Caiman with Head Dress

Gallery: WildlifePosted February 5, 2017214 views10 comments

I liked this shot of a Jacare Caiman with an aquatic plant on it's head, it reminded me of some elaborate hat. Taken in the Pantanal of Brazil.
Canon 1DX II, 500F4, 1/2500 F5.6, iso 800, handheld

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Mike Ramy on February 5, 2017 at 4:46 PM

Hey Nate,
Now this is something you don't see every day, great timing and POV.
Brought a smile to my face on this cold a rainy afternoon . . . cool

Registered on June 16, 2012, 567 Posts, 2809 Comments

Comment posted by John Robinson on February 5, 2017 at 5:01 PM

Love it! I would even think about cropping a bit closer in.
Last time I saw that plant was in an aquatic shop in our town.
Cheers
John

Registered on March 2, 2008, 535 Posts, 2453 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on February 6, 2017 at 2:57 AM

Lol!
Nice image with some humour.
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Leggett on February 6, 2017 at 4:51 PM

This is pretty amusing and cool, Nate, looks like the hyacinth was part of the caiman. I recently saw a NatGeo documentary on the Everglades where an alligator had a branch balanced on its head, an egret came down to take the branch, and the alligator made a meal of the egret. Curious if this was a hunting technique or just by chance.

Registered on July 21, 2004, 706 Posts, 3233 Comments

Comment posted by Jagdeep Rajput on February 7, 2017 at 7:27 AM

Interesting image, it looks like as if water hyacinth has grown on it's head. enlightened

Jagdeep Rajput

Registered on April 29, 2008, 686 Posts, 2857 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on February 7, 2017 at 7:37 AM

Nate,
Always like this type of shot devil

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Williams on February 9, 2017 at 12:42 AM

That is one fashionable caiman Nate. What a neat shot. The detail in the larger version is also really nice.

Registered on December 28, 2010, 636 Posts, 3499 Comments

Comment posted by Barbara Graham on February 9, 2017 at 12:44 AM

Very nice, especially the larger version. So is the plant growing on its head, or is it maybe using it as camouflage?

Registered on July 27, 2010, 1310 Posts, 5035 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on February 9, 2017 at 8:40 PM

Thanks for your comments everyone! If I had to guess it would be that the caiman was just lounging in the water underneath the plant, raised up and it got stuck on it's head. It's neat to think about it using it for camo though.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on February 11, 2017 at 3:15 PM

Hi Nate,

This one is a "smiler" for sure! I'm with John in thinking this one might even better cropped in a bit tighter.

Cheers...

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments