Happy October, y'all

Wet Stuff

That funny, wet stuff has been falling from the sky quite a bit lately.  We took the photo above Saturday morning, after it rained all night Friday.  Then it rained slow and steady on Saturday night, and we got another light shower this afternoon. Three days in a row of precipitation feels mighty nice.

But it also means the bug population is exploding. Whenever it rains, the termites bubble up from the ground and fly into the air, like some weird, effervescent entomological eruption. But lately we're nearing plague-like proportions.

 And also coming out to eat all these tasty morsels are the arachnids and other bug-hunters.

The chickens are doing their part to eat as many bugs as they can catch.

And the kittens have become such good hunters that they can snatch them right out of the air most of the time.

The prolonged rain should lead to another flower bloom, also.  The lechugillas are the most recent plants to bloom in our area, and I think they can be underrated.  Some people don't realize they bloom at all, but they actually have a very pretty display if you catch the show in time and get up close to the action.

Lechugillas are agaves, and their flowers are similar to those of the century plant.  But unlike the century plant which blooms only once, right before it dies, lechugilla agaves bloom every year.

The rain also shows off how well camouflaged Wrinkles is in her desert environs.  Her red leopard pattern mimics the dappled color of our wet, volcanic sand perfectly.

Desert in Bloom

The bug bloom is huge right now, thanks to the return of the rainy season. The cone-nose bug above wanted to get into the house and eat us, but was out of luck thanks to the magic of window screens and silicone caulk. The yellow-ball flowers are from a whitethorn acacia.  They are quite common in our area, and easy to spot when in bloom, thanks to their bright, safety-yellow flowers.  And the chubby caterpillar will grow up to be a sphynx moth, after pupating underground for a couple of weeks.

Can I go to work with you?

Although the area is pretty quiet during the summer, we've been plenty busy with solar work. But it is nice to go into town and have some fun during the summer, when all the turistos have checked out until cooler weather.  Just last night we had a blast celebrating our dear friend Debbie's birthday. Nothing proves true friendship like standing up in a bar and singing karaoke in front of friends and strangers.

Gypsy Jess belts out 'Just a Girl' at La Kiva.

Also managed to carve out some time for a bit of landscaping, or more specifically Xeriscaping. Just some pretty rocks and a few cacti for now, but we're far from done.

Arachniphobia

Sunny with a chance of clouds

A bright pink Western Coachwhip snake. 

UK documentary filmmakers invade Terlingua.

snake eyes

Been an exciting day so far. In case we had forgotten that it is now the rainy season, nature scheduled a few reminders.

First thing in the morning, we spotted another viper.
This one is a western diamondback, with very pretty markings. Just two feet long with seven buttons (do you count the first, the black one?).






Our chicks are doing well, and this Friday they will be four weeks old.  That's almost halfway to slaughter, for the meaties.

Foxy Lady has accepted her large brood amiably. She has gotten so large now herself, that we worry she may break a leg.

And the rain has been wonderful.  We got a solid rain yesterday evening, a light sprinkle this morning, and another downpour began around 2:30 this afternoon.

Even more rain may be in our future, and we're hopeful for an exciting and lush rainy season.

Desert Marigold

Rain Snake

Rainy Rattlesnake

Currently sprinkling here, with some thunder and lightning.

Went out to get some rain photos and found this oddly patterned little rattler.

Some say it's a baby Mojave. Some say it's a full-grown Desert Massasauga.

FAIL!

This morning we were stunned to find that the fox (undoubtedly the same one that perpetrated the Massacre) had tried to break into the coop again!

And he/she was REALLY working hard!

The main hole dug by the front door was five feet long. 
After inspecting the paw prints in the dirt piles and the scratches on the stucco, we're pretty sure the varmint is a fox.  

If anyone else has experience and wants to share an opinion, feel free to comment.  
Soon we'll have a wifi camera on the coop, so we'll have definitive proof.

Three other, smaller holes were attempted on the back side, but there was no chance at all of breaking in by digging. Presidio Gallena flipped that fox the bird.

Prickly poop

This present was left for us at the garage, near the dogs' water pan.

Just goes to show that the Javelina are gorging themselves on tunas, the purple fruit of the prickly pear cactus.

...And also maybe small snakes?

We're even getting some leaves and flowers back for the first time since the hail.

Dr Dodlittle

Today was an Alpine Day.   We seem to have more Alpine Days than most people down here, but at least we get decent fuel economy with our old Rangers.

The main event today was taking the canine crew to our vet, Dr. Dodson.

New pack member Wrinkles is doing great overall, but needs some medicine to stay healthy while she recovers from a surgery.

Naia kept watch over her puppy, and showed her how a pro handles an eight-hour shopping trip.

Since the severe thunderstorm ten days ago, the desert has been going crazy with activity.

The old dam at Cafe Colando is still holding water, though it's dropped a lot.

There are swarms of dragonflies, butterflies, mosquitoes (gah!), and other winged insects in the air.

And the frogs are chirping into the wee hours of the morning.  It's a great sound to fall asleep to.

Crotalus

We killed this rattlesnake last night, at about one AM. He or she was hanging out underneath our house, near the stairs.

This one rattled right away, so we were able to bring the dogs inside before they even realized the snake was there.

This is a Western Diamondback, Crotalus atrox, which is probably the most common venomous snake here.

We had expected to find one at the coop, but this one preferred our stack of wall tiles and mastic.

I've zoomed into the head to show the ocular scales. I've talked to a lot of people about how to tell a Western Diamondback from the more dangerous Mojave.

The most definitive difference between the two is the number and size of the scales between the snake's eyes.

Many small scales between the eyes prove that this snake is a Western Diamondback.

Just a few large scales would indicate a Mojave.

This one also demonstrates an even pattern of white and black stripes on the "coon tail" section below the rattle.
Mojaves are more likely to have a predominantly white coon tail.

Many people will tell you that green rattlesnakes are Mojaves.  But color is actually an unreliable indicator, as both species appear in a wide (and overlapping) range of colors.

Black Tail Rattlesnakes are also often greenish-colored, but much mellower and they have a very distinctive black tail where the coon tail section would be.

But then (just when you thought you knew what you were looking for) there are wild hybrids.  Snakes that are both WD and Mojave.  If that's the case, then all bets are off.

Glazing

We had a diesel generator to work on yesterday, and it's pretty rare that there's something about an IC engine we're surprised by.  But I have to say, a fuel filter clogged with flies was definitely a first.  Luckily it was a pretty simple fix.

Afterwards we started making more permanent repairs to the Cafe Colando.

 

Replacing the windows is a great opportunity to get rid of her eyesore front-end. Not to mention that the new glazing will be much more energy efficient.

We moved the cactus garden to where the lettuce garden used to be.  They're not as tasty as the prevous residents, but more hail-tolerant (they were getting too much sun on the east side, anyway).

Folks say some cacti are like "dry whiskey," in that you'll be feeling tipsy if you eat one, but we'd rather stick with traditional whiskey.

This Mothera of a lepidopteran dropped by the Cafe at lunchtime yesterday. Pretty friendly guy/gal; he/she loved being handled.

Miscellaneous Photo Opportunities