Song of the Forest

6/5/2025

This kicks off very much in the style of a Disney movie as we watch a family of hungry raccoons gambolling around a meadow high on the Apennines before they climb a tree and make shirt shrift of it’s juicy leaves. That introduces us to our guide for much of the next hour or so as he leads us on a tour of the varied flora and fauna of his home. Aided by a jolly score, we a wide range of critters from praying mantises having a duel to beetles carrying twice their body weight in perfectly spherical dung! There are morphing chrysalises, chewing caterpillars and a great formicarium on his patch as well as an owl precariously perched on a branch that maybe our own version of “Rocky” might be wiser not to test. The photography mixes the broad brush with the detailed and some of the intimate cover

6/5/2025

This kicks off very much in the style of a Disney movie as we watch a family of hungry raccoons gambolling around a meadow high on the Apennines before they climb a tree and make short shrift of it’s juicy leaves. That introduces us to our guide for much of the next hour or so as he leads us on a tour of the varied flora and fauna of his home. Aided by a jolly score, we meet a wide range of critters from praying mantises having a duel to beetles carrying twice their body weight in perfectly spherical dung! There are morphing chrysalises, chewing caterpillars and a great formicarium on his patch as well as an owl precariously perched on a branch that maybe our own version of “Rocky” might be wiser not to test. The photography mixes the broad brush with the detailed and some of the intimate