New home for the rattley snake

Some rattlers just can't take a hint.

This guy had been hanging out for a couple of weeks. He liked annoying places, like where I get off my bike to go into the garage, and by the clothesline. Stu had moved him at least twice, so today, when he started rattling at us from the Apache plume by the driveway, it was time to find a new home for him.


He did not agree. As he slithered further into the Apache plume maze, Stu and Jake trimmed the bush from above, hanging from the desert willow. They discovered a quite large midden in the Apache plume (grocery store for the rattler), but it also also got rather rearranged in desperately seeking the rattler. In the end, the rattler ended up buckled into the back seat of the car in a old bucket for a trip to another canyon where he should be able to live a quieter life. Good fun.

I was supposed to be in Delaware, but a 2 am call from American Airlines told me that Dallas weather stunk and how would I like to go through Chicago tomorrow? So Chicago it is. After a nice dinner tonight with the family.

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Rains, again

What happens in a good rain year in an arroyo that has been a landing spot for spent pumpkins?

Jake, who loves the big splat, has long tossed old pumpkins off the roof into the arroyo north of the house. Add one good rain year, and watch for the pumpkins!

Rained a lot this morning. Lazy person that I am, Stu and I walked the dogs in the rain and wiped them down rather than give the dirty things a bath. What a deal!

And question of this post: Could this rattler actually have eaten this dove had I not rudely interrupted him?

The rattler chose to do this before people came over, otherwise I would have watched long enough to tell. Seemed like a gracious host thing (for human guests, not herptological guests) to move the rattly snake...

And I had the good fortune to watch a golden eagle over the Black Quartz Mountains today. Magnificent bird.

More what the rains brought in

Rosie, the rattlesnake-sniffing dog, was antsy this afternoon during brushing time in the backyeard. This guy slithered through a couple hours later.

Last seen heading east.