BRUSH-TAILED BETTONG | Arizona Animal Photographer

Rebecca and I had been trying for several weeks to find a time that worked for a photoshoot of her Bettong!  A what???  Yep, that's what I said too!  I had to quick Google it to find out if I was going to be shooting something the size of a Great Dane or a Yorkie!  As it turns out, this is a baby Bettong, so it was pretty close to the size of a Yorkie!  "Mimsy" weighs less than two pounds!

On Saturday afternoon, we quickly decided that early morning on Sunday would work for both of us.  Since Rebecca was coming up from the far East Valley I asked her to bring along any of her other critters that she would like photographed and we'd just make a morning of it!

Well...let me just say I fell in LOVE!  Actually, I fell in love about 11 times!!

A Brush-tailed Bettong is a marsupial that ranges mostly in Australia.  Its a nocturnal mammal which might have been our saving grace in trying to photogragh her during the day!  She was unbelieveably fast!  All Rebecca kept saying was, "you should see her during the night"!!  She hops around like a little kangaroo!  She even has a teeny little pouch!

And this is her Frizzle Chicken!  Yep...that's actually a type of chicken!  First of all, just saying the name makes me smile.  Well, the minute she brought her out of the carrying case all I could do was laugh!  I know these little chickens must have been created in the image of a cartoon character!  And to make it even BETTER...  She had just hatched out seven little 'Frizzle babies'!!  Now, I want chickens in my backyard!!

Then came "Quest", a Rex Rabbit.  Quest was found running in the street 5 years ago and Rebecca rescued the poor guy!  This is the most MELLOW rabbit I've ever seen!  Get a load of those ears!!  I'm sure they must bring in HBO!

And to show you just how mellow Quest is...  we put a couple little chicks with him.  One of them thought her head was just the most comfortable place to relax!!

She also brought along a Cherry-Headed Tortoise.  They're also called Red-Footed Tortoises.  This guy was georgeous!  He was pretty easy!  He made up for trying to focus on the Bettong!!

And just because I couldn't help myself...  I couldn't let her go without getting the proverbial "Tortoise and the Hare" shot!!

Rebecca...thank you so much for letting me photograph your critters!  I had a blast! 

Sorry this blog post went a little long, but they were all so cute!  And, there is a rumor that I just may get a chance to photograph some of her other animals in a couple weeks!

So...yes!  I fell in love 11 times...  A Bettong, A Frizzle Chicken and her 7 little Frizzle Chicks, A Cherry-Headed Tortoise, and "Quest" the Rabbit!