Wildlife & Related

[Hummer]

We've had 1 & 2 coyotes (and fox) in the yard through Jan and Feb. Last night, this one moved through at 9:18 pm, 2:22 am, and 3:38 am. Neighborhood dog. At one point in the videos, it was jumping at voles under the snow.

This is a still taken from video. The coyote is illuminated front and back because another cam caught it from the opposite side.

Btw, the Browning Dark Ops Extreme trail camera has invisible "night vision" infrared LED illumination up to 80 ft. The flash can't be seen but a tiny red glow comes on at the camera and sometimes birds and mammals notice it. Hummingbirds, woodpeckers and chickadees will sometimes hover in front of it.

Fun to watch.


P.S.: @ sbgixxer, we're at 8500 ft. elevation.

[arbol]

This is what makes it okay for me to walk in the dark.

They are out there, but most of them don't want to eat me.

-John

[Hummer]

[arbol]

OK, so that one wants to eat me. :O

-John

[ChickNorris]

Cherry Creek drive & Holly Street in Denver.

[ChickNorris]

Exotic mantis roaming wild on the patio in Tucson! Bit far from home. Wonder how he got here?

Empusa Pennata

[Hummer]

Exotic mantis roaming wild on the patio in Tucson! Bit far from home. Wonder how he got here?

Empusa Pennata


(Edit - maybe should've put this in wildlife photos)

Crazy weird critters. Once in a while I find them on my hummingbird feeders waiting for a catch.

[Hummer]

When I lived in Patagonia AZ, I saw coatis fairly often. This is part of a group of 27 coati I saw on the continental divide in Costa Rica. Very raccoon like in their habits.

[Doc45]

One of the first things I learned when we moved to Tucson in 1968 was always shake your shoes out before putting them on because of the scorpions! My late father was a docent at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum and I spent a lot of time there as a kid watching all the "strange" desert animals I'd never seen before for hours lol. Last time I was in Tucson was 2009, need to make a trip back.

[Bailey Guns]

Found both these guys on Wed after mowing the grass (which had grown quite tall because of the rain).

First is an Eastern Yellow Bellied Racer. He was aptly named and lightning fast. Harmless and non-venomous. This one was actually quite long...about 3 feet...and very thin.

Second is an Eastern Hognose (aka Spreading Adder). Venomous, but it's very mild causing only local irritation and maybe mild inflammation around the bite site, and they (the snake experts at OSU) say they almost never bite humans. They go thru an elaborate process of pretending to be hurt or even dead when they feel threatened. This little guy opened his mouth really wide and rolled over on his back trying hard to play possum on me. He's trying to do his best cobra impression, I think, to convince me he's dangerous.