Tuesday, February 7, 2012

25. Three Feet Away from Death

It's always a good time at the botany greenhouse!
At a comfortable 75 degrees, the greenhouse is paradise compared to Seattle's unpredictable bursts of rain and sunshine.
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This little guy likes the tropical climate almost as much as I do.
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This one likes ribs.
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Life is everywhere.
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Ever wonder what the inside of a cactus looks like? Well here you go.
(I think these were cut a couple of days ago, otherwise they wouldn't have that orange color on them.)
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This is dendrobates leucomelas, a poisonous dart frog.
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I was trying to take pictures of the frogs, which were inside a large glass case, when the greenhouse manager came over and asked if I wanted him to slide the glass door open so I could get better photos.

"Umm...aren't they poisonous?"
"Yes, but they tend to stay inside the glass."
(a long pause and a nervous chuckle later)
"Yeah, sure."

nom nom nom termites
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See that one on the left? See how he's thinking about jumping out? %*#&@!!
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Three feet away from death.
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Worth it? Oh yeah.

[EDIT] These frogs aren't poisonous if raised in captivity. I don't know if these were brought over or bred in the greenhouse. So the question becomes: Was the manager joking when he said they were poisonous? hahaha. A cool experience regardless!

Frog photos by Kevin Holmes.

2 comments:

  1. WOOOO so many natural world experiences in the past week! and to think i used to be afraid of frogs when i was little...

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