Arizona Wildlife in my own backyard

Well, we made it safely to Tucson and have started working on the house...I've spent two days cleaning the kitchen and need to spend one more before we can begin unpacking and setting up our kitchen. Whew! The word of the week is EEEEEWWWWW!!!!! But that's going to be a different post. For today's post I figured out how to upload pictures. Here are the first four critters I saw just this morning. First Tony found a moth on our front porch, apparently half a day from death. It has/had a 4 inch wingspan!


Next we went out to the pool. The one we hope to swim in someday! Right now it's a pretty blue-green color and you can see the bottom at the shallow end. And there walking on the cool deck was the biggest black beetle I've ever seen. I thought of Tyler and Jonathan immediately but refrained from catching it. EEEEWWWW!

Moving on the pool I spotted something riding on the floaty-thing that you put chlorine tablets in. Floaty-thing is of course an industry term but I digress. The floaty-thing was by the far side of the pool and the critter on it was black and cream colored striped. It was a snake! I studied its head a bit because my back neighbor had already warned me about rattlesnakes. Its head appeared to be of the nonvenomness type, like a garden snake. The colors and patten were unfamiliar but it was chilly in the pool so I figured I was quicker that a 12in snake, so....


Now I have to admit to feeling some trepidation when I picked it up and it immediately started coiling up and shaking its tail like a rattler. It didn't appear to have rattles but then again maybe it was a baby.?.? Then it pooed on me. EEEEEWWWWW!!!!! Tony asked if I wanted to save it for the kids but they don't like stuff like that and my hand was all icky (another industry term) so we let it go beyond our gate. There on the ground it still coiled up and shook its tail. I poked it with my finger (couldn't find a stick without stickers) and it finally slithered away. Now I really thought it could be a baby rattler and wanted it back. Fortunately for it, I couldn't find it. I looked it up on the internet and in reality it was a common kingsnake. I still should have kept it. Maybe next time.

Later in the morning I went out to check on our family of bats. They live in the tiny little crack between where the carport attaches to the house. I was thrilled to get several great shots and counted six noses today. That's a three inch brick the bat is resting on. I figure they are two inches long and smaller than a deer mouse. They eat insects and they all start squeaking everyday around 2pm. Very cute!


There is plenty is see around here. Just tonight (camera at the other end of the house) I saw a covey of quail in our driveway in front of the house. Then a cactus wren (I think) was at the end of the walk 8 feet from the door when a small (4in) lizard came tearing towards the house. Bam! The bird was on it and before I realized what had happened it was flying away with the little wiggly lizard in its beak. Good news is there are LOTS of other lizards to take his place. And I'll probably take their pictures too!