REPTILIA

Today I drove down to Whitby to pick Ron up at work and bring him back, so he could leave his truck in the yard instead of bringing it home.

After having breakfast, we ran a few errands in the area getting things that Ron needed for fixing things at the house, the barn and various machines and vehicles.















While we were at our last stop we saw a sign for REPTILIA located at 1400 Victoria St. E. in Whitby, Ontario, which is Canada's largest Reptile Zoo and Education Facility.

So we decided to stop and see what the facility was like and to view the animals.

It was wonderful to enter the bright, open and very clean, building.

We were surprised that Reptilia is open every day (except Christmas Day) from 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p. m. with the exception of holidays where they are open from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p. m.

The staff was friendly, informative and outgoing.

They let us know the times for the next public feeding of the reptiles and the time of the next live show featuring three of the animals.

We started going through the Zoo which features over 250 reptiles, amphibians, a few arachnids and a Grey Parrot in its 15,000 square feet (1,394 square metres) of exhibits.
















Green Iguana (Iguana iguana)

It was not long before they made an announcement that they would have a demonstration of feeding a Red Spitting Cobra and members of the staff showed us where to go to view the Red Spitting Cobra being fed.

It is amazing the speed at which the cobra took the bait. If you blinked you would have missed the strike and how quickly it swallowed its prey.















Red Spitting Cobra (Naja pallida)

We continued walking through the wide corridors, stopping at each display; in some cases the animals were easy to find, whether they were moving around in their habitat, curled up by a rock, or draped over a branch relaxing.

Others you had to try and find them in among the leaves, in the water or behind a rock and in one instance, one of the snakes had buried itself the mulch at the bottom of its home with only the head peeking out as though laying in wait for prey.















Monitor Lizard

A while later there was a live show and with one of the zookeepers of three of the animals in the zoo; in this case a Pakistani Leopard Gecko, followed by an Alligator Snapping Turtle and lastly, a Caiman.

The zookeeper give information about each of the three animals, asked the audience questions about their knowledge of the animals and answered all questions asked by the crowd.

Each animal was brought through the audience and everyone was given the opportunity to touch the animals if we wished. I of course did and Ron declined.

From there we continued going through the zoo, finding more interesting animals at each display. My only disappointment was that the Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum) stayed hidden.

Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys temminckii)

This just means that I will have to go back again and perhaps next time he will be willing to come out of his cave and get his photograph taken.

Once we had gone through and looked at each display, we entered into a children's play area, complete with mazes, climbers, slides, toys and many other things to keep them occupied. Including the big kids (I almost didn't make it out of the maze).















Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)

As we were heading out we noticed that there were two birthday parties going on in different rooms each of which included a live animal show, a visit from REPTILIA's mascot Sir Chompsalot.

Our last stop was at their Gift Shop/Store where they sell supplies for reptiles and occasionally have a few ready to be adopted. I picked up a t-shirt to add to my collection of places I have visited.















Blanding Turtle (Emys blandingii or Emydoidea blandingii) is listed as an endangered species on the IUCN Red List.

Loon Call Lake Turtle I

I thought I would like to complete this drawing of a little painted box turtle sunning himself on a fallen cedar tree trunk that I started a few of years ago (see posts on 27 September 2015 and 07 February 2018) while we were canoeing on Loon Call Lake.

The first thing I did was to redraw the turtle in order to get the proportions of the turtle and the shape of the shell correct.










I gradually added the stripes onto the head and neck, then darkened the turtle's shell leaving the light areas between the plates and finished the turtle by adding in the legs.

Lastly, I added a little more bark onto the cedar tree trunk and put in a few more ripple lines in the water beneath the tree trunk.

This little, original 3-1/2" x 9” pen and ink drawing when matted and shrink wrapped will be available for $30.00.

Loon Call Lake Turtle I and Clear Lake V - Two Works in Progress

I wanted to work on this drawing that I had started a number of years ago (see post on 27 September 2015) while we were out on the lake canoeing.

It didn't take me very long to put in the fallen tree trunk that on which the turtle was sunning himself and then I set it aside.











Loon Call Lake Turtle I

I still wanted to do more drawing  so I pulled out this piece that I started a long time ago (see posts on 09 June 2013, 16 May, 06 July and 16 December 2016).















Clear Lake V Cottages

I did a little more work on the shoreline and added in a few more ripples into the water. I will post each of these drawings as more work on them is completed.

Loon Call Lake Turtle I

Yesterday while we were out on the lake we came across a turtle sunning himself on a partially submerged log.

Usually they disappear into the water as soon as we start to get close to them. This one seemed unconcerned and we took two passes by him before he decided to leave.













I have the drawing of the turtle and now I have to do some research and find out what kind of turtle it is, so I can do an acrylic or watercolour painting from this drawing.

Buckhorn Artists' Group - KTTC Paintings

If you would like to see more of the turtle paintings for the Kawartha Turtle Trauma Centre by members of the Buckhorn Artists' Group. I have posted them to the Group's blog page.

Here's Looking at You

This 8" x 10" acrylic painting (see yesterday's posting) is pretty much finished. I may add a little more detail to the turtle after I leave it overnight and look at it with fresh eyes tomorrow.

The painting is being donated to "The Art of the Turtle" Auction. This is a fundraiser for the Kawartha Turtle Trauma Centre and will be held on 14 May 10, at the Peterborough Public Library Auditorium, 345 Aylmer Street North, Peterborough, Ont.















All these pieces works will be sold by silent auction. The event takes place from 7-10pm, with extended viewing beginning at 6pm. The silent auction will be ongoing followed by the live auction at 9pm. SOLD

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Here's Looking at You - A Work in Progress

Today I spent the afternoon over at Heather's house and we worked on our turtle paintings for "The Art of the Turtle". Artists were given an 8" x 10" canvas to create a painting featuring a turtle.

All paintings will be auctioned to raise money for the Kawartha Turtle Trauma Centre.















My first piece didn't come out quite the way I wanted, although it will become landscape painting and will post it at a later date.

So I had to start over on a new canvas and try a different way to create the turtle with a different background which seemed to work better at placing the turtle in a pond.

This is my painting about half way finished. It is still very rough, but should work out better than my original painting.