Thursday, July 14, 2011

Our daily critters...


When describing to folks the various creatures that live in my yard,
the question invariably comes up, "You live in the city?" Yes, indeed.
This morning for example I came across our opossum friend, who we
usually see on the fence every night, but for some strange reason he, or she was out and about in the morning light, browsing among my orchids.


There are lots of Western Lizards living in the garden and I often find them in the aviary
looking for eggs. Don't worry.. I catch them and release them back into the garden.
One day I was hosing fallen debris off the blue spruce leaves and one clump of leaves just
wouldn't budge. It was then that I realized that it was not a clump of leaves but a lizard that had been
sunning himself up in the tree and he'd been hanging on for dear life while he was blasted with water. Sorry about that fella! 


Every night, especially in the summer, the Raccoon family comes to visit. They play in the pond looking for the frogger that lives there, and we've even seen them indulging themselves by
swimming in the spa. This youngster was having a grand time away from his parents and climbed up on the fence and was peeping in the living room!


California being a desert climate, you'll find Black Widow spiders in abundance.
I happened to spot this one not far (but outside) the sliding glass door. Boogery!


This is a young grasshopper. The last couple of years the grasshoppers have had a field day
in the garden and in particular, are enjoying my roses.... silly monkeys!


I'll close with the Trumpet Vine or Bower Vine.
This plant was a gift from my Grandma. It was merely a bare twig 4 inches high when it arrived in the mail 20yrs ago, and now it's a vibrant plant that climbs the pine tree and graces the garden with brilliant color every year as a beautiful reminder of her.
The Humming Birds in particular love this flower.

Hope you enjoyed the tour of our menagerie!

7 comments:

Elizabeth McCrindle said...

I did indeed enjoy the tour Deb...except possibly the spider so glad it was on the other side of the glass :)

Leah said...

Great pictures! Love the spider one...

Leah said...

Love the pictures! The spider one is great!

Leah said...

Oh my! Was I just able to leave a comment? I try every time a new post is up...but usually I can't leave any. Strange...

Gina said...

INCREDIBLE pix! You do have quite the nature menagerie in your yard... so fun!! -G

Judi said...

My daughter and I were coming home late at night a couple days ago, and she says, "Hey, look, there's a tubby fuzzy gray cat over there in the court yard!" I look and see it walking away and say, "Um, I believe that would be a 'Possum." Ha ha. Needless to say we laughed and I told her not to bring home any stray cats. :-)

Jennifer MacNeill said...

Okay, that spider freaked me out! Yikes! I don't mind 'em but the poisonous ones, scary. Love the opossum shot, that's one critter I have yet to see in my yard but I'm sure they pass by at night.