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Size-Wise

Wednesday, 19. August 2009, 21:53:37

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Just a little something that I've been wanting to do for a while - a quick sketch showing the size difference between a red fox (15in at the shoulder) and a grey wolf (up to 38in!) :smile:



Even smaller than a fox is a toadlet :D



...and here are a few other creatures of various proportions from a walk in a country park on Sunday.

Grey Squirrel



Common Earthball



Carrion crow



Throne of the Crows :king:



And one very large house spider from home :eyes: Three inches across! bug

Warrior Fox?And Night is Falling...

Comments

James 19. August 2009, 23:10

thts a big spider lol nice pics :up:

Robin 20. August 2009, 00:34

Adele: Wonderful shots and fantastic drawing. Love the squirrel holding something to it's chest! What is an Earthball? A fungus of some kind? The Crow & Crows look like a group looking for trouble! We had a spider that size in our bathroom sink the other morning. Good thing my wife didn't see it!

James 20. August 2009, 00:38

ya i would like 2 know what an earthball is also P:
i wish i had spiders like that around here :lol:

Stardancer 20. August 2009, 01:14

I see what looks like Earthballs around here sometimes. Isn't that some kind of mushroom? When they get knocked over, there is a cloud of brown dust that poofs up. Cool stuff. :D

Great sketch. I had no idea that wolves were that big. I have a Rottweiler buddy :D that's almost that big.

Another very informative post.

:up:

Darko 20. August 2009, 04:41

Once I saw a photograph of cat and fox and couldn`t believe how small foxes actually are. I am not sure if that was posted here or in Word`s blog.
This is one very big spider :eyes:

Denis 20. August 2009, 08:17

Nice idea! We do not understand real size and abilities of different animals... For example, polar bear can walk (not run!) at a speed of 30 km/h... :yikes: :yikes: :rolleyes:
So, You could not run from him, even on skees...
Horse caravan in a forest or mountains is slower, than people without horses! Maximum day distance for such caravan is not more than 25 - 30 km (normally - less than 20) and trained tourists can walk for 20 km per day without problems...
Reality differs greatly from our internal understanding...

ERWIN 20. August 2009, 08:51

Adele wonderful shots ant drawing :up:

Matt Cox 20. August 2009, 09:10

Aw, loving the little toad and the crows. :D

Nicolas Borgsmidt 20. August 2009, 11:49

Great pics! Great to learn about sizes among wolfs and foxes. Good structure in the drawing :up: But where are the shadows? p: Just kidding :D

Adele 20. August 2009, 20:47

@James - thanks! :smile: I suppose "big" is relative; these spiders don't compare to the ones that I've seen in Kenya :wink: but still, it was quite big enough bug You're Canadian? I lived in Canada in 2007 and had a false widow spider living in my duplex with me p:

Oops, sorry - I should have explained about the earthball...that is what comes of blogging in a hurry! :right: Yes, it is a type of fungus, similar to the better known puffball.

Adele 20. August 2009, 20:51

@Robin - thanks! :smile: This does seem to be the season for big spiders bug

I'm sure the crows were looking for trouble. They're seldom in the mood for anything else :bandit: :D

Adele 20. August 2009, 20:55

@Star - yes, people do like to stamp on earthballs for that reason! They're not uncommon in our woods.

I remember you talking about your Rottie friend :D Wolves do vary somewhat; the lobo, the highly endangered wolf of the southwest, is much smaller than its mountain cousins.

Thankyou! :smile:

Adele 20. August 2009, 20:56

@Darko - I found a spider in the house the other day that was so big I had to use a flower vase to catch it! bug :left:

Foxes are pretty small, in the grand scheme of things. And grey wolves are rather large!

Thanks! :smile:

Adele 20. August 2009, 21:01

@Denis - very true that reality often isn't what we suppose it to be. Bears can certainly move when they want to! I've occasionally tried to imagine what the world looks like to a fox; not only in terms of being 15in tall, but also their different colour vision etc.

Thanks! :smile:

Adele 20. August 2009, 21:01

@Erwin - thanks! :smile: The drawing was a bit rushed but, it is what it is!

Adele 20. August 2009, 21:03

@Matt - thanks, frogs and toads are just too cute when they're that age! :smile:

Adele 20. August 2009, 21:05

@Nic - LOL, shadows? In an illustrative sketch? :eyes: This wasn't really supposed to be art :lol: I've been wanting to do a "real" drawing of a wolf for a while though; will try to get on with that.

Thanks! :lol:

James 20. August 2009, 21:51

lol cool what part of canada did u live in?

Words 20. August 2009, 22:22

Interesting drawing. Foxes really are very small. I sometimes forget, as I spend so much time at or below their level. Wouldn't fancy doing that with a wolf, or indeed a badger.

James 20. August 2009, 22:29

i used to have foxes around where i live but some1 got "rid" of them

studio41 21. August 2009, 05:44

we have spiders, but I've not met "house spider" before :eyes:
love the drawing, nice job, Adele! their faces have similarities, do you find this?

Neil 21. August 2009, 06:30

Great drawing - the size difference really shows!

Nice photos too, especially the toadlet :smile:

Mark Jones 21. August 2009, 19:06

Very nice drawing, i think if a Fox encountered a Wolf the Wolf might win or have some sort of advantage! P:

Nicolas Borgsmidt 21. August 2009, 19:21

@ Adele
I´m such a nerd..sorry Adele :whistle:

Adele 23. August 2009, 14:23

@James - I was living in an obscure village on the northwest of Vancouver Island, three hours from the nearest town. Which province do you live in?

Sorry to hear about your foxes :frown: It is upsetting and frustrating when that happens. I had the same issue when I was living in BC, but there it was black bears that were being removed.

Adele 23. August 2009, 14:26

@Words - it would certainly give the wolf a shock! p: In Jasper, they're so nervous of people that even having hikers on certain trails has been enough to persuade them to abandon good quality habitat. They'd be half way to Ontario if someone tried to get down to their level with a camera! :lol:

Thanks! :smile:

Adele 23. August 2009, 14:28

@Jill - this is one of our larger species, and very fond of houses and sheds.

Foxes have more delicate faces than grey wolves, but they both have the typical long muzzle of the Canidae.

Thanks :smile:

James 23. August 2009, 14:29

obscure village sounds cool :yes: must have been alot of wildlife there
i live in quebec :smile: we have alot of animals here but no bears :frown: i would love to see one up close

Adele 23. August 2009, 14:30

@Neil - well, foxes certainly are quite small, but wolves can be pretty big...actually, I've mistaken a distant brown wolf for a mule deer before now :whistle:

Thanks! :smile:

Adele 23. August 2009, 14:33

@Mark - you think? :lol:

The relationship between foxes and wolves is really quite odd - they both steal food from each other, but many wolves are born in dens that were originally dug by foxes (and then stolen and enlarged by a wolf). Foxes do benefit from wolves though, because wolves displace coyotes - which are a big enemy of foxes.

Thanks :smile:

Adele 23. August 2009, 14:33

@Nic - perfectionism is good :wink:

Adele 23. August 2009, 14:42

@James - it was an interesting experience (and challenging - the only chocolate there was so old that it had crumbled in its wrappers! :cry:), but the national parks like Jasper are much better for wildlife watching. A lot of poaching and stuff goes in rural districts outside of the parks, and unfortunately it's very hard to report it. I've got lots of Canadian photos in my albums.

I've been to Quebec! :D Saw some beluga whales near Tadoussac. It's very beautiful :up: After seeing them, I went back to Montreal and got on a Greyhound to go to Alberta. Four days on the bus... :faint:

James 23. August 2009, 15:29

lol hope u didnt eat tht chocolate
btw where is jasper park?
4 days lol u must of had cramped legs

Nicolas Borgsmidt 23. August 2009, 15:53

In fact, I found out that I´ve made several sketches, without shadows myself p:

Eliane a/k/a Elly 24. August 2009, 00:13

Lovely sketch and photos! What is an "earthball"?

Eliane a/k/a Elly 24. August 2009, 00:13

I love the "throne of crows" 5-star!!!

Adele 25. August 2009, 21:13

@James - cramped legs and a need for sleep! :zzz:

Jasper National Park is in central Alberta, to the north of Banff. I wouldn't say it's the best park in Canada for wildlife watching, but it's a reasonable compromise between having a variety of animals and being (relatively) accessible. It's about four hours west of Edmonton.

Adele 25. August 2009, 21:13

@Nic - it happens :wink:

Adele 25. August 2009, 21:14

@Elly - sorry, I should have explained that :o: An earthball is an unusual fungus that grows on the ground. When it's ripe, spores will shoot out if you tread on it. It's similar to the better known puffball.

Thanks! :smile:

James 25. August 2009, 23:18

i think ill check it out :smile: or ill prob check out a closer one with school :yes:

Eliane a/k/a Elly 26. August 2009, 18:13

Oh, one day I found a large ball thing in the forest preserve. My son took it to school for show and tell and the teacher asked me if she could keep it for she wanted "natural" thingees in her classroom.

A month later, she was all mad at me because the thing "exploded" in her class shooting out heaven's knows what! She said her friend said it was a rare "Puff mushroom". I didn't know what it was...

lol She did ask for it...

Adele 26. August 2009, 19:29

LOL! They might be rare in your part of the world but they're very common here, and wouldn't surprise too many teachers.

Eliane a/k/a Elly 27. August 2009, 00:57

She was soooooooooooooooooooooo mad lol lol!

Sprogger McSprog 27. August 2009, 11:18

Great drawing you really capture the fur texture so well :up:
The photos too are excellent, Love the squirrel and the toadlet especially :cool:

Adele 27. August 2009, 18:07

Thanks Sprogger :smile: Fur is okay as long as I remember to draw the shadows rather than the highlights!

Sprogger McSprog 27. August 2009, 18:29

Aye, its often what you dont draw as much as what you do that makes the effect

Jenny Jones 17. September 2009, 19:10

gah!! too close to that spider! lol :wink:

Adele 17. September 2009, 19:50

Awww, just a little spider... bug p:

Jenny Jones 17. September 2009, 20:04

little?!? haha... :s

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