Reminder to Self: Slow Down on the Caffeine

Please respect my copyright - all rights reserved. You can use this image only with permission.

It's about time to have another photo of this unique Philippine mammal - the tarsier.

Early this year (2006), I took a vacation back to the Philippines especially to the island of Bohol particularly to see this fascinating animal. It's one of the smallest prosimians - some of them can fit inside your palm.

This species of tarsier is most commonly found on Samar, Leyte, Bohol, and Mindanao in the Philippines. They are found in areas of tall grasses, bushes, bamboo shoots, and small trees in tropical rainforests. They are arboreal and nocturnal. They spend the day hiding in dense vegetation and sleeping in trees. At night they emerge to move about and hunt for prey.

What's interesting is ... this particular group of tarsiers that I photographed are what the natives call 'showbiz tarsiers' as they are the ones being shown to tourists. Their behaviour has been so screwed up ... they are now diurnal instead of nocturnal ... but for a purpose though: to educate people about these animals. They are not particularly endangered (although it is vulnerable and threatened because of habitat destruction); people actually say you can find them easily if you know where to look ... but because it is unique and this particular species only found in the Philippines, people need to be educated and its preservation is important because it is part of the Filipino heritage.

It was also proclaimed by presidential decree that Philippine Tarsier is a specially
protected faunal species of the Philippines and that tthe hunting, killing, wounding, taking away, possession of the Philippine Tarsier and the conduct of activities
destructive of its habitats are prohibited. However, the possession of the Philippine Tarsier for educational, scientific or conservation-centered research purposes maybe allowed upon certification by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources secretary.

Sorry for the long-winded description.

The roller coaster ride on explore

On late June 21, this photographed appeared at explore's front page several times. Then when the link for explore June 22 appeared at explore June 21 p. 1 (the next day explore 500 listing appears after 5 o'clock pm central time on the top right of the page), I clicked on the link and saw it at No. 18. When the June 22 explore page finally went live, this was at no. 12 for that day. It never made it to the first page. It stayed on p. 2 for awhile, fluctuating from any place from 12-20. Then it just disappeared from the list ... and later on during the day, reappeared at no. 300 plus then disappeared again. A few days later (June 25), it magically reappeared on p. 1 for June 22 as no. 3 and stayed there fluctuating from no. 1 to 5. And now, it's gone again. Meanwhile, it appeared at Flickr's blog where most readers saw it. Over the days, it would appear on p. 1 or 2 or be gone totally from explore especially everytime I add it to a new pool. It's bizarre.

Thanks to everyone for your comments and your faves. It finally made it to 1,000 faves pool in October 2007!

Featured on the flickr blog, June 23, 2006.

Comments and faves

  1. ★

    KeithALancaster.com, mju.tabor, Wild*Dreams, christing-O-, and 1933 other people added this photo to their favorites.

  2. KeithALancaster.com (84 months ago | reply)

    WoW great capture a fav for me
    well done
    (4 Aces)

  3. cattycamehome (84 months ago | reply)

    Wonderful!
    (4 Aces)

  4. www.julkastro.co (84 months ago | reply)

    amazing

  5. iTopher (84 months ago | reply)

    Adorable!

  6. Urban Disturbance (84 months ago | reply)

    fantastic...what drugs can do to you...

  7. Skink74 (84 months ago | reply)

    These eyes grabbed me from the thumbnail. Great animal portrait.

    (4 Aces)

  8. thermophle (84 months ago | reply)

    great image - i like the little hands! thanks for the info to go along with it - do they have eyelids to blink do you know? 3-2-1

  9. anchorphotos (84 months ago | reply)

    like me after a night on the town!

  10. D.James | Darren J. Ryan (84 months ago | reply)

    those eyes are great!! the photo is full of wonderful detail!

    (321)

  11. christing-O- (84 months ago | reply)

    ahahah! I laughed a lot when I read your tutle! So good and adapted to the tarsier!

  12. BugMan50 (84 months ago | reply)

    Great capture! Love the eyes!

    (4 Aces)

  13. L-Boyce- (84 months ago | reply)

    wonderful shot... love it. well done
    Score 9/10 (from the Score Me! group)

  14. Zoria L (84 months ago | reply)

    That animal freaks me out but a very good shot,Score 8,5/10 (from the Score Me! group)

  15. Peter Maris (84 months ago | reply)

    Score 8/10 (from the Score Me! group)

    I love it. Wicked eyes, they really stand out with the faded background.

  16. Caren Hauser (84 months ago | reply)

    can we buy one for the Cologne zoo? too funny. You get 10/10 though I am not in this group

  17. De Shark (84 months ago | reply)

    should be starbucks mascot Score 9/10 (from the Score Me! group)

  18. Kris Kros (84 months ago | reply)

    Wow!!! Amazing and bulging and bulky eyes.

  19. Flipped Out (84 months ago | reply)

    Thanks, all. De Shark: that is a good idea. Starbucks should contact the Tarsier Foundation :-)!

  20. S()M (84 months ago | reply)

    very beautiful capture!

    321

  21. Mr.Bones (84 months ago | reply)

    The expression along with the title made me roar with laughter. Seriously! Thanks for that, Flipped out! A truely great pic and congrats on making it to explore front page

  22. frappu (84 months ago | reply)

    lol!! great shoot!

  23. Mr Skel (84 months ago | reply)

    spoooooookyy!

  24. Mexxi (84 months ago | reply)

    That's the reason why I don't drink coffee :-)
    Funny!

  25. JennyHuang (84 months ago | reply)

    Thanks Ken.
    I love the Tarsier you shot here!!Soooo lovely and great composition!!
    I also went to Bohol in this early year.
    Did you dive there? Cheers for our D200!!! ( I take it into the water,ha~)

  26. Flipped Out (84 months ago | reply)

    Thank you all, I am humbled. Jenny: unfortunately, I wasn't able to do any diving this time. Maybe next year.

  27. L.G.Mills (84 months ago | reply)

    Oh my gosh, that is the cutest little guy i have EVER seen in my life.. Thank you so much for sharing him..

  28. fouramjava (84 months ago | reply)

    WOW - EXCELLENT pic! He's too cute! I'd faved him 5x if I could. :-)

    Found this pic on the Explore page - BRAVO!

  29. mcmachete (84 months ago | reply)

    haha. very cool pic. he looks like he may have spent some time in colombia in the 80's.

  30. misspiepie (84 months ago | reply)

    Wow, someone gave that guy quite the fright! Either that or he's trying to frighten his viewer...

    (4 Aces)

  31. Kris Kros (84 months ago | reply)

    This is listed in the Top 20 of the Day.

    I invite you to add this to Explore Front Page.

  32. Redgum (84 months ago | reply)

    Congrats, this made it to the first page on explore.

  33. PDXphotog (84 months ago | reply)

    Amazing shot of the little guy! (4 Aces)

  34. Senrab4 (84 months ago | reply)

    Very cute picture. These animals look similar to those they have in Africa which they call "Bush Babies". I remember finding one that had to be rescued. Very beautiful animals.
    (4 Aces)

  35. jm_frappier (84 months ago | reply)

    instant fave
    (4 Aces)

  36. Gypsy Flores Photography (84 months ago | reply)

    Fantastic photo.
    (4 Aces)

  37. Madirakshi (84 months ago | reply)

    "My, what big eyes you have!"

    Great photo, and thanks for the commentary - I've learned something today. =)

    (found at 3-2-1)

  38. jason044 (84 months ago | reply)

    Awesome :P lol... this just became my new wallpaper at work

  39. Rey Nocum (84 months ago | reply)

    Congratulations! I saw this one page two of today's explore! I'm sure it wil hit page 1 soon.

    Love the title.

    I better go back to Bohol. I did not have a god shot of those tiny monkeys because of the low lighting.

    REY

  40. Jonathan Urrutia (84 months ago | reply)

    Great shot, and title!

  41. Ben_Nelson (84 months ago | reply)

    Cool shot looks good nice job.

    Score 9/10 (from the Score Me! group)

  42. melop (84 months ago | reply)

    Looking at those big eyes I can hardly believe we once had a common ancester.

  43. martytdx (84 months ago | reply)

    Long-winded? Nah - very imformative and interesting!

  44. John McDonald (84 months ago | reply)

    WHOA!!! Crazy Eyes!!!!

  45. Gosia Margosia (84 months ago | reply)

    Thank you for the description. very interesting.
    beautiful portrait of such a sweetie. great compositon and colours.

  46. Jeff Clow (84 months ago | reply)

    My compliments on an exceptional image that is one of the finest I've seen this week on Flickr.

    Superb piece of photo work....!

  47. fotoFANATIK (84 months ago | reply)

    awww...ken you need to keep the tarsier off coffee =) we plan to go to the phils next year in june. where can i have the opportunity to see this cute adorable animal??? i have to go to Bohol?

  48. Flipped Out (84 months ago | reply)

    Thank you all for your kind words.
    fotoF: yup, you have to go to Bohol to photograph the tarsiers. What we did was to go to Cebu, stayed there overnight, then took a day trip to Bohol - there are agencies that do this - they cater for everything including a lunch on a cruise on the Loboc River (very beautiful) and a trip to the Chocolate Hills. Then went back to Cebu for another day, then flew back to Manila. You can of course go directly to Bohol from Manila by plane (which we should have done) - stay at Panglao Island then take the trip around Bohol. It is such a beautiful island - lots of adventures from diving to spelunking to plain sight seeing.

  49. Photomotion [deleted] (84 months ago | reply)

    good shot and funny title!

  50. drakulita (84 months ago | reply)

    I'm envious! I'm from the Philippines but I've never even been to Bohol! LOL. I want to spot a tarsier too!

  51. bluefam (84 months ago | reply)

    wonderful.

← prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
(439 comments)
keyboard shortcuts: ← previous photo → next photo L view in light box F favorite < scroll film strip left > scroll film strip right ? show all shortcuts