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In a Toad's Eye - Unlikely Natural Beauty

John M. Regan

            We are accustomed to natural wonders and beauty.  Dragonflies on the wing, hummingbirds, newborn giraffes...  How often does your inbox fill up with an email from some good natured soul who simply has to share the latest "Nature's Spectacle" slide show?  Well I like those things as much as the next guy, and I really do appreciate the friends who  take the time to send them.  But as a fellow who spends a lot of time in the field with a camera I have learned to expect natural beauty in unlikely places and unlikely faces.  Here are a few of my favorite examples.

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In a Toad's Eye.  Ever heard the expression, "Ugly as a toad?"  Well, let me tell you that anybody who makes that statement has never looked closely at one of these beauties; especially the eyes.  There is a golden copper mystery in those amphibian orbs that never fails to impress me.  Sure, sure, toads are not the cuddliest of creatures but you have to admit those peepers are wonderful!

And I doubt that the phrase "Pretty as a scallop" will ever catch on - but it should.  These are exotically beautiful creatures and surprisingly common in Northwest waters.  I took these pictures right off the side of our boat dock at Puget Sound.  Those fascinating "eyes" by the way actually are eyes.  Scallops, however, do not see like we do; those organs perceive light and dark.

Worms and catepillars, of course, are never held up as paragons of beauty.  Yet these animals, too, have their spot in the natural world's glamour shots.  I found the brilliantly colored fellow on the left in the Saudi desert after a rare rain storm.  The striped member of the lumbricus family in the middle is not often seen and the lovely flower like creature on the right is actually the head of a feather duster type sea worm common along Northwest shores.

Flies and spiders???  These two entries are probably the least likely representatives of natural beauty of all.  Their behavior and associated bad reputations instantly disqualify them from everybody's list.  I beg you to stop, though, and take a look at those wonderful refracted colors.  Most spiders do not display the kind of color this Georgia arachnid does, but green bottle and blue bottle flies are found the world over and are often as colorful as parrots.

The fungi family are another group that does not rush to mind when discussing natural comeliness.  The brilliant spring time orange of the Polyphorus sulphureus mushroom in the center is truly a sight to see on the black bark of an old fir tree, and the intricate, delicate gills found under many mushroom species are a cause of wonder (at least for me).  On the left is my favorite species of lichen called a "British Soldier" thanks to that red top they where.  Lichens are a combination of an algae and a fungus.  The fungal part of the organism provides an anchor to the substrate and the algae upholds its part of the bargain by providing food through photosynthesis.

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Birds  Mammals  Reptiles  Amphibians  Fish  Invertebrates   

Mission  Editor Bio  Site Map   Contact   Wildlife Park Links  Further Study  Employment  Northwest Trek  HOME

Saudi Arabian Wildlife  Afghanistan Wildlife