Muskrat lunch

[Randy Stout]

This little fuzz ball climbed out on the ice and started eating a snack he dug up from the bottom of the lake. Perhaps a water Lilly root? He was quite bold, as there were lots of ducks , geese and swans around him. I really like the toes on his front paws, with the pink tips.

D500 500PF. f/5.6. 1/1600s. ISO 450. Cropped for comp. Cleaned up some debris on the ice.

Advice and comments always appreciated.

Cheers

Randy

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Randy, so good to see you posting here, yay:wave:

Wonderful sighting of this awesome little chap, he is incredibly cute... This might sound strange, but its shape makes me think of a Pufferfish:bg3:

Lovely behavioural frame and pose is great. I like the visible teeth and those paws with pink little nails, HA is also nice with good view of the eye. Good techs too, well exposed, subject is sharp, love the colours and tones in the fur.

I notice something white in the BG ( is it a Lilly?) which I find a bit distracting, if your ethics allow you might want to remove it. And do you have more on this Fuzzball, from this sighting?

Looking forward to what the others have to say, I personally enjoyed viewing and quite fascinated with this little chap, well seen and captured :tinysmile_shy_t:

Kind regards,

[Randy Stout]

Thanks Gabriela:

The white is a swan feather. And yes, I thought about removing it, and probably will.

I do have others from this series, but thought this one was the cutest! He does look like a puffer fish, or perhaps a stunted porcupine.

Cheers

Randy

[John Mack]

Nice view of this muskrat. Like the feeding behavior. The light as quite nice. The ice in the water makes for a nice touch.

[Gabriela Plesea]

I want to grab him off the screen, Randy- but afraid to put him in my pocket as I think he can bite very sore:bg3:

[haseeb badar]

Hi Randy -- Great to have you posting here .

What a nice subject and throwing some variety to our forum. I liked the moment and the details in your subject are quite good. Yes , that feather has to go , very distracting. I would have prefered a tighter frame, but not sure how the details will stand a tighter crop.

But really enjoyed viewing this image, TFS !

[Jonathan Ashton]

Hi Randy I like as presented, perhaps lower the highlights on the tuber he is eating?
The feather is a minor distraction I concede but I suspect it may prove tricky to remove whilst retaining hairs and whiskers. I like the colours but I wonder if it was just a little warmer would it look so "cold".

[Steve Kaluski]

Hey Randy, what’s this posting in Wildlife - awesome and greetings from BC, CA.

Looks great, like the perspective and hint of reflection. Colours work and just the right amount of DOF. The feather does draw the eye and with some careful and with a light touch in PS, it’s gone and the image will just be elevated to where it needs to be.

Hope this isn’t a one off and there are more to come.

TFS
Steve

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Randy you can do hairy stuff , too . Good to see .
Looks good all around , nice color and tone . Detail looks good and fine !!!

TFS Andreas

[Gabriela Plesea]

Randy, I had to have another look tonight:bg3: He's too cute! I showed this image to my staff at work this morning and they all loved it, can you share another frame, please?

Kind regards,