Strange Deer Hunters Find

There are secrets in the world. 

Secrets we would probably never see if it weren't for hunters and photographers.  

Like coyotes who are part dog.
Strangely colored giraffes.
Sea slugs that look like candy.
Polar bears that hug sled dogs.

But in the woods near you, there lurk deer like you've never seen before.  

See the two deer at the top of this page?  The one on the right is a big beautiful buck.

The one on the left is a buck with some amazing antlers. His antlers are called "nontypical".

They look almost....melted. But deer antlers can be even more bizarre. Let's look at some nontypical deer, both on the hoof and, ahem, on the wall.  

Just to make sure we all know what a normal whitetail deer looks like, I've added one on the chart below.  So let's compare a normal whitetail to some nontyps: 

Hard to believe, isn't it?  

Now let's compare a normal mule deer to... uh...other mule deer:

These guys are incredible. 

And of course you've got to see the top five nontypical bucks ever! 

 Just FYI, the blacktail deer above are a type of mule deer.

But, you ask, are there nontyp deer in art? You bet:

I like the way his antlers connect together in the middle, though as far as I know that's not possible in real life :)

If you want to see more nontypical deer, you can visit here (a clean and trusty website) and click on the yearly calendars... there are some amazing photos that I wasn't able to put on my blog.  

And leave me a comment!

Attack of the Jellies!

They aren't fish, so their name has been changed...

...to Sea Jellies

Which I like better than their old name... Jellyfish.

A sea jelly is made of the top part, called the umbrella, and the bottom part, called the bell.

Many live upside down, looking like plants on the ocean floor.

But there is so much amazing beauty in a sea jelly, that you need to see more right now...

Oooh, I love that snowflake jelly.  And the little spaceship one... (well, they all kind of look like spaceships)

They do have real names...look at the photos above and see if you can pick these out:

 Egg Yolk Jelly

Flower Hat Jelly

Red Lantern Jelly

White Spotted Jelly

 and below, the first one is called a 

By-The-Wind-Sailor!  I am not joking. 

He's not a true sea jelly, but he's amazing.

I'd name the bottom left guy the Kite Jelly.  

And the bottom right one...Firecracker Jelly.

Some jellies are so small, you need a microscope to see them. 

But some are gigantic.

That's a Lion's Mane Jelly.

(And, um, I don't think I'd swim that close...)

So what eats the Jellies?  Other Jellies, of course.  And sea turtles.

 AND...those luscious candy-like little sea slugs, nudibranchs. Remember them? No? Then click on the link...you'll be amazed.

Got questions? Leave me a comment.

And check out Shedd Aquarium's site for more amazing 

Sea Jellies.

Attack of the Jellies!

They aren't fish, so their name has been changed...

...to Sea Jellies

Which I like better than their old name... Jellyfish.

A sea jelly is made of the top part, called the umbrella, and the bottom part, called the bell.

Many live upside down, looking like plants on the ocean floor.

Weird Hats That Birds Wear

I was 6 years old when I realized that birds wear hats.

It came from the Roadrunner. You know, the bird that was always foiling Wile E. Coyote's plans. I loved watching that cartoon, and I naturally thought that roadrunners were tall, long-legged, and wore hats with ornate purple feathers on their heads.

So imagine my shock on the family's road trip out West, when my parents stopped the car and pointed excitedly along the road saying, "Look, girls! A roadrunner!"

I looked, saw nothing. I stood up and leaned out the window and searched frantically. 

THIS is what I saw:

THIS is what I was looking for:

Huh??

Turns out, the real roadrunner is a fast, foot-high creature that blends amazingly into his desert surroundings. He has a tiny tuft on his head for a hat...and that's about it. No purple plumes anywhere.

Well!  Another childhood belief utterly smashed.  But I found out there are other birds out there with hats that are unbelievable. Some are pretty, some are scary, and some are just...indescribable.

So here they are, weird hats that bird wear!

First, the pretty hats:

That Tufted Titmouse is just so cute.


Now the hats of royalty:

 

Mmmm, beautiful!

Some very silly hats:

Hah.  I would have named that Kingfisher the Court Jester Kingfisher.   :)

Here are some pretty scary hats:

Those guys look very....hungry

And some hats that are a bit hard to believe:

Crazy!

So how about this bird below and his weird hat?  Do you know what bird he is?  Leave a comment if you do...

Weird Hats That Birds Wear

I was 6 years old when I realized that birds wear hats.

It came from the Roadrunner. You know, the bird that was always foiling Wile E. Coyote's plans. I loved watching that cartoon, and I naturally thought that roadrunners were tall, long-legged, and wore hats with ornate purple feathers on their heads.

So imagine my shock on the family's road trip out West, when my parents stopped the car and pointed excitedly along the road saying, "Look, girls! A roadrunner!"

I looked, saw nothing. I stood up and leaned out the window and searched frantically. 

THIS is what I saw:

THIS is what I was looking for:

Huh??

Turns out, the real roadrunner is a fast, foot-high creature that blends amazingly into his desert surroundings. He has a tiny tuft on his head for a hat...and that's about it. No purple plumes anywhere.

Well!  Another childhood belief utterly smashed.  But I found out there are other birds out there with hats that are unbelievable. Some are pretty, some are scary, and some are just...indescribable.

So here they are, weird hats that bird wear!

First, the pretty hats:

That Tufted Titmouse is just so cute.


Now the hats of royalty:

 

Mmmm, beautiful!

Some very silly hats:

Hah.  I would have named that Kingfisher the Court Jester Kingfisher.   :)

Here are some pretty scary hats:

Those guys look very....hungry

And some hats that are a bit hard to believe:

Crazy!

So how about this bird below and his weird hat?  Do you know what bird he is?  Leave a comment if you do...

From the Mixed Up Files of Animal Colors

So I was cruising around the internet when a photo caught my eye.  

It's a cat, but the strangest cat ever.  I just had to show you.

This is "Venus", the cat with two faces!

There are other cats that have half & half colors on their faces, it's true.  I particularly like these two, below:

And there are some that, like Venus, have different colored eyes, like this kitty:

 





















But Venus is special because she has both; different color blocks on her face AND different colored eyes.

Pretty amazing.  And now Venus is famous... and showing God's glory in the stunning creature he made!

From the Mixed Up Files of Animal Colors

So I was cruising around the internet when a photo caught my eye.  

It's a cat, but the strangest cat ever.  I just had to show you.

This is "Venus", the cat with two faces!

There are other cats that have half & half colors on their faces, it's true.  I particularly like these two, below:

And there are some that, like Venus, have different colored eyes, like this kitty:

 





















But Venus is special because she has both; different color blocks on her face AND different colored eyes.

Pretty amazing.  And now Venus is famous... and showing God's glory in the stunning creature he made!