An opossum
This is an adult male western fence lizard. He was very tame and much bigger than the last one we saw. He was missing an eye.
These guys are also known as blue-bellies. Can you guess why?
Yes this is real scorpion and yes these pictures were taken on the ranch. And no this is not a six inch killer. It was only about an inch and a half long. The sting is less powerful than a bee sting.
Frisbee and Grandma's dog Adhara
This guy was probably older and was at least twice as big as the alligator lizard we found before.
The tail of a skink. Intentionally detaching its tail is a common skink defense technique. it destracts the predator. The tail was thrashing around in dad's hand.
For those of my readers who didn't know, I don't live on Maggie yet. I live with my Grandma Janet in Cottage Grove. Things are cramped with too many dogs and too many humans in one little house making a mess and sometimes we get into some nasty snits. We will have eventually renovated the house on the farm, although the move in date has been postponed until late May. (Hopefully this is the last postponement. )
Ed Cooley (the guy who ranches the cattle on Maggie) found a rubber boa on his land near Elkton and brought it to the ranch to show off. The rubber boa is one of the few boa constrictors native to North America. They're docile and make great pets, but their numbers have declined in recent years. Cause unknown.
Prune blossoms
