Eureka!

Yes... I must apologize for having been gone for too long.

I have plenty of excuses for not having posted before now.


My latest excuse is that I was in the hospital for a week with meningitis and pneumonia

I got to come home this past Thursday.


How did I get meningitis?

I'll spare you all the details and just give you the nuts and bolts.

Remember I had told you about having surgery for a brain tumor? That's been almost five years ago. Well, the incision site has developed a "leak". Yes... I am leaking CSF (cerebral spinal fluid) and it's running out my left nostril.


So...


This opens up an area of the body that is supposed to be a "closed system". Nothing in... and nothing out. However, in my case I have plenty running out which also gives opportunity for much more to run in.


Anyway... I hope that we can come up with a solution to repair the leak and return the open system back to a closed system.


This is something that really needs to happen.



This morning while I was drinking my coffee I had quite a surprise drop by my bird feeder.

I couldn't believe my eyes and was afraid that I was imagining what I was seeing.

I moved very slowly in my chair in preparation to slip back into the house so that I could grab my binoculars and camera, but the visitor saw the movement and flitted away.





Thankfully the shy little bird came back and I was able to make a positive ID on it.


It's a Painted Bunting!!!!!





How I have been hoping to see one of these birds. I have only heard about them and seen them in photographs. Their numbers are in decline and they are listed as a "near threatened" species.

Today I saw one for the very first time!

And I've reported my sightings to the ebird project. This project is sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Audubon Society.





As an added bonus this male Painted Bunting has a mate. While she isn't colored in any way like her mate, her green coloring is quite pretty in and of itself.





I wish that I had better photographs of these birds, but they were at the feeder that is farthest from my vantage point and I do not have a telephoto lens for my camera.



So these closely cropped images will have to suffice for now. Perhaps, they will become more comfortable with my backyard and I'll be able to get a better picture of them both.

later...

The Snakes in My Backyard...

Linda in Norman (Oklahoma) sent me an e-mail quite some time ago that said something to the effect that I needed a new post to put above the (ugly) bug post.

I've accumulated a few pictures and I had thought about posting the bird pictures, or the pictures of the deer that come up to my yard every day.

But I got busy per usual and didn't get it done.

I promise that I will post some of those photographs, however tonight's post was prompted by me finding a shed snake skin in my backyard this evening. I don't know what kind of snake it was but never the less...

It was ~more~ evidence that I do seem to have quite a bit of "Snake Traffic" come through my yard.


A while back I found this little Prairie Ring-Neck snake while I was working in the yard.



I don't believe that I had seen one since I was a kid. The markings fascinated me then as it still does today.

What a striking contrast of color this little snake has.





A bright orange belly with a matching ring around its neck. These colors are brilliant when set against the black of the rest of the body.

Mom says, "The only good snake is a dead snake." Of course, she has already found two rattlesnakes this year at her house. And I agree... rattlesnakes are not welcome.

Even so, I beg to differ with her about all snakes being bad. There are good snakes. This snake in particular catches and eats slugs (among other things). I'll have to remember to tell Mom that because she is inundated with slugs in her flower beds.

I remember catching my first Prairie Ring-Neck snake. It was about this size. I was so excited that I wanted to show it to Mom. She was gone from the house at the time, so I rummaged around to find something to put my prize snake in.

For some reason, I couldn't find anything but a paper lunch sack...

and into that sack I put my snake. I then left the snake in the house and went back outside.

When Mom got home I told her that I wanted to show her something really neat. I was very proud of my catch.

I retrieved the paper sack and opened it only to find that it was empty.

I couldn't believe my eyes...

as my short little insignificant life passed before them.

Well...

When Mom found out what it was that I had LOST IN THE HOUSE she had a ~conniption fit~. She said, "I am NOT sleeping in THIS house until you FIND THAT SNAKE!!!"


I've since seen another little Prairie Ring-Neck snake in my yard. He was a little bigger. I wonder if I caught him if Mom would like to have it live in her flower bed to eat her slugs.

NOT!

I'm sure that many of you have wondered how I ever lived to be as old as I am.





Parker and I spent quite a bit of time trying to get this photo of the snake's tongue sticking out. But Parker showed some remarkable patience and was able to capture one

Please ignore my dirty fingers.

I didn't take the time to go into the house to wash my hands before we took the pictures of the snake.


So the other evening after I got home I drug out the water hose. I needed to water some of my plants and flowers.

While I was watering this guy come flying around the corner straight at me. This snake was on a mission of some sort.

I sprayed him with my water hose to stop his advance which took some doing.

But I did get him to stop and at least turned the other direction. I think I made him mad too.



I kept looking at this guy and I couldn't readily identify him. He was only about two feet long and quite slender in appearance, however the markings on his head is what really caught my eye. The pattern that starts at the eye and comes down to the mouth is quite interesting.

So I grabbed my camera real quick to take a picture in hopes that I could later identify what kind of snake it was.



It took quite a bit of time to browse through a bunch of photographs, and Googled pages. But I finally got a positive ID on the snake.

It is a Checkered Garter snake. The picture associated with the link is a pretty good picture. Much better than my hastily taken shot. You can click on it to make it bigger.

I failed to tell you guys that "something" ransacked my fish pond a few weeks ago.

All of my pretty fish are gone. Vanished. Disappeared.

Most likely eaten.

From the mess that was made it is likely that it was a raccoon that "fished" them out and ate them. The lily pads were all torn up.

I did see a raccoon early Monday morning run from behind my neighbor's garage.

But it is also possible that it was this fellow, the Checkered Garter snake, that could have made a quick meal of them as well.


I don't believe in feeding wildlife, but I will have to get some more fish.

Hopefully they'll last a while longer than the last batch?

*sigh*


later...

The Giant Red-Headed Centipede...

Early one morning, about a week ago, Parker and Carrie had gone outside to catch the bus. Suddenly the front door flew open and Parker came running in the house out of breath and extremely excited.

No time for dilly-dallying. The bus was on its way. He rifled through the kitchen cabinet and produced a plastic container and quickly ran outside.

Soon, he was back in the house with his prize.


A Giant Red-Headed Centipede.


*YIKES*




When I saw it I was totally dismayed that such a creature could be living in my yard.




Yes, these guys are predators and are venomous. They can be life-threatening to a small child or if you have a bee-sting allergy.





It has been reported that the feet of this centipede can cause lacerations on your skin. I can only imagine. His feet look like talons!



Some may not know how to tell the difference between a millipede and a centipede. Centipedes have one pair of legs per segment while millipedes have two pair.




While the Giant Red-Headed Centipede is considered to be a "good" creature to have around because it does hunt and eat large prey, I do not consider anything that is venomous to be welcome at my house. Especially if it is an aggressive creature which this centipede is known for.

Fortunately, this centipede succumbed on his own without any intervention on my part. I think it was ill, injured, or dying when Parker found it because they are known to stay on the ground and are very, very fast. Parker found this centipede on the side of our house and was able to capture it easily. It wasn't long after he had caught it that the centipede started to act strangely and roll over on its back.


Here is a link to a YouTube video of a Giant Red-Headed Centipede eating a young mouse.

And here is a science video of another variety of centipede hunting and capturing a tarantula.




These videos are examples of how strong and aggressive of a hunter they are, so don't watch these videos if you're squeamish.

later...



Species Scolopendra heros - Giant Redheaded Centipede

Giant redheaded centipede

My Goldfish...

I enjoy watching the goldfish that are in our little pond.

So I thought that I would try to take a few pictures of them and share them with you guys.

~ha~

Do you know how hard it is to take a picture of a fish?




This is one of the Black Moors.



It's Parker and Carrie's favorite fish because it has "bug eyes".



Look at this guy's big mouth!

We don't have the plain "gold-colored" goldfish. These have three different colors and are known as calico goldfish.



Can you see the difference in their tails? We have the regular body-type as well as the fan-tailed goldfish.

You can click on the pictures to make them bigger.

I hope that all of you are having a wonderful and safe Memorial Day Week-end!

later...

The Texas Brown Tarantula...

In April, Parker found a tarantula in our backyard. It was the "prettiest" and "fluffiest" tarantula that I have ever seen.

Taken by this prize specimen of a spider, Parker and I spent the greater part of a Saturday morning taking pictures and playing with the spider. In fact, I believe that Parker took most of the photographs himself.




Parker carried it to different locations. We put it on rocks, moss, grass... You name it. We had a great time with this gentle giant.



At the time, I had thought that the tarantula's calm demeanor and deliberate activities were due to the chilled air that we were experiencing. However, after doing some reading about the Texas Brown Tarantula I have discovered that it is the most docile of the giant spiders and can make a good pet. It is also known as the Desert Tarantula.

I did not want to keep the spider in captivity. I thought that it was such a peaceful and beautiful specimen that it should live on to produce others like it. It's amazing to think that a tarantula has to live almost ten years before it is sexually mature enough to reproduce. Another unbelievable statistic is that the tarantula can live up to 25 years! I have also read some reports that they can live up to 40 years in captivity. Deciding to have a tarantula for a pet would certainly carry the weight of a long term responsibility.



If you look closely at the above picture you can see the tarantula's four eyes. You can click on the picture to see a larger image.



This spider was very, very large.



It is still amazing how this spider didn't seem to mind our "manipulations".



It allowed us to lift its legs and nearly turn it completely over.





Just so that we could see its fangs! Is that cool or what?!

There are a lot of people who kill these spiders. But they aren't venomous, and tarantulas are really good to have around because they hunt and eat big bugs like grasshoppers.


So... this is another one of our latest and greatest finds in our backyard here in the Texas Hill Country.

BUT...

You ain't seen nothin' yet! Wait 'til I post pictures of our latest backyard discovery!

later...


My daughter has changed one of this tarantula's photographs into an artistic design that has been placed on t-shirts and bags. You can find the items here.

And if you decide to buy something, well, we thank you in advance!!



Texas Brown Tarantula Fact Sheet


The Basics of Having a Pet Tarantula


University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Aphonopelma chalcodes