The folks around here are pretty familiar with this guy. He's a Colorado River Toad. These toads have a toxin in their skin that can be fatal to dogs, or any other animal who tries to make a meal of them. Humans however have been know to lick these toads to reach some psychotropic state. Me, I think I'll pass thanks.
Well, looking back on my last post date, it appears that this blog has been become rather stale from sitting on the back burner for so long. I’ve had my hands full of all kinds of stuff. I figured I’ll jump back in and post a bit of a summer roundup. I dug through the shots I took over the last couple of months and picked out a handful to share.
This place got pretty wild earlier this season. A friend of mine was walking her dog across the wash behind my yard when they were attacked by a small pack of Javalina’s. My friend escaped unscathed, but her dog succumbed to an infection from a puncture wound. The dog was given antibiotics, yet he still sadly passed. It was a sad note for starting off the summer. Then one late afternoon I was sitting out on the patio when I saw a Bobcat mosey on by right on the other side of the fence. I t would have been awesome to have had my camera with me at the time. The cat later decided to prowl about in a neighbor’s yard who managed to get some shots of the varmint before he disappeared. A few days later I gazed over towards the golf course and some big critter caught the corner of my eye. At first glance I knew it was too large to be a dog. At second glance the next critter that came to mind was “moose” (flashbacks from life in Alaska, I guess). Then after getting my eyeballs targeted in I realized I was watching a family of deer out on the green. I think they wanted to play through.
I bought a couple of bird feeders, and have been tossing out seed every morning around the crack of dawn. Now the word seems to have gotten out to every bird in the valley that breakfast is getting served up here daily. Mornings now remind me of a few of the scenes from Alfred Hitchcocks “The Birds”. It’s pretty much been the usual cast of characters, and the baby Quail chicks are as darling as ever. I think Henery found a spouse. She parked out on the wall long enough for me to get a shot. I call her “The Bride of Henery”. I’ve also been getting more frequent visits from an Oriole. Any how I hope you enjoy your visit and some of the pics. Click on the deer shots if you want to see their larger version.
