lizards. bones. and a parting moon shot.

after last weekend's FREEZE,

some critters (especially the cold-blooded ones) are thinking really hard
before they step out of their warm & safe hidey-holes.

the days have been steadily warming to the low to mid 70's (F)...

and i have spotted a few lizards lingering...soaking up the warmth...

just in case we get hit with another sudden cold spell.

they are all i've seen.  well other than a few birds and a couple of butterflies...

but this post is for the lizards.

on the front porch hand rail

on fence by the back porch

Florida's Museum of Natural History's Herpetology Dep't lists SIXTY-THREE
species of lizard in Florida.
of that 63...only TWENTY are native to florida.

a juvenile anole on the north side of the house (broom leaning)

this guy must have just changed from green to brown...

note the green around his eyes.

front porch roof

these next few shots are of a lizard on the south side of the house...

stepping out of his skin!

shedding.

he's giving me the eye.

"damn woman! can't i undress in private?!"

now he's starting to get a bit annoyed.

he would prefer to shed in peace.

solitude.

"go away. will ya'"

he tries to scare me away by displaying his dewlap

(a brightly colored flap of skin under the neck).

ok.  i go.

about this next lizard...

does anyone know how to play taps?

the lizard lament.

discovered inside an old grill

oOo

that dead lizard is my cue to move on to BoNES.

owl pellet bones.

courtesy of the Barred Owl who frequents our yard.

taken  31 Jan 2011 at 4:30pm

remember

the owl pellets i found recently?

does that jog your memory?

here are the bones after i dissected them with an x-acto knife & tweezers.

and here they are after soaking...rinsing...straining.

then repeating.

the TINIEST bOnes. 

long leg bones, scapulae, rib bones, teeth...mostly from the little mole that lives underground.

so small...the bones are coughed up in an UNDER 1.5 inch pellet...mixed with fur!

~i love bones~

oOo

""Well," said Pooh, "what I like best -- " 

and then he had to stop and think. 

Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, 

there was a moment just before you began to eat it 

which was better than when you were, 

but he didn't know what it was called." 

~Winnie the Pooh

oOo

moon shots from the morning of Feb 16th, 2012.

a little grainy...but still pretty cool i think...CRATERS!
(for inquiring minds: my camera is nothing fancy. a Canon Powershot SX120)

oOo

"Let nature take you on its journey."

~Jamake Highwater 

stay cool & be safe.
laura

NOTE ON WORD VERIFICATION
maybe you've noticed the DOUBLE words...
all scrambled...with shading and lines running through them.
yikes!
it makes commenting really difficult.
if you use them...maybe try doing without.
i haven't had word verification for over a year and only ONCE or twice
have i had to delete a 'spammy' comment.
with this new double word format, it's very frustrating.
annoying.
time consuming.
you might even notice less comments on your blog.

anyway...please consider it.  :)