While editing some images last evening, I found a couple I thought I’d share today. During one of my trips to Oklahoma’s Wichita Mountains, I captured these cute Black-tailed Prairie Dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus). There are several “towns” of these guys on the Wichita Mountains NWR, near Lawton, Oklahoma. I especially love photographing these guys in a wonderful wildflower setting:
And these guys are as curious as they are cute:
As I was photographing a couple of prairie dogs, this little guy saw me and immediately jumped upon a nearby rock (note his back leg still in the air, from the leap onto the rock) to check me out! When shooting these little guys, I like to get low on the ground to get to their level. And when I do, it’s not uncommon for one to come up and sniff my feet, or even play with a shoestring! Truly fun to be around!
Photo Equipment Used:
- Canon 1D Mark 2 body
- Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS lens + Canon 1.4x TC
- Handheld, while sitting low on the ground
- ISO 100
- Aperture f/8
- Shutter speed 1/500 sec. (top photo) and 1/32o sec. (bottom photo)