Erin's View…

No matter the size, cats share a number of behaviors. A trail camera in Saguaro National Park filmed a mountain lion during a light rain a few years back. Reminds me of Wylie, its the first thing she does when I let her outside – rolls in the dirt!

In an effort to update their species counts the Park has deployed these cameras at various locations in both districts and they have hundreds of excellent photos (and a few videos) in their online archive. It is a relatively inexpensive, non-invasive way to document wildlife plus they get to witness some rarely seen behaviors.

Here kitty, kitty…

A few shots from outside today:

Wylie loves spending time in the garden…

Zebra-tailed Lizard, watching me watch him/her…

Monarch Butterfly on the aptly named Butterfly Bush.

Spent a few days with the family up in Show Low in September. It was lovely to get out of the heat and cool off a bit! There was even a splash of fall color starting to show. We rented Pine Hollow cabin where we whiled away the hours – roughly equal parts playing cornhole, eating, and exploring.

There are a lot of young snakes and lizards out this time of year. Good timing actually, since the monsoon season had a couple months to encourage bountiful vegetation which in turn inspired prolific output of insects and rodents. Enough food to fill the belly and promote growth before hibernating during our long, cold winter. Yeah, so the last part I may have exaggerated a bit.

This young Gophersnake (Pituophis catenifer) was in my carport this evening. Hopefully it will catch and consume any small rodents before they start chewing on the wiring in my Prius. In case you haven’t heard, Toyota and several other auto makers use soy-based coating for some of their wiring systems (no matter what you may think of tofu, rodents apparently find it delicious).

I recently had some minor rodent damage to my car repaired. Thankfully, it was under $100. However, it did prevent my windshield wipers from functioning which I discovered when driving home, at night, in an intense monsoon storm. What could possibly go wrong in a situation like that?!

So, eat up, me hearty, yo ho!

Gophersnake, 10-12 inches long

This past spring I noticed that a family of Rock Squirrels had moved into my front yard under a yucca. I watched their young romp and scamper and grow. Over time they’ve become quite acclimated and clearly view my yard and front porch as their territory.

Recently, they’ve taken to playing on the outside sill of my living room window. They seem to understand that my cats can’t harm them through the glass. While it is entertaining to watch their antics it is a teensy bit unnerving to look over and find them watching me.

Spotted on a vehicle at the Oregon coast. Translated literally (as is my wont), I’m anticipating the something. Alternatively, it can be construed as a way of perceiving the world, with a sense of wonder. I lean to the former but this is a good reminder to cultivate the latter…

I grew up with this saying, “Red on yellow, kill a fellow. Red on black, friend of Jack.”  It is supposed to help you tell the difference between a venomous Coralsnake and a harmless Kingsnake. A handy little rhyme but not all that reliable since there are other snakes that look deceptively similar.

And truly, though the Sonoran Coralsnake (Micruroides euryxanthus) does carry a powerful neurotoxin there has not been one recorded case of human death from a Coralsnake bite. Likely because you’d practically have to stick your pinky in its mouth in order to get bit by this small snake – they only measure 2′ feet long.

I was quite excited to see this colorful creature slithering on my back porch tonight. First one I’ve noted on my property and it makes me happy to know that there is suitable habitat for it here. Of course, I would prefer if it lived just a little bit further away from my house…