Pacific Coast Rattlesnake I found while hiking Mt Diablo over the weekend. Rattlesnakes, copperheads and cottonmouths are all pit vipers. Pit Vipers are snakes with two pits under their nostrils which detect heat and enable the rattlesnake to hunt warm-blooded prey. The pits are so sensitive that the snake can determine the size of the warm-blooded animal and can even detect prey in complete darkness. Rattlesnakes have a forked tongue that they flick up and down. The tongue picks microscopic airborne particles and gases from the air and uses the sent to identify food, enemy (humans), mate, or other object or substance. We saw a lot of wildlife on this trip to Mount Diablo: two snakes, two tarantulas, two quail, two turkeys. Seemed that everything came in pairs that day! Posted 21 September 2010. Best viewed in the largest size. You can see a collection of all my Wildlife photos by going to www.colleenmgriffith.com/Galleries/Flora-and-Fauna/Wildlife

On The Prowl © 2010 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith In honor of Halloween, I thought I would post a few more creepy spider shots. :D Since the Trick O' Treaters are coming out this evening, my husband put out a larger-than-life fake tarantula and that reminded me of my other un-processed tarantula shots. This photo of a wild tarantula was captured during one of my excursions to Mt. Diablo State park in September of this year. Every fall, the mature male tarantulas come out of their burrows looking for love. They never seem to stop moving and so it's difficult to capture an up-close, in focus, shot of them. This one seemed to stop for a moment to catch his breath, and voila, I was able to get this shot. It's one of my favorite ones since it shows the entire spider and is crisp. :) This "little" guy was about the size of my hand. Posted 31 October 2010. You can see a collection of all my spider photos by going to www.colleenmgriffith.com/Galleries/Flora-and-Fauna/Spiders

Ready to Pounce © 2010 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith This is a photo of a wild tarantula that I found prowling the trails of Mount Diablo State Park in California. Yes, even tarantulas have a mating season - so every September the mature male tarantulas come out of their burrows looking for love. If you walk slowly, and look closely, you can find them. Since these are wild creatures, I don't recommend handling them because they can be a bit unpredictable. However, I'm told by at least one tarantula expert in the area, this type of tarantula isn't known for aggressive behavior. You can see a collection of all my wild Tarantula photos by going to www.colleenmgriffith.com/Galleries/Flora-and-Fauna/Spiders

Morning Surprise © 2009 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith You can imagine my surprise when I encountered this wild bear at Yosemite National Park

San Francisco Coyote © 2009 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith I came across this wild coyote as I was hiking on a path in a wooded area on the peninsula in San Francisco, CA. It's amazing the wildlife you find in the San Francisco Bay area!

Wild adult male Elephant Seal at Anno Nuevo State Park, California © 2009 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith

Elephant Seal Weaner, Anno Nuevo State Park, CA © 2009 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith

© 2004 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith La Gatta a Poderi Val Verde (Cat in Poderi Val Verde)

Cat In A Bowl © 2004 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith I love the resting place this cat has chosen. :) Le Gatta a Manarola, Cinque Terre

Himalayan Thar © 2007 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith These are agile goat like animals who originate from the Himalays. They prefer rocky bluffs, steep faces and were released into the Southern Alps in 1904 from the UK.

© 2005 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith Local fauna of Isle of Skye, Scotland

Yellow Bellied Marmot © 2008 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith

Here's Lookin At You © 2008 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith

Llama Above Queenstown, New Zealand © 2007 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith

Could Those Ears Be Any Bigger? © 2008 Colleen M. Griffith Friend Colleen on Facebook

Roosevelt Elk © 2008 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith Roosevelt Elk at Elk Meadow, Redwood National Park, CA

© 2007 Colleen M. Griffith. Fiordland Crested Penguins in Milford Sound, New Zealand (aka the penguins in the movie Surf's Up)

Mmmoooooo! © 2005 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith Local fauna of Isle of Skye, Scotland. Moo!