Giant Eagle Owl, aka Verreaux’s Owl, Botswana, Africa
When the sun goes down and the night turns black this Halloween, there are plenty of wildlife creatures to send shivers up the spine.
Owls, our most famous nocturnal creature, have serrated feathers for silent flight. They can glide right past you invisibly and soundlessly…all you know is a faint breeze on your face.
Eastern Barn Owl, Australia
The shadows of the rainforest can make the small creatures large…
Bandicoot, Australia
and the large creatures gigantic.
Baird’s Tapir, female adult, Belize
And where would our scary nights be without bats? In Australia the bats are so big their scientific name is megabats. Here are two species of megabats.
Pair of Spectacled Flying Foxes, Australia
Grey-headed Flying Fox, Australia. Photo: Athena Alexander
In the Trinidad rainforest we discovered a steady stream of these Long-tongued Bats shooting out of the lodge basement every night at cocktail hour, like clockwork.
Long-tongued bats, Asa Wright Centre, Trinidad
A walk through the Australian rainforest brings out animals most of us have never heard of like brushtail possums and sugar-gliders.
Brushtail Possum, Australia
Sugar Glider, Queensland, Australia. Photo: Athena Alexander.
Even creatures who are not nocturnal, like this lizard, lurk in the night…they have to sleep somewhere.
Lizard, Australia
One night while Athena was photographing sugar gliders, cicadas came in, attracted to the lodge’s yard light.
Cicada, Australia
I was admiring their bright green color and thinking how much bigger their cicadas were here in Australia, than ours at home. Bigger than my thumb.
I thought they were very cool…until one landed in my hair.
I screamed. Panicked and beat my hands through my hair like a crazy person.
And Africa has a very animated night life when it comes to wildlife. Moths as big as birds; and of course all the nocturnal mammals that are out hunting–lions, leopards, hyenas, to name a few.
Leopards, Zambia. Photo: Athena Alexander
Spotted Hyena, Zambia
The African savanna at night is like no other place on earth. Bumping along in a jeep past the black expanse, at first you see nothing. But then you start to see eerie eyes shining back at you. Pairs of eyes. Everywhere.
The eye shine has to do with a reflective layer behind the retina that helps the animal see better in the dark.
We were cruising along when we heard a lot of sloshing. The guide whispered for us to get our cameras ready.
Here’s what the light revealed.
Hippos, Zambia
The most terrifying night sound I have ever heard was in the Amazon rainforest: the howler monkeys. I’ve mentioned it before, but will include a sound clip again.
Howler monkeys are territorial so when one starts howling, announcing its supreme existence, they all start up. It has a stereo effect that permeates the forest in the most haunting way, sounds like a combination of tornado winds and deep-voiced gorillas.
Red Howler Monkeys, Peru
Imagine hearing this in the dark as you’re walking to the bathroom.
Wild monkeys, hyenas, leopards, owls, bats…a great way to get your Halloween sufficiently spooky. And while these animals may get your heart jumping, erratically even, they’re really not interested in hurting you…well, some aren’t.
Written by Jet Eliot.
Photos by Athena Alexander.
Spectacled Owl with Fer-de-lance snake, Belize
