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Showing posts with label Animals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Animals. Show all posts

Sunday, 1 March 2026

Lioness & Lesser Kudu

South Bank Lions Stands Beside Westminster Bridge.

Location:
London, England
Address: 8 Grosvenor Gardens
Date: September 2025

    Most of the lions found in London, England are standing around looking majestic. They can be found on coats of arms, flags, over doorways, and more. This lion statue above has been in London since 1837 and is currently standing on the South Bank beside Westminster Bridge. In artwork, it is usually the male lion depicted with its flowing mane. Today we are searching for a lioness.
 
Fabrique Hut In Grosvenor Gardens.

    We had heard reports of a lioness in Grosvenor Park. The park is divided into two triangular parts.  There is an upper park and a lower park. North and south if you prefer. In the southern park we found this hut used for gardening supplies. It is covered with shells from both England and France.
Grosvenor Gardens Strange Plants.

 On the day we visited there were workers in the gardens and what we assume was an art display. It looked like they were growing some weird cabbage in a small fenced in garden. So far no lioness.

Lioness & Lesser Kudu Grosvenor Gardens

  Suddenly, in the upper garden we saw something headed towards us. It was a lioness chasing a kudu.

Lioness & Lesser Kudu Grosvenor Gardens.

  As it was only a sculpture, it wasn't going anywhere, but the sense of motion captured in the piece was fabulous. It truly represented the struggle of life in the wild.

Lioness Rests After A Hunt In South Africa.

  While the male lions in London stand around, the females do the hunting. In the wild, lionesses do about 85 percent of the hunting to support the pride. This lioness above looks like she is taking it easy, but she just killed an impala and is watching over her three cubs while they enjoy their lunch.

Greater Kudu In Kruger National Park South Africa.

  As the title of the statue suggests, the lioness is chasing a Lesser Kudu. The photo above is of a Greater Kudu in Kruger National Park. The main difference between the two types of kudu is size. With the Greater being obviously taller and heavier than the Lesser.

Lioness & Lesser Kudu Chase Grosvenor Park.

A kudu can jump five feet high from a standing position and up to ten feet if it gets a running start. That can be a difficult animal to catch.

Double Decker Buses Leave Victoria Station.

  The jumping ability of the Kudu means that it could jump into the upper level of one of the buses at nearby Victoria Station. The double decker buses are only about 14 feet tall. If you are at Victoria Station it is only a short walk to Grosvenor Park. While you are there, you can catch a kudu. You can also catch a lioness trying to catch a kudu.


Map of Our World
Lioness & Lesser Kudu

Post # 356

Sunday, 30 November 2025

The Flying Foxes Of Sydney

Royal Botanic Garden Sydney

Location: Sydney, Australia
Address:  Royal Botanic Garden, Mrs Macquaries Road
Date: May 2012
Website:  www.botanicgardens.org.au

   The Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney is home to a large variety of plants. This in turn attracts a large variety of birds to live and eat in the gardens. There is also one type of mammal that finds the gardens very inviting. At one point there were up to 30,000 flying foxes who made their home here.

Choo Choo Express Sydney

  We first chose to explore the gardens by riding the miniature train called the Choo Choo Express. If we were going to travel under thousands of bats then we wanted a roof over our heads.

Grey Headed Flying Foxes Sydney

  Sure enough we could see little black creatures hanging upside down in the trees. In the bat world, the Grey-Headed Flying Fox is the largest bat in all of Australia and has a wingspan of about one metre.

Grey Headed Flying Foxes.

  After our Choo-Choo ride we did venture over to get a closer look at the colony. When you see them hanging upside down in a tree you might see the thick black wings and a big tuft of orange fur. The big tuft is the fur around their necks. They get their name from the grey hairs on their heads.

Colony Of Grey Headed Flying Foxes.

  To see all the flying foxes take off and go foraging at night would be quite a sight. We were not lucky enough to have witnessed this. 

Flying Foxes Cover A Palm Tree In Sydney.

  Flying foxes are also known as fruit bats. They only eat fruit and therefore do not need echolocation.  Other bats that use echolocation are trying to capture insects mid air. Fruit is a little less agile.

Closeup of Grey Headed Flying Foxes.

Other bats may have giant ears relative to their heads. The flying fox looks more like a dog or, you guessed it, a fox. The flying fox is the best looking bat. Some bats look like they are just giant ears and teeth.

Little Brown Bat Being Held.

 For comparison, this angry little fellow is a little brown bat from North America. He seems rather unhappy to be held.

Colony Of Flying Foxes Sydney Gardens.

     Since the large colony arrived in the Royal Botanic Garden they have killed more than 30 large mature trees and damaged hundreds more. The flying fox colonies were moved in June 2012. We visited in May 2012 just before the relocation was to start. 

Fruit Bat Stretches Its Wings In Sydney.

  Loud music was played to disturb the bats from sleeping. Maybe a local Sydney rock band like AC/DC would have been too much for the bats to tolerate?

Several Fruit Bats Sydney Royal Gardens.

  The plan worked and the bats moved to a new location away from the disturbance. You can now find a large colony in Sydney's Centennial Park. If you visit the Royal Botanic Garden take a look up at the trees and you may still see a few flying foxes.

Map of Our World
Royal Botanic Garden Sydney

Post # 353

Wednesday, 30 July 2025

Halifax Ice Cream


Cows Ice Cream Napkin.


Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada 
Address: 1709 Lower Water St #108
Date: July 2025
Website:  thefogcompany.com

  On the east coast of Canada, one of our favourite things to eat is ice cream. Thankfully, there is no shortage of vendors to choose from. These are a few of the places that we visited near the waterfront in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Cows Halifax Waterfront Location.

  Cows ice cream was founded in Prince Edward Island in 1983. They have since expanded to other provinces and there is a Cows located on the waterfront in Halifax. There are many flavours to choose from and you can get a good, simple cone or cup.

Doctor Moo Postcard From Cows

  They also have lots of cow merchandise such as t-shirts and parody postcards.

The Fog Company Gimme Smore

If you want something a little crazier, then you want to visit The Fog Company. Each ice cream comes with a fog of cotton candy. The Gimme Smore (above) has chocolate ice cream covered in fudge and marshmallow. The huge cotton candy fog hangs off of the cone. These creations require some skill to eat without dropping any ingredients.

Seas The Day At The Fog Company.

  Our favourite was Seas The Day which comes in a cone covered in fog. It is vanilla ice cream with a mermaid's tail and an edible paper whale sticking out of it.

A Grey Seal Gives A Look Near Brier Island.

  Fog and whales reminds us of the whale watching we did from Brier Island. It was about a 3 to 4 hour drive from Halifax. We feared we may not see anything due to the thick fog. It cleared up just in time for us to catch a few whales, along with this grey seal (above) before our tour was finished. Back at the Brier Island Whale Watching restaurant we got huge cups of ice cream that really hit the spot.

Carousel Horse At Creme Halifax

   Back on the waterfront in Halifax we visited a dessert spot called Creme. They had lots of fancy treats.

Strawberry Mousse At Creme Halifax.

  This time we had a strawberry mousse that looked like a strawberry.

Peace By Chocolate Wrappers.

   Since ice cream does not travel well, we bought some souvenir chocolate from Peace By Chocolate with some very Canadian wrappers. Peace By Chocolate is also located on the waterfront.

Dairy Bar Halifax

  There is a list of some places to enjoy ice cream or other sweets while in Halifax. Up near the Halifax Public Gardens you will find Dairy Bar. They usually had a lineup so we didn't get a chance to try it during our visits. The only thing that stops us from having more ice cream is time.


Map of Our World
The Fog Company

Post # 349

Thursday, 30 January 2025

Year Of The Snake

Year Of The Snake

  1. Mall Snakes
  2. Snake Path UC San Diego
  3. Massasauga Rattlesnake
  4. Pythonbrug
  5. Dekay's Brown Snake
  6. Reticulated Python
  7. Black Snake in Greece
  8. Movieland Snake
  9. Science North
  10. Snakes & Ladders
  People born in the Year of the Snake are said to be graceful, wise and determined. 2025 is the Year of the Snake according to the Chinese zodiac. To celebrate here are 10 of our favourite snake encounters.

1 ) Mall Snakes
Scarborough Town Centre Snake.

To celebrate the new year, malls around Toronto are decorated for the Year of the Snake. The Scarborough Town Centre went for a family friendly, cartoonish snake. It sits in their centre court watching over everyone. The snake at Yorkdale Mall (below) looked a little more menacing. This year was coming in with a quick, precise strike.

Yorkdale Snake.

2)  Snake Path UC San Diego

Snake Path UC San Diego.

At the University of California San Diego campus there is a snake path that slithers through the garden beside the Geisel Library. You can walk down this snake skin tiled walkway until you reach the snake's head with its forked tongue sticking out.

UC San Diego Snake Path Head.


3)  Massasauga Rattlesnake


The Massasauga Rattlesnake.

The Massasauga rattlesnake is Ontario's only venemous snake. It is also the only Ontario snake to have cat's eyes (vertical pupils). We encountered a Massasauga rattlesnake near Tobermory at Bruce Peninsula National Park. They are endangered so a sighting is rare. The snake we encountered was just hurrying on its way through the leaves on the ground.

4)  Pythonbrug

Python Bridge In Amsterdam

Pythonbrug or Python Bridge is a curvy bridge that spans a canal in Amsterdam. Its real name is High Bridge or Hogebrug. It is only for pedestrians and is quite an interesting walk along a series of steps.

Hoge Brug or Pythonbrug Amsterdam.

5)  Dekay's Brown Snake


DeKay's Brown Snake Found In Ontario.

Another snake we have encountered is the DeKay's brown snake. It is fairly common and can be found from Quebec in Canada all the way down to Honduras in Central America. It likes to eat slugs and worms. We uncovered this little fellow under a flower pot. He didn't move so we took his photo and then placed the flower pot back.

6)  Reticulated Python
Reticulated Python At The Toronto Zoo.

The reticulated python is the longest snake in the world. It grows up to 33 feet in length. That is quite a bit longer than another big snake, the boa constrictor. Boa constrictors only grow to about 13 feet in length. The snake above can be found at the Toronto Zoo.

7)  Black Snake in Greece

Black Whip Snake Mavrovouni Greece

The biggest snake we have seen in the wild was in the small village of Mavrovouni, Greece. We believe it was a black whip snake which can grow to about 6 feet long. It slithered across the road and into some tall grass. Unfortunately, that grass was the exact place we had previously pulled our car into when visiting a nearby cafe. We may have to find a new parking spot in the future.
 

 8)  Movieland Snake

Movieland Museum Snake.

If you have ever visited Clifton Hill in Niagara Falls, Canada you may have walked past this next snake. If you time it right, she may pop out of the wall at the Movieland Wax Museum.

9 ) Science North

Snake Skeleton Science North

Science North in Sudbury, Ontario has many reptile and amphibian residents. This photo above is of a snake skeleton. This gives you a better idea as to what is really going on inside.

10 ) Snakes & Ladders

Storm Crow Snakes & Ladders.

Snakes are an important part of the game Snakes & Ladders. If you land on a ladder you climb up. If you land on a snake you slide down. Storm Crow Manor in Toronto has some outdoor game boards that double as tables so you can enjoy a drink or meal while you play.

Brake For Snakes Leslie Spit.

  That is our list of favourite snakes. Let's see how the new year slithers along. Remember to be aware of and kind to our scaly, legless friends.


Map of Our World
Post # 343