October 05, 2016
Caught a raccoon in the garden trap last night. He was not happy. Stood up and snarled at me. I think they bite. The possum was more polite but he hissed too. I've caught the cat three times..
She is too lazy to go all the way up to the house for lunch, so she snacks in the trap, then naps until I let her out. I've reset it again and am anxious to see if the "grubbing" stops. Turkeys will make the same mess also, but they roost at night. Maybe I'll get a skunk next..
October 06, 2016
I saw a blue belly lizard today with a moth in its mouth. He was doing push ups. I read that the push up routine was for attracting attention. Why would he want to attract attention when he has food that he hasn't eaten yet? Oh, maybe for a dinner date. The proper name for them is Western Fence Lizard. I've seen thousands of them in my day, and only a few were on a fence, but they all had blue belly's. They call blue whiptail lizards "skanks"..
How rude. The majestic Ponderosa pine has been called "blow pine". No respect. Buck brush is called "tick brush", so people shun it thinking they will get ticks by walking through it, but the ticks are hiding on the tall grass. Positive nomenclature, like a positive attitude, is our choice..
October 08, 2016
I saw a spider web with all the little white fly carcasses lined up from top to bottom in the center of the web. Most spiders keep their webs clean by discarding the carcasses, but this guy used them as a distraction to catch more prey. Insects flying by would come in close to see if they recognized anyone and get ensnared in the part of the web they didn't see..
I also saw a two foot long, single strand web in the woods that went from purple on the left, through turquoise in the middle, to golden on the right. It was stunning and by far the most Goth web I've ever seen..