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Owl in Palobrea tree

Owl in Palobrea tree
Owl in Palobrea tree. We’ve been very fortunate that an owl has begun to take up periodic residence in one of trees in our front yard. #owl #bird #animals #wildlife #phoenix #arizona #palobrea #as6q1ul46si9

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Weed Eaters!

Weed Eating Sheep #1
Weed Eating Sheep #2
Weed Eating Sheep #3
Weed Eaters! This year we’ve been doing something different for weed control in the back yard. These are hair sheep, a mix of American Blackbelly and Katahdin. They don’t produce wool, but love to graze on weeds, particularly the toxic Stinknet (Globe Chamomile, or Oncosiphon Pilulifer) that has invaded the valley in recent years. They do the weed eating and I only have to manage the fence. Best weed season ever!

#sheep #weedeating #animals #weedkilling #as6q1ul46si9

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Lizard outside of Starbops near LA


Lizard outside of Starbops near LA. My wife and I made an impromptu overnight trip from Phoenix to a beach near LA. Found this ancestor hanging out in the parking lot at a Starbops we paused at during our return. #animal #lizard #starbop #trip #as6q1ul46si9

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Wet Spider


Wet Spider. This is from a while ago. While spray-washing the back porch, I noticed this little one using the hose as a highroad to escape the wet concrete floor. #animal #insect #spider #wet #tweet #aliensplicer

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Morning “American Style” coffee

Morning "American Style" coffee

Morning “American Style” coffee. This is from a trip to Grenoble, France several years ago, at a small coffee shop while waiting for the train. Basically, it’s a double Americano Espresso with extra hot water added.

#coffee #coffeeshop #grenoble #france #aliensplicer

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Is it a worm? No, it’s a tiny snake!

String Snake
A western Threadsnake. And, yes, that’s it’s fully grown size.

The tiny guy was found slithering on the tile in our hallway, but not getting anywhere fast. Threadsnakes usually live underground — this one must have squeezed it’s way through a crack in the floor and tile grout to find his way inside, so was likely very lost. After getting him to pose for a few pictures, he was gently released outside where he could find his way back underground.

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Small Snake Relocated from the Garage


This little one was found huddling against the inside of the garage door last night. We tried to convince them to go out on their own, but they were having none of it.

I guess I don’t blame them, the nights have been getting rather cool lately and I’m sure the garage was much warmer than it was outside. But it’s not safe for them to stay in there, so we resorted to carefully picking them up and relocating them elsewhere.

This photo is of Angela gently carrying them across the yard. A lot easier said than done as they were in constant motion the entire time.

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Spiny Lizard in our Wandering Jew

Spiny Lizard in our Wandering Jew

Went out onto the back porch to water the plants tonight and found this guy hanging out in the pot of Wandering Jew.  He may not look it here, but he is not small.  His body, tip of his nose to his hind legs, is about as long as my hand, finger tips to wrist.  Even so, I didn’t see him until I started putting water into the pot.  I’m not sure he appreciated the bath.

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Granddady Mantis in our Front Yard

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As mantis’ around here go, this guy was huge!  He was about four inches long.  Even so, it was difficult to get a good picture of him because he kept swiveling his head around to keep an eye on me and was lightly swaying in a non-existent breeze.