Black Caiman (Melanosuchus niger)

Black caiman along the River Beni, Amazon Basin, Bolivia  young reader of OOTH (Cash) asked about Nile crocodiles – but since I have never seen one of these we had to settle for this large critter. This species is found throughout the Amazon Basin but its range does extend further north.   The species occurs in Bolivia,

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Rubber Boa (Charina bottae)

t has never occurred to me to speak with elegant animals.  I am not curious about the opinion of wasps or of racing mares.  Let them settle matters while flying, let them win decorations by running!  I want to speak with flies, with the bitch that has recently littered, and to converse with snakes…….I want

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Calypso orchid (Calypso bulbosa)

Oh yea – there’s this whole other Kingdom of plants!    Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species – or easier to remember as Kings Prefer Cokes Over Frosty Grape Sodas.   I know this one as fairy slipper, with reference to the shoe like appearance of the lower lip of the flower.   It has a wide distribution

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