Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Arctic ground squirrel.




These creatures live in harsh cold conditions, in a places, where there can still be snow in the middle of June... So more than half of their live they spend in hibernation.

Read full story here:
http://500px.com/shpilenok/stories/69267/about-arctic-ground-squirrels

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Collection of happy photographers in Kronotsky Nature Reserve.









Sweet morning dreams.



The days are the shortest nowadays, and every time I try to wake up my kids two hours before the sunrise for school - they refuse to wake up. Today I even removed their blankets, but they keep sleeping just curling up like this young bear was sleeping on the banks of the Kurile Lake in Kamchatka.

Let them sleep 10 more minutes, just enough for me to post this photo.

Open shpilenok.livejournal.com for Russian version of this blog.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Good morning from Bryansk Forest!



Here in Bryansk Forest.

Here at home I have a large household: a cat, a dog, a rooster, three horses and a goat. But I have to admit, all of them are quite "useless" in traditional sense. We don't ride horses for past 10 years, last time we milked the cow was around 6 years ago, the dog is too friendly to bark at people and the cat doesn't catch indoor mice, she is only interested in wild ones, and only the rooster has some "useful" functions - he is regularly pecking our guests' feet.

It wasn't always like that... The road that connects our village to civilization used to become unpasseable for any type of motorized vehicle in spring 7 years ago - so we used to rely on horses for transportation. At that time the goat was providing milk for my younger children. Ryska, the cat, was protecting my cabin from foxes in Kamchatka one winter. (Her efforts even got awarded - this photo won in BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest in 2009). And the dog, Nika, is very patient and has never bitten my sons, despite the fact that sometimes they deserve it when they torture her too much while playing (like all children do sometimes).

So these animals are truly a part of my family...


Saturday, December 8, 2012

News about Alisa-fox.

Many of my readers were asking how was Alisa doing - from my friends, who visited the ranger station near where she lives I know that she is doing well. Check out for yourself here: http://most-41rus.livejournal.com/20346.html and here: http://alex-perevozov.livejournal.com/9435.html. On the photo she is with on of her cubs in summer of 2011.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Little Fairy from Bryansk Forest Nature Reserve.

This is a new bison calf that was born in a reintroduced European bison herd in my homeland - Bryansk Forest - while I was gone to Kamchatka this fall. The little one is called Feya (Фея = Fairy in Russian).



Foxes' seasons.

For couple of months this journal was occupied by bears. Foxes were under heavy "discrimination"... Let's correct that!

Original post is here:
http://shpilenok.livejournal.com/140862.html

Cold Kamchatka wind. by Igor Shpilenok (shpilenok)) on 500px.com
Cold Kamchatka wind. by Igor Shpilenok