Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year: "The Dilemma"
Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition, 2006

Bug enthusiast Rick Stanley, 17, was exploring rain forests in the Dominican Republic with a group of naturalists when he and a friend heard a loud squeak from above. Looking up, they discovered a distressed Hispaniolan tree frog caught in the jaws of a green vine snake.

While Stanley, from Washington, D.C., recorded the drama on film, his friend Rubio decided to play a more active role.

"He felt sorry for the frog and touched the snake so it would let the frog go," Stanley said.

"It's amazing to think that snake could have eaten the frog," he added, noting the difference in size between the would-be predator and prey. "I guess we'll never know."

Stanley, who plans to become a biologist, accompanied a U.S.-led expedition that he says turned up seven new species of longhorn beetles.

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