saved by my pup

I came within inches of stepping on one yesterday.  I was walking on the side of the road and the snake was inches from my path.  My dog alerted me by spotting it first and letting out a quick growl.  At a glance the diamond pattern led me to think he was a rattler but he just had a regular snake tail.  I think he was a California Gopher Snake.  I also saw he was slowly retreating into the brush because he looked to have been seriously injured on his mid-section.  He was about 3 to 4 ft long.  Thanks to my pup for his alertness by saving me from stepping on a snake. 

All that remains

of a cattle ranch from years gone by.

R.U.S.'s

Rodents of Unusual Size.  A bit smaller than a baseball.

stone house

Stone house, how old are you?

funny coyote

A few days ago I had my windows open on a pleasant afternoon.  I heard a coyote start barking and howling.  After a few minutes of this coyote continuously barking it peaked my interest enough to step outside onto my patio with my binoculars to see if I could spot its location.  By narrowing him down by sound I located him to be very roughly a half mile away - across undeveloped land.  He was standing on a berm howling.  He was far enough away that I could watch him bark (through the binoculars) and then a second later I would hear the bark.  Well, I was starting to wonder why he was just standing there making all this noise for a long period of time and then I saw for myself why he was barking. I watched two dogs run towards his direction, and then run past him on a straight course.  At one point they only looked to be a few feet away from him.  The dogs continued across the hills on their straight path.  It was a large black female who looked like a recent mother and a brown male pitbull type dog.  The coyote had been making all this noise because they were crossing his territory and he was powerless to do anything.  They were larger and better fed, and there was two of them.  He was barking to drive them off but it did absolutely no good to deter them.  At the moment they passed him, I noted that he did nothing except continue sitting and barking.  He didn't even stand on all fours.  After the two dogs ran off I looked back at the coyote who was still barking and I did a loud whistle at him.  He stopped barking, turned his head and looked in my direction.  He then resumed barking.  I whistled again, and again he stopped and then resumed barking.  After a few more back and forths between us I went back in the house and he piped down. 

abandoned well

Don't fall in

rabbit population

The rabbit population is out of control this year.  I don't know exactly why but it seems we have hundreds more than the previous years.  They eat most anything that's green so it's been a real challenge to keep our plants alive.  We got a new dog recently and I have to say he is quite a good hunter.  While we do have a so called "rabbit proof" fence up, it doesn't keep the rabbits out of the yard.  Our dog has caught about 20 rabbits in a three week period INSIDE our not so rabbit proof fence.  He also caught and killed a gopher snake yesterday.  He loves hunting.  I hope we don't find a rattler in our yard, I don't want to see our new dog get hurt.  While I don't like the thought of the bunnies being killed, I know they "trespassed" into the dog's yard.  My husband commented that the dog must be catching the dumb rabbits where as I was thinking the dog's catching the rabbits who are smart enough to get inside the fence.  Either way, the dog gives them a swift chomp on the neck and it's over for them quickly.  He then drops them in the yard for us to pick up later, fortunately he doesn't seem to be eating them, just killing them.  

out for a walk

So dry, no wonder the fires burn so easily. Even though everything looks dead, it's still pretty to me.

the creek runs again

thanks to two afternoons of monsoons

lovely view of the hood