Critter Sitter's Blog: Ecuador

Showing posts with label Ecuador. Show all posts

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Views of the Andes Mountains

Sierra Nevada de Lagunas Bravas

Alpamayo, Peru

Cloud-rimmed Andes in Ecuador

Cuernos del Paine, Chile

Nevado Sajama

Corderilla Blanca, near Caraz, Peru

Nevado Tres Cruces

Moonset near Mendoza, Argentina

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Olinguitos ... And Rosie's Pride

The last few days, I've changed the walking areas where I've taken Rosie out each morning. At first, she wants to go in her usual direction, and looks at me questioningly - then she gets into the spirit of "exploring" and wags and prances wherever we go. We're not really exploring, we're just walking in places that we haven't walked for over two years, since Remy started declining in health - but Rosie thinks they are all new, especially since there are new and exciting scents to explore. We're also running into different people with a whole new set of dogs. Yesterday, Rosie garnered four "beautiful!" comments and one "gorgeous!" - you could almost see her expand with pride at the sound of admiring voices. She finished her walk with both her head and tail held high - and I'm very happy I decided to change our walking routes.
The Smithsonian Institute has announced the discovery of a new type of mammal, native to the forest canopy of the Ecuadorean Andes. They say it looks like a cross between a house cat and a teddy bear with a bit of monkey and raccoon thrown into the mix... What do you think? Here is the olinguito:

They are from the same order as civets, cats, bears, and hyenas. They are thought to have been originally carnivorous, but are now frugivores, eating fruits,small birds, lizards and insects.