Lizards and Ducks and Spiders OH MY

More action shots of wild animals in St. Kitts.

The other day I was studying on the patio outside of the student union and I glanced over to see a little friend watching me. He was long, brilliant green with a gorgeous blue ridge, and looking at me very suspiciously. I tried snapping a pic of him, but one little movement from me induced a flight response faster than a hungry vet student at the Marriott buffet.

My little friend was so intriguing that I decided to take a little study break and seek him out below the patio. Unfortunately he was unavailable for the paparazzi, but I found two or three close friends of his just hanging out down there. Check this guy out: (note the size of the screws in the wood as scale)

I particularly like this ‘Profile of a Sunbathing Lizard’.

Action shot of him trying to avoid the paparazzi.

Seriously, these guys have Floridian lizards BEAT!

Staring contest.

The other day we were sitting at lunch studying anatomy (ironic how the smell doesn’t bother you nearly as much after it has removed all of your scent-detecting ability), and in a fit of repressed creativity busting out Kristin made this:

I think the texture of the crumpled foil gives it a nice 3D quality.

In another story alluding to anatomy, I was sitting by the window last week and in my ADD haze glanced over to witness the Coolest Thing Ever. A rather large jumping spider (we all know how I feel about those) was hanging out on the glass watching a rather larger fly buzz around drunk on formalin. The fly really should not have drunk and flown. It would crawl along the glass moving tantalizingly close to the spider without coming in arms reach. The spider just sat there watching the fly move back and forth across his path without taking any action whatsoever. In a fit of evil, I finally tired of watching their cat-n-mouse game and gently prodded the fly basically on top of the spider. I was rewarded for my empathetic attempt at putting the poor dying-of-formalin fly down by witnessing the Coolest Thing Ever (Yes, I realize I repeated that. It’s for emphasis, not because I’m not paying attention). The spider grabbed onto the fly and held on while it made a very pathetic attempt to escape. Personally I think the fly was a little bit lonely and just wanted a hug. Anyhow, once the fly calmed down a bit this rather small spider made his way far away from the large human who kept sticking her fingers near it, shoving himself into the corner and sucking away at his tainted prey (second-hand formalin anyone?). I snapped this shot just before he wandered away from me:

Please note the cleanliness of the windows. For pity’s sake (yours) I’m going to go ahead and say it is paint splatters.

I hope you enjoyed my local wildlife shots here on the island, I’m off to…what class?....study.