Monday, July 25, 2011

an unexpected backyard visitor (and moon, snakes, fox!)



on a clear early morning last week...
the mystical magic moon.

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i've been hoping to spot a snake!

it's been a while. the last one i saw was a young 'yellow rat'
in the roof of the front porch.

no, it's not christmas in july...
these  lights stay up year round...
i like the soft...relaxing...ambient feel...

over the weekend...i was wandering out back...and heard the owls.
 it sounded like they were in the front, so i started that way.
 but before i made it...i saw a long & slender 'black racer
heading for cover under the azaleas.


he slid along and then climbed into this old bucket/planter by the front steps.

and then he scooted out of there through the rusted hole...
continued his way to the next garden...and went under the house.
they usually dine on lizards, frogs, mice, rats and even small snakes.
they're FAST, agile and excellent swimmers & climbers!
by that time i forgot about the owls.  one track mind...

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later that same day. saturday. 
sam was looking out the back sliding glass door.
"Laura! Hurry!! grab the camera!  Quick! Come see!!"


can you see it? between the trees. a COYOTE!!
we've seen one only once before...
but i couldn't get the camera fast enough.
THIS TIME...she stopped...stared...pee'd...
and then went back into the woods!
so these pic's were taken through the glass door...
in a hurry!

it's not unusual for them to be out during the day...
but it is a little unusual to spot one of these elusive animals!

hmmm...we wondered if that's why we haven't seen the foxes lately...
they used to come around fairly often.  we haven't seen one in months!

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we're still getting rain.  not as much as a couple of weeks ago...
when it was raining every day, but enough is coming down
to keep the thirsty plants watered.

there are so many other states...other places in the world right now
...where people, crops, animals are suffering from drought
and extreme heat...dried up lakes and land.
i hope that some kind of relief comes your way soon.
my thoughts go out to you...
sending wishes for rain...lots of rain...and for a break in the heat wave!


starting off with the mystical magic morning moon...
it's only fitting to end with the sun going down.
looking west through the trees in the front yard...
toward the road and the field across the street where i find bones
and other treasures...



Life's a journey, not a destination.  
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

have a safe journey & enjoy the ride!
~laura~ 

((thanks very much...to each of you who stopped by my previous post...
especially to those who took the time to leave 
such healing, compassionate & supportive words...
you really have no idea how you uplifted me! 
thank you for understanding...relating...for being there!))

i have oodles of pictures i've been taking...
grasshoppers, butterflies, spider, MORE mushrooms...some thing to look forward to.
only 5 more days 'til the weekend...
4 more days if you live on the other side of the world...
have a happy week!



20 comments:

  1. thanks for sharing all your sights. and a BIG thank you for prayers for rain... there are place/parts much worse off than we are in NE Tx and yet i so selfishly hope we get some relief.

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  2. Wonderful, wonderful post as always, Laura! I'm not a fan of snakes at all. I think I'd be very unhappy knowing one was living beneath my house! I'm sure there must be snakes in my garden, on occasion, but I've never seen one, although I do sometimes wonder about them.

    Obviously, where you live, it's very much more forested and you have a lot more space. I loved the moon picture and your sunsets are absolutely glorious. How exciting to have spotted your coyote visitor!

    Love your home lit up so softly at night! It looks so enticing :)

    Big hug,
    Des xoxo

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  3. Wonderful post! Boy, that black racer sure is a beauty! I'll never be a total snake lover (owner) but as I have gotten older, I've grown a great appreciation for them. Due to loss of habitat, I've lost my resident [and gorgeous] checkered garter snakes.
    Well, and you know from my blog I consider the coyote quite an auspicious visitor. Doesn't surprise me at all she showed up on the same day you were remembering your sister!!!
    p.s. I keep twinkle lights up all year round too!
    m.xx

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  4. gorgeous pictures and commentary~haven't been on blogger for a while.
    I hope that all is well~

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  5. coyotes
    snakes
    fox
    oh my gosh!
    so fun to see what you get to see

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  6. Your mystical magic moon is really cool, and I love the lights on your house. How exciting to see a coyote! Good thing you took what you could thru the door, those opportunities are far and few between for most of us. But I really think they admire you-they know you shine!

    Your story is eloquently written...and hey, thanks for sending rain (if you only could)!

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  7. Lovely!
    A stunningly structured post, from the moon through faerie lights to those gorgeous sundown shots! I found myself sighing with satisfied pleasure as I read to the end.

    xo

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  8. Beautiful moon photo. I like the snake photos, too, especially the one with its mouth wide open--cute.

    We get some urban coyotes here and some foxes, too. I've had friends who lost cats to coyotes. Recently saw a beautiful red fox over on the community college campus.

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  9. Wow I got excited there too ..........do coyotes kill the foxes ?......great post .....xx

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  10. Wow, you have lots of wildlife around your yard and house. I love the shot of the coyote looking back at you. Great pose. The snakes are neat and I guess it is good if they keep the mice in check. I hope you see the owls. Great post and photos and I hope you have a great week.

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  11. not a big fan of snakes, so zipped past the first few photos...

    the coyote looks stunning
    do they prey on foxes?

    we have some very troublesome red foxes here at the moment, perhaps we need to ship in a coyote :)

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  12. Snakes and canids --- what a haul! Is that rat snake doing a threat display or is it smiling for the camera?

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  13. Another vacation moment for me with your beautiful shots, thanks! As for snakes, our yard usually sees a garter snake, not very often, but with my two outdoor cats, and their kibbles as even google calls it there are racoons that actually come up and eat out of their bowl, not really a fan of that, and we have the old grounds keeper that has made quite the mess of my yard and made it nearly impossible to mow the far corners of our property, but he's been here longer than us (could have raised a family as well) I had one neighbor a bit upset with me that I haven't had him taken care of yet) hey we have five acres he can stay for now... I can't really part with him.....and then we have the long nosed opossum that also loves the kitty food! That's about it for my yard.....when the little ones want see and pet snakes and learn about them we have the rapture center that really teaches about life and death ....and how frail life can be for all those critters!

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  14. So many beautiful photos. Fox, snakes and others. Thanks for the walk in your wood. Have a great summer to you.
    From Hilda

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  15. Beautiful pictures and an great inspiring post! Your comment about water drought kinda hit home, though not with me in particular. My cousin in in Oklahoma, and the water district they are in has been having problems with the water facility plant. For a while now the water they are getting is BAD! For the past 2 weeks stored water from the towers have been used. They can not water their gardens or lawns. They were told that if the district could not figure out the problem, they were going to have to stop watering livestock!! They don't have clean water for the people to drink or take showers in.
    Anyway, thanks for a great read and gander at the pictures! A coyote?!?! awesome!

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  16. Wow! That coyote was invisible, what great camo she had on!

    The yellow rat snake looks like he's screaming at you. That's what I would look like if I saw him above my head!!

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  17. thanks everyone for stopping by...if anyone asked a question...well...you'll know by now, i emailed you back!
    OH, the yellow rat snake was just stretching his jaws!!
    sam was a little leery about letting milo outside after seeing the coyote so close...but i reminded him...if we hadn't seen her...she'd be there anyway...
    karen, there sure are a lot of night time critters that love to dine on cat food!!

    and one last word...meggs/calling ravens had it RIGHT...when i saw the coyote...ON my sister's bday...that's exactly what went through my mind...a message from sally!

    thanks ALL! :)

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  18. Great snake sightings. I just love the ceiling lights' snake!

    Amazing shots of the coyote Laura... isn't it exciting to hear that yell "grab your camera"!!!

    Not forgetting those gorgeous moon shots too - always lovely.

    Happy days :D)

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  19. Now you know I'll pass on the snakes, but the Coyote and the Fox are absolute GEMS!!!! Good to be back, think we found "the place" but I don't want to jinx it!!...:)JP

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  20. YUP, we have coyotes too, as they're found most everywhere these days. In our neighborhood, it's the feral cats that go missing... Re: the missing foxes, you know they "ain't dumb" - after all, you did say the coyote peed!

    Here in WA, summer is sort of just wandering in about now - would LOVE to share our over-abundance of water with other areas that need it, but it doesn't seem to work that way. My heart goes out also to those in need of it - especially all those stricken so severely in Africa.

    It's nice to be back & visit your site - INSPIRING, as usual! THANKS for just being who you are, Laura!

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thanks for stopping by! it's always nice to hear from fellow wanderers!