Today underneath the printer at work I saw nature. A black racer snake!
There was a minor panic until a quick thinker trapped it in a wastebasket and took it out. The question is, how did it get into the building? Most people won’t hold the door for a snake.
I found a snakeskin (shed) in our basement last year. It was from a central rat snake. How did the snake get into our home? Probably the same way the mice he hunts get in. I trap and relocate the occasional mouse, the snake found his own way out.
A distant relative commented that he likes it when a snake takes up residence in his shed as it ate the rodents. Convinced me to stay well away from his shed.
Around me it has been all about foxes. The first 59 years of my life, I maybe saw 5 foxes. This year I see at least 1 more days than not. Earlier there seemed to be a den the next block up. I dunno if the young are now moving out and establishing territories or what. This morning I took the dog for a walk @ 530 and 2 were sitting on a lawn across the street. As I passed them 1 got up and followed us around the block. Kinda weird.
Yesterday, I flushed a small toad when cleaning out the bowl of water that I keep on my screened porch for the cats. He was less than a 1/2 inch long. So I went looking and found 3 smaller toad carcasses that were completely dried out.
I think they either found their way into the porch because of the water supply or were in a planter of cat grass that I started outside, but moved into the porch once the grass got long enough for the cats to eat it. I suspect the dried toads either didn’t get out of the sun fast enough and one, I am certain was smashed by my kitty scientist. R.I.P. little guys. I will try to make an unobtrusive toad shelter outside and water it regularly. Hopefully, the HOA won’t notice and demand that I dismantle it.
The eggs hatched and the babies have been fed continuously for weeks now. There are three of them in the nest, huddled side by side. They keep stretching out, like they’re getting set to try flying. I moved our big, soft doggie bed onto the front porch, under the nest, so the babies don’t get hurt falling onto concrete. Hope they survive. They’re really cute!
The parent(s) fly in with bugs, then depart very quickly, as in, one second later, I hear to prevent predators from noticing where the nest is. If I stand inside the front storm door I can see the parent fly in, hear the peeping of the three babies, then it immediately departs. Bug after bug after bug.
We have rabbits everywhere, thanks to my gf feeding and supporting their reproductive activities. So last night as it was beginning to get dark and cool down (hah), we took the dogs out for some exercise. Our 12 week old Kizzy came running out of the rhododendrons toward my gf, all happy, carrying one of her many balls.
Only it wasn’t a ball, it was a small bunny head. My gf picked up the ball to throw it and SCREAMED. Rabbit heads are gross, but rabbit heads you pick up barehanded expecting a tennis ball are extra gross, I guess.
Gotta hand it to her , though, she went up under the rhododendrons and found the headless torso.
Barn swallow update. All 3 babies are pretty large and have been practicing their flying. They can get back up to the nest, near the ceiling of the porch, without any trouble. Seeing all 3 of them perched on the nest side by side is really something; they’re full adult size now. But it’s the parents who do most of the heavy lifting still, flying radially out into the yard and back at top speed, bringing in more bugs. I sense the young ones might be ready to do their own bug hunting soon. They are sometimes seen flying around the yard with a parent, sort of similar to how I go out with my son these days, teaching him how to drive.
I think these birds migrate, so I expect they’ll be leaving at some point this fall. It’s cool to see two swallows turn into 5.
On Wednesday in nature I didn’t see…
A red squirrel, actually. There are very few places left in England where you can see one, as the native red has been out-competed by the import gray. We took a trip out to (nature reserve) Brownsea Island, which basically trades on it’s red squirrel population (see link, for example). We looked, we failed.
On the other hand, I saw a pair of oystercatchers with a chick, and one of the adults played injured and distressed to lead me away from the young 'un, which was very cool. And for some reason there are peacocks wandering wild (ish) about he island. I fed this pushy peahen crumbs of flapjack from my hand, and was only somewhat pecked for my trouble. It’s not strictly nature, but it’s a nice pic:
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It’s been very hot in Minnesota this weekend. Some of my time was spent watching ospreys, hawks, and even gulls riding the thermal waves of heat coming off the dark roads and then swooping lower over the cooler forests of Jack Pines. It was very peaceful. Not much other wildlife movement.
Spotted this guy on Saturday just outside our gate. About three feet long, I’d say.
Alligators in the wild freak me out. I know there are black bears in our woods, but their population density is extremely low and they mostly avoid people. Alligators on the other hand seem to be all over the place in Florida.
When my kids were little I staged a great picture of them wading with a “beware of alligators” sign in the shot. The shot was totally set-up, they were in the water for a few seconds, but people who saw the pic freaked out.
Wild gators still freak me out too, although we see them with some frequency. I live on the edge of a protected wetland, so we get more than the usual amount of critters.
It looks mighty pleased with itself, too. That’s one proud gator. Must’ve just eaten something tasty?
Probably just wants someone to pet him. 
It’s kind of funny when I’ve visited Florida how excited I get when I see that first alligator. Then within a week or so, it’s more like “Oh, another gator…ho hum.”
But even after being alligator-acclimated, even if I’m I’m looking at them from a safe viewpoint, I get a chill when a large one starts swimming in my direction.
Same here. I also went through this with Bald Eagles in Alaska. The first one I saw left me breathless. A few days later they were as common as pigeons.
The rabbits were out in force last night. I counted seven of them (mostly babies) in a quarter mile stretch of my run.
I took a walk last night around 9:30 pm Saw quite a few fireflies. More than I have seen in previous years, but not as many as when I was growing up.
Heh, lots of fireflies here also. Did you know they’re toxic if ingested, often deadly to reptiles? I took our puppy out right after dinner. She immediately caught and swallowed a firefly. Less than a minute later she vomited. She hasn’t tried to eat another!
The Dog Credo - “When in doubt, eat it. If it wasn’t food, you can throw it up later!”