Within five minutes of moving to our new house in North Carolina, my daughter had caught a little green anole, something we could only see in pet stores in Pennsylvania. And it was the start of a week of discoveries. We discovered the big rocks often seen in the middle of the road around here are never rocks — they’re turtles — snapping turtles, box turtles, you name it and they cross the roads here every day. Then I kept hearing what sounded like a duck quacking in my back yard. Turns out I was hearing a cute little green tree frog, not a duck at all!

Discovering all these new critters makes me want to hurry up and travel to new places and see other unique animals in their natural habitats. In the past we have enjoyed seeing iguanas, blue lizards and tiny frogs smaller than your fingernail in Aruba. In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, we went to Huntington Beach State Park to see alligators in the wild. In Riviera Maya I was on a mission to see what the locals refer to as “raccoons,” but are actually coati. Workers there always looked at me funny when I asked them where I could see one. (Apparently, similar to American raccoons, they enjoy hanging out by trash cans.) To the locals, they are as common as squirrels are to us here. Speaking of squirrels, I adore the black squirrels in Niagara Falls, Canada.

I just love seeing different animals in their natural habitats. I look forward to traveling to Costa Rica to see a sloth. And the snow monkeys that bathe in the hot springs at Jigokudani Monkey Park in Japan. Of course the Galápagos Islands is home to a plethora of animals that can only be seen there — the blue-footed booby, Galápagos Tortoise, marine iguanas . . . just to name a few. Then there’s kangaroos, wallabies and koalas in Australia. Madagascar is home to lemurs and fossa, among other larger animals. I could also list Africa to see the Big Five, but I actually prefer to see wildlife in their natural habitat that don’t view me as a snack!

Happy wildlife viewing!

— Tracey Cullen, art director