B e a s t i e s *
A Portfolio of Animals from Around the World

R. Paul Firnhaber

COW
(Bos taurus)
Hanuman Dhoka
Kathmandu
Nepal

The cow is honored with food, flowers and painted horns for the
Nepali Festival of Dashain each November.
 

COYOTE
(Canis latrans)
San Raphael Desert
Utah
USA

A dead coyote lies desiccated in the hot, dry, desert sun
but still retains its dignity.
 

CRANE
(Grus canadensis)
Plate River
Nebraska
USA

Fifteen million lesser sand hill cranes migrate from Texas to northern Canada
each spring.  Enroute they stop in Nebraska for rest and food. 
At sunset they look for shallow waters to spend the night.
 

DOLPHIN
(Coryphaena hippurus)
Isla Magdalena
Baja Sur
Mexico

The Island of Magdalena is a 75 mile long by one mile wide uninhabited
sand bar on the west coast of Lower California.  
Dolphin bones and skulls wash up and decorate the beaches.
 

ELEPHANT
(Loxodonta Africana)
Denver Zoo
Colorado
USA

This monstrous beast's gentleness and intelligence remains visible in
 leathery folds even though it lives in captivity.
 

LLAMA
(Llama glama)
Mercado de las Brujas
La Paz
Bolivia

Dried llama fetuses, aborted ritually without harm to the mother,
become part of offering packages prepared for ancient Mother Earth ceremonies
by Pachamama priestesses.
 

FERAL PIGEON
(Columba livia)
Bodhunath Stupa
Kathmandu
Nepal

Pigeons frequent the dome of this 2,300 year old Buddhist Stupa
because food is ritually left for them by resident monks .
 

GARTER SNAKE
(Thamnophis elegans)
Rocky Mountain National Park
Colorado
USA

This snake is barely visible among the reeds and dried grasses along a lake shore.
Its camouflage is virtually perfect.
 

WILD TURKEY
(Meleagris gallopavo)
Bosque del Apache
New Mexico
USA

Startled by my unexpected presence, this group of turkeys takes to flight,
blending nearly seamlessly with their cover.
 

HORNED TOAD
(Phyrnosoma cornutum)
Pajarito Plateau
New Mexico
USA

This adult horned toad with its juvenile companion is a perfect part
of its environment, utilizing its visual
and ecological surroundings as camouflage.
 

JABIRU
(Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus)
Pacific Ocean Coastline
Queensland
Australia

These handsome birds feed at  the receding waterline of the Pacific Ocean. 
Here the Great Barrier Reef precludes waves, creating a generous
 banquet for shore feeders.
 

GREENBACK CUTTHROAT TROUT
(Oncorhynchus clarki stomias)
Rocky Mountain National Park
Colorado
USA

The cutthroat trout is an endangered species that is presently being conserved
in several habitats in the USA, including in a protected lake named Fern.
 

YAK
(Bos grunniens)
Elstei
Mongolian Steppe
Mongolia

The steppes of central Asia are home to free-ranging yak as well as herds
that are semi-domesticated.   Yak fur becomes the felt used
to construct gers, the circular dwellings of the nomadic pastoralists.
 

WHITE-TAILED EAGLE
(Haliaeetus albicilla)
Old Buda
Budapest
Hungary

Europe's largest bird of prey was brought back from the brink of extinction
in the past few years.  This elegant creature, though tethered and hooded, proudly assumes its role
as an educator in conservation at a public historic site in Old Buda.
 

COLLARED LIZARD
(Crotaphytus collaris)
Petrified Forest National Park
Arizona
USA

This lizard prefers, as its eco-niche, the luscious formations of petrified wood of an ancient
northern Arizona forest.  Perhaps it enjoys the aesthetics of its world.

Animals are always beautiful in their own right, often in defiance of the
narrow set of consensus sensibilities of humans. 
These images are collected to convey this inherent beauty of beasts, regardless of their status or condition.

* From Ghoulies and Ghosties 
 Long-leggity Beasties
And Things that go bump in the night:
Good Lord deliver us!

                            Medieval children's prayer

The photographer is R. Paul Firnhaber, an Estonia-based researcher, writer and photographer.  These images are out -takes from his typical work.

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