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Rainforest night hikes

Rainforest night hikes

Marty’s photo of the day #3375: Whether Deb and I are in the Amazon Rainforest or the rainforests of Australia, Central America, or Asia, we always head out on night hikes. The first time we did that, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but after that such hikes became travel highlights. After all, at night […]

It’s a baby wallaroo!

It’s a baby wallaroo!

Marty’s photo of the day #3240: In this photo, my wife, Deb, is feeding Bonnie, a silver wallaroo. Bonnie was in her mother’s pouch, when the two were hit by a car. The mother didn’t survive, but Bonnie was rescued and eventually released back into the wild. (Photographed in Queensland, Australia)

Borneo at nightt

Borneo at nightt

Marty’s photo of the day #3135: Whether Deb and I were in the rainforests of Peru, Costa Rica, Borneo, or Australia, night hikes were always among the best parts of our adventures. Each night, after dark, we’d head out looking for snakes, frogs, lizards, arachnids, and insects that looked like they were from another planet. […]

Australian caves

Australian caves

Marty’s photo of the day #3128: When I was in Australia, one of my goals was to find a cave-dwelling Children’s python. I never found the snake, but exploring Australia’s caves was still a fun—and sometimes claustrophobic—experience.

It’s not the toads’ fault

It’s not the toads’ fault

Marty’s photo of the day #3110: This is a marine toad (also called a cane toad) that I photographed in Puerto Rico. These large toads are native to South America and have been introduced to places like Puerto Rico and Australia, where they have created havoc. It’s not the toads’ fault, of course, it’s the […]

Learning to fly

Learning to fly

Marty’s photo of the day #3066: Since I’m in New York all week, presenting Around the World in 90 Minutes at colleges, all my pictures this week will be from that show. This is Annie, a 16 year-old black flying fox that I got to hold while visiting a bat rehabilitation facility in Queensland, Australia. […]

The laughing kookaburra

The laughing kookaburra

Marty’s photo of the day #3050: This is a laughing kookaburra, photographed in Australia. Here’s what I wrote about the birds in my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents: Though not as stunning as the kingfishers or cockatoos, laughing kookaburras are handsome gray and white birds with a very famous call: […]

The venomous lace monitor

The venomous lace monitor

Marty’s photo of the day #3048: This is a five-foot-long lace monitor, photographed in Australia. I spent fifteen minutes crawling on the forest floor with this magnificent creature. Shortly afterward, scientists discovered that this species is venomous (though not deadly to humans).

Athabasca River Elk

Athabasca River Elk

Marty’s photo of the day #3011: I’m so glad I no longer use film cameras! I used film cameras for about half of my travels for my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, before forever switching to digital. The bitch about film is that if something went wrong, I wouldn’t know […]

F*ck, f*cking guns!

F*ck, f*cking guns!

Three people were shot at the Minnesota State Fair last night. Having lived much of my life in Minnesota, I’ve been to that fair many times. Never once did I think, “Oh, I wonder if there will be a shooting while I’m there?” But now, such a thought enters the minds of millions of Americans […]

Watching platypuses

Watching platypuses

Marty’s photo of the day #2983: This morning I realized that I hadn’t posted a photo from Australia for a while, and as I was flipping through my shots, I spotted this somewhat artsy one of Deb sitting along the river. But why was she there? It took me a moment before I remembered: she […]