Black Tail Deer

While I was on my run today, three black tail deer ran from a yard, crossed the street and leaped onto my running trail. I followed behind them for a hundred yards until they trailed off the path into a thin strip of woods that runs between two roads. It's always a treat to have a respectful encounter wildlife like this in the city.

An Inconvenient Truth

In our quest for comfort, power, status and luxury, the average American still seems to be unconcerned that we are rapidly killing the planet through our petroleum driven lifestyles and our over consumption of natural resources. NBC's Today Show featured an interesting interview with Al Gore this morning regarding his new book and film, which are called "An Inconvenient Truth." Take a look at the trailer for this movie at: www.climatecrisis.net. Global warming is real and Katrina was a warning to us all that we need to change our lifestyles and start using alternative and renewable sources of energy before it's too late. On our current course, rising oceans and violent storms will displace millions of people. This will lead to suffering and outbreaks of diseases like we have never seen in the history of mankind. As Oprah likes to say, "When you know better, you do better." It's time for the world to wake up and "do better" starting today.

Visit www.stopglobalwarming.org and join the viritual march to stop global warming.

Fennec Fox

The fennec fox is the smallest member of the fox family and lives across the Sahara region of North Africa and in the northern deserts of Saudi Arabia. Its large ears radiate heat to keep it cool and also help it find prey.

I photographed this fox at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Washington, USA.

The Cheetah Conservation Fund

This weekend we had the honor of filming an educational video with Dr. Laurie Marker, who is the Founder and Executive Director of the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia, and Teresa Delaney, who is the Run for the Cheetah National Chairperson and is on the USA Board of Trustees for CCF. After viewing our "KidsLoveAnimals.com's African Safari" DVD, Teresa was so impressed that she asked us to produce a DVD to help the Cheetah Conservation Fund. Dylan and Melissa Garrett, who appear in the photo above with Dr. Marker, were crew members for this shoot. They are also safari guides on our African Safari DVD. These kids are already working to help their generation understand that animals, such as the cheetah, are going to vanish from the planet in their lifetime without their help.

The photo on the right is of Dr. Marker and Chewbacca in Namibia, Africa. Chewbacca was hand raised as an orphaned cub at CCF, because cheetahs are taught how to hunt by their mothers and cannot survive in the wild without hunting skills. Chewbacca is now an ambassador cheetah, who meets local people and shows them that cheetahs do not have to be feared and killed. Once this connection is made, farmers learn to respect and value the cheetah.


In the year 2000, Dr. Laurie Marker was named one of TIME MAGAZINE'S Heroes For The Planet. I urge you to visit cheetah.org to see what you can do to support the excellent work that is being done at CCF. In addition to giving money to CCF from our Safari DVD, we are also donating our production services to produce two videos to help The Cheetah Conservation Fund to educate people and to raise money that will support their mission to "see a world in which the cheetah lives and flourishes in co-existence with people and the environment."

(The bottom two photos were provided by CCF)

Brown Bears in Alaska

I remember the first brown bear that I saw when I was a kid. We were staying in a lodge in Katmai National Park in Alaska. In the distance was a river, and in that river was a large brown furry bear. We thought that we were seeing the whole bear, but when we walked closer to the river we discovered that all that we were seeing was the bear's head. The rest of the bear was submerged beneath the water. Wow, what a huge creature!

The photograph of the bear on the left was taken by my father at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park, which is a favorite place for wildlife photographers from around the world to photograph brown bears catching salmon.