Archive for November, 2008

Let’s be precise, I admire that country the United States of America because they can build a major historical event: The voters of America made a new country out of old values.

B.Obama and J.McCain are impersonating exactly that. The new America is a young President holding high the ideals of Democracy, Liberty, Opportunity and Hope but -already so many others told so- it is not only a victory of African Americans but an enormous example of Democracy put in action by the people of a great country. Who would have thought that a black man would walk into the White House while the people who walked with Martin Luther King are still alive?

Old values -and who could embody them best that John Mc Cain?- were at the center of this election. After Presidential Elections in 2004 where values have been continuously promoted and over-promoted, 2008 comes showing millions of people walking to the polls, oblivious of the age of their democracy and decided to make history with the same impetus as those voting for the first time in countries with much shorter history of liberty and votes.

On September 11, 2001, we were all Americans. Today, I am proud that some people from this great country consider me as a friend.

Leopard is a big cat special because it protects its largest preys (those which will make more than a single lunch) by dragging them away and up into a tree. It can take its own weight (or a little more) up to a high branch where no hyena would be able to steal it.

It takes the carcass, usually by the collar.

Leopard - Copyright (C) 2008 Yves Roumazeilles

Then, it will choose the right branch, look and find the right climbing path.

Leopard in front of the tree - Copyright (C) 2008 Yves Roumazeilles

Unfortunately, this one did not succeed in dragging up the Bohor Reedbuck it had caught late in the afternoon. It’s only during the night that (after reducing the weight by eating more of it) that the leopard brought the prey in its tree. Before light out, it just “visited” the tree.

Leopard in a tree - Copyright (C) 2008 Yves Roumazeilles	Leopard in a tree - Copyright (C) 2008 Yves Roumazeilles
Click on the thumbnails to enlarge them

Leopard (Panthera pardus, Léopard, Leopardo), Masai Mara, Kenya, September 2008.

I am quite found of any tool that allow to search inside the contents of images on the web. One such tool is Multicolr Search Lab Flickr set. I really like it because it is able to look for images based on their colors. But not only that. Today they include a lot more images since they collected 10 millions Creative Commons images from Flickr.com.

Multicolr Search Labs

It was an impressive tool, it’s now a useful tool.

This lion is also eating a gnu.

Lion - Copyright 2008 Yves Roumazeilles

You will easily notice that flies are a very common insect around big cats. No, these are not black defects on the image.

Lion - Copyright 2008 Yves Roumazeilles

Lion (Panthera leo, Lion, León), Masai Mara, Kenya, September 2008.