Post by Ella
During our day tour along the seven lakes (see Never ending water post), guide Matthias kept us entertained by telling us about the wildlife found in the area. He has a deck of 5 x 7 laminated cards. He held up each photo and then passed the card around. I noticed that each photo had “Getty Images” imprinted on it.
We never saw any wildlife but I’ve plucked a few “free” images from the ether.
Pumas are the primary predator but some of the introduced deers are too big for the pumas. Hunters are encouraged to help keep the deer population under control. Matthias loves deer meat.
Pumas do prey on the guanaco, a relative of the alpaca or llama. Guanaco’s migrate every year from high in the Andes to lower climes because winter conditions are harsh. They’re no dummies.
There are also a couple of native deer species. The young ones have oddly bear like faces.
Surprise! There is a marsupial living in south central Argentina called a Patagonian opossum. The Argentinians call it a climbing monkey. It is tiny and has a face that is a cross between a koala and a rat. Okay, maybe more like a rat.
