One thing about living in the desert is there is no shortage of creepy crawlies, especially when the weather begins to warm. Last year we battled with grasshoppers and crickets taking over the backyard. My husband, watching them frollick in the grass, commented that it looked like one of the ten plagues had hit our backyard.
It does seems that our backyard, with shrubbery and a small plot of grass, is an oasis for many critters. Last year we were treated to grasshoppers. crickets, caterpillars, and preying manti in addition to a desert hairy scorpion, several sun spiders, a garter snake, and a gopher snake. I believe the latter was after the ground squirrels and rabbits.
In our area I have also seen a few coyotes, but I've never seen one in our yard (I'm hoping the fence will keep them out, but I'm sure they could get in if they were determined enough!).
This year the critters are back in full force! The kids have caught crickets and grasshoppers aplenty. We've seen a couple small sun spiders (if you have never seen them, they are especially terrifying all grown-up). And a couple weeks ago we were treated to this little beauty:
A nice size gopher snake (I'll be honest and tell you I'm terrified of the possibility of one day being greeted by a rattle snake instead). My husband called our friendly snake expert, Justin, for advice. He said, "Pick it up!" My husband tried, for my son's sake, but he is no snake wrangler. The gopher snake kept curling toward Mark's hand and he eventually gave up. So for now my son will have to be happy enough chasing the small lizards after those yummy grasshoppers.
1 comment:
eeewwwwww! I'm sure glad that lot sold acrossed the street! No thank you! I can't believe Mark tried to catch it. I get the chills just knowing you have that picture on your blog. Yucky
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