Giant Anteater - Brazil's Pantanal

[Don Cohen]

I have recently returned from leading a workshop with International Expeditions (http://www.ietravel.com/subpages/don_cohen.asp), where we saw a very wide variety of bird, mammal, rodent species, etc. I thought I'd start with this image - unusual for me, since I normally focus on birds.

We saw several of these Giant Anteaters, roaming around the fields. They are really quite large - the weight can exceed 110 pounds, with over 6 foot length! You can see a large cloud of small flying bugs that were all over this field, hovering in dense clouds over anything in the area, including us! I frequently took shelter under my camera/tripod to get some relief. Fortunately, they didn't bite, and this was about the only area we encountered anything like this.

Canon 1D Mark 2 with Canon 600L/f4 IS with 1.4x II Teleconverter
ISO 800, f/5.6, 1/1600 second (Manual Exposure)
Gitzo 1325/ArcaSwiss B1/Wimberley Sidekick

Several stalks of grass across its body were cloned out.

 

[Asher Kelman]

What a superbly designed creature with such an elegant coat! Impressive and so special. I love the colors and textures of the grass versus the organized direction of his/her sleek coat.

Do you have any more, Don?

I know we show our best! Still this is an exception and I want to see the rest of him/her. Dod you catch it digging into an ant's nest or do they eat termites too. Think about the billions of ants this must eat!

Asher

 

[Don Cohen]

I deleted most of the poorer shots. But I did save this one, because it showed its whole body, in all its peculiar glory. This was taken early one cloudy morning, with dense clouds and light rain. It crossed the road a ways in front of the truck, and quickly ran (fast!!) out of shooting range. Our guide managed to run out and circled around him, and he crossed the road again in the opposite direction.

But this was far away as well. I ran at full speed to try and get there in time, and managed to get off a few quick shots before he once again disappeared. You would be amazed at how fast these creatures can run. This shot is not really in focus, but will give you a better idea of what these strange creatures really look like.

And I think they eat termites as well, but how many, I don't know!

 

[Winston Mitchell]

Thanks for sharing these. Beautiful capture of a fascinating animal. Are they different animals? The geotags differ by about 12 klicks.

Anxious to see what else you saw.

 

[Don Cohen]

Thanks for sharing these. Beautiful capture of a fascinating animal. Are they different animals? The geotags differ by about 12 klicks.

Anxious to see what else you saw.

Thanks Winston. Your observations are correct - these were different individuals, spotted at a different time and place.

I have posted 3 sets of images on my website, which can be accessed here:

http://www.dlcphoto.com/Brazil1/Brazil1.htm

Best regards,

 

[Winston Mitchell]

Thanks for the link, Don. I took a nice leisurely tour. I suggest others do the same.

It seems as though I ought to add Costa Rica to my Bucket List.

 

[Asher Kelman]

I deleted most of the poorer shots. But I did save this one, because it showed its whole body, in all its peculiar glory. This was taken early one cloudy morning, with dense clouds and light rain. It crossed the road a ways in front of the truck, and quickly ran (fast!!) out of shooting range. Our guide managed to run out and circled around him, and he crossed the road again in the opposite direction.

But this was far away as well. I ran at full speed to try and get there in time, and managed to get off a few quick shots before he once again disappeared. You would be amazed at how fast these creatures can run. This shot is not really in focus, but will give you a better idea of what these strange creatures really look like.

And I think they eat termites as well, but how many, I don't know!

Perfect, Don, that tail was quite a surprise! I don't know how this fits in with your sense of photography ethics, woulde you ever add the tail to the first one! I don't think you would somehow, but it would actually work!

Asher

 

[Don Cohen]

Perfect, Don, that tail was quite a surprise! I don't know how this fits in with your sense of photography ethics, woulde you ever add the tail to the first one! I don't think you would somehow, but it would actually work!

Asher

Agreed - that tail is quite unexpected!

In addition to the huge technical challenge of grafting a tail on the first, I'm not sure I would be comfortable doing that!

 

[Doug Lloyd]

An interesting creature without a doubt. I like the fact you did not feel the need to get the whole creature in the frame.
D