Mike's Other Pixtures #71

A giraffe is alot of animal to get in the frame.

When you use an 800mm lens.

But I'm not sure I could shoot it any other way.

Mike's Other Pixtures #70

There is something about getting a new camera .... that makes every pixture look better.

I am sure that a big part of that is the effect of "trading up" .... better quality, more features.

But there is something beyond that.

Maybe it's the "sharper eye" .... of a more motivated photographer.

Maybe it's just a little bit of magic.

Maybe it's some wishful thinking.

But whatever it is .... it's fun.

Mike's Other Pixtures #69

The Okapi is native to Central Africa .... although this one lives at the Denver Zoo.

They have markings that might make you think of a zebra .... but they are in fact, a relative of the giraffe.

The horizontal stripes on the legs .... are thought be so that the young can follow their mothers through the dense rainforest. 

And may .... also serve as camouflage.

They have a much shorter neck .... than their cousin the giraffe.

But the same .... long, pointed, blue-grey tongue as the giraffe. 

That they use to strip buds and leaves from trees .... and to clean their own eyelids and ears (inside and out).

Mike's Other Pixtures #68

This is a Somali Wild Ass.

Kind of an ordinary looking guy .... with a complex and interesting story.

There are maybe as few as 700 of them left in the wild ... Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia.

As of 2011 there were also about 100 of them in captivity .... and breeding programs around the world.

As tough as their today is .... they have quite a noble past.

Domestic donkeys found in Italy are typically descended from the Somali wild ass. 

As opposed to those from other European countries .... which are usually descended from the Nubian wild ass.