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Marty’s photo of the day #4771: Yesterday, Deb and I played hooky and hiked to some cliffs in the Bitterroot Valley where peregrine falcons (the world’s fastest animal) nest. We saw one (or at least that’s the story we’re sticking with), but it was too far away for photos. So my photo from that hike […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4762: When Deb and I were in Bonaire last September, the two consumer-quality underwater cameras I brought soon began to leak. That sent me on a desperate search to buy what turned out to be the one-and-only pro-quality underwater camera for sale on the entire island: a Sealife Micro 3.0. […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4757: I only occasionally talk about cameras on social media, because when someone says, “That’s a great picture! You must have a great camera,” it’s kind of like saying to a chef, “This tastes wonderful! You must have great pots.” Nevertheless, I have fallen in love with my new Olympus […]
Marty’s photos of the day #4756: We’ve reached the third and final Baby Robin Day. As many of you remember, two Thursdays ago (MPOD #4742), I posted about the 3 baby robins in a nest atop an outdoor speaker on the back side of Deb’s and my house and promised to update every week. Here’s […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4723: My goal for last week’s off-coast Belize trip was to photograph a shark and a spotted eagle ray. I did both. I spotted this nurse shark after Deb and I ate lunch on a tiny island near the Great Blue Hole. We were several minutes ahead of the others, […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4717: Hey everyone! My lack of daily posts has not been because Deb and I were disappeared by ICE or anything. Instead, we returned to Belize for a week of incredible snorkeling and wildlife watching. The island we were on had internet service, but it was slower than old-fashioned landline […]
One of the reasons we humans love our dogs so much is that they retain adorable, childlike qualities throughout their lives. A few years ago, I got Nellie a soccer ball with handles. Even though she bit a hole in the ball long ago, she doesn’t care and still loves to play with it. That […]
I’m typing this with an icepack duct taped to my shoulder. Deb and I have lived in the middle of th,e Essen Wildlife Refuge for 29 years, and it wasn’t until 2 years ago that a moose charged us (the one in this picture). At least that moose gave us enough notice to dive out […]
Whew! I just finished the first draft of the sequel to The Silver Squad: Rebels With Wrinkles. My wife, Deb, has suggested a title, which just might stick: The Silver Squad Rides Again. I started writing in August, but this sequel gave me the worst bouts of writer’s block I’ve ever had. I kept waiting […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4698: Last week, while talking with a pharmacist about my upcoming trip to New Guinea and the long list of vaccinations the CDC recommends for travel there, we discussed a pre-exposure rabies shot. He said, “That’s only necessary if you’re going to be in a cave full of bats.” I […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4675: Here’s a photo from when I was in Australia, working on my first book, “Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents,” That’s Frog, a tawny frogmouth bird on my shoulder. Twenty-some years later, I’m still writing and have what could be the best adventure ever coming up later […]
People can spend a lifetime outdoors in Montana and never see a mountain lion. But as my motion-sensing camera proves, the mountain lion knows you are there. These photos are just a few minutes apart. In the second photo, the lion is looking exactly where Nellie and I are coming from. This was not unexpected. […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4668: I’ve often wished that I could “speak dog” to tell Nellie about the dangers of being queen of the Essen Wildlife Refuge. She never goes outside alone but still managed to tree this mountain lion last night. Fortunately, the mountain lion also agrees that Nellie is queen.
Every night, Deb and I take our dog, Nellie, on a walk around the perimeter of the Essen Wildlife Refuge. This evening, she was off-leash and started barking at something—and her bark was more protective than usual. I put her on a leash and investigated, expecting to find a moose or racoon. Instead, she had […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4642: As documented in my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, a hippo bit through Deb’s and my canoe, lifted us 6 feet into the air, and tossed us on shore. This hippo was checking out our replacement canoe. (Photographed in Zimbabwe)
Here’s the Story of Buddy, as told in my 6th book, Hits, Heathens, and Hippos: Stories from an Agent, Activist, and Adventurer: Four years after that, Lucy was still going strong, albeit with the help of a daily pain pill and glucosamine tablet. That’s when a third dog, Buddy, adopted us. I had known Buddy […]
Marty’s photo of the day #4551: I photographed these baby orangutans while hiking alone at night on the island of Borneo. They’d been rescued from some shitty thing humans did and then escaped the good humans who would eventually release them into the wild. I made sure they reached safety.
Marty’s photo of the day #4549: In my book, Hits, Heathens, and Hippos: Stories from an Agent, Activist, and Adventurer, I write about a hippo biting through Deb’s and my canoe, throwing us onshore, and us laughing about it afterward. For the critic who doubted we actually laughed—here’s proof.
Marty’s photo of the day #4548: In my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, I wrote about Antarctica, and the strict rules we had about not approaching any animal closer than 15 feet. The animals, however, could approach as close as they wanted to.
Marty’s photo of the day #4515: Anyone who has read my first book, published in 2007, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, knows that I didn’t get along well with water. That changed in 2016, when Deb and I snorkeled with sea lions and octopuses in the Sea of Cortez. Better equipment combined […]
