Monday, January 25, 2010

Tamandua Anteater

This anteater was spotted on our first morning in Costa Rica way up high in the canopy at dawn while waiting for our morning bird walk to begin.



He worked his way down...



...to a tree directly in front of us...



..and we admired his interesting colors! I never knew just how cool his coat was!






I found his size to be quite a bit smaller than expected. I would gauge him at a about the size of a stout medium sized dog with a very long tail.


Giant Anteater, originally uploaded by Hannibals Animals.


Interesting Facts: South American anteaters have long noses, long sticky tongues, and strong sharp claws, but they do not have any teeth. The largest species is the giant anteater, or ant bear. While normally not aggressive, these animals can be quite dangerous due to their size and sharp claws; in 2006, a female zookeeper was attacked and killed by an adult giant anteater.



Oh, and don't forget to click on the photos for a detailed view!

8 comments:

sweetbay said...

What a beautiful animal.

Chris said...

Wow you got it very well. What a cute animal. Probably something unique to meet such an animal... Beautiful!

Montanagirl said...

He is just gorgeous. His fur looks very touchable. Don't believe I'd get close to him though!

Johnny Nutcase said...

awesome awesome!! you got excellent photos of this guy! We saw one in Corcovado and it was maybe the coolest thing on the trip, but my pictures weren't nearly this good. Love it!

Anonymous said...

It's not a Giant Anteater :

http://travelcostaricanow.com/index.php/Giant_Anteater

http://ecointeractive.wordpress.com/2009/01/21/costa-rica-vacation-costa-rican-ant-eaters-eco-travel-adventure/

Willard said...

I am really enjoying your photos from the trip. Excellent work as usual!

abb said...

Love the wood contrasting with the anteater. Lovely!

Peggy said...

Thanx anonymous! I fixed it!