November

And so starts the off-season. The worst part of the year for nature viewing and living in general. Still, we do try to get a walk in whenever we're dumb enough to think we might see something. Like on November 2nd. It was a cold Sunday but the sun was supposed to come out. It did, but it remained behind clouds most of the time we were poking around our local dens.

Luckily, Redbacks are a hardy species so we were able to see one!

We went back on the following Saturday in the early afternoon. It was a dark and dismal morning but the sun came out after noon so we headed over, intent on getting a walk in if nothing else. Flips produced no salamanders and the Valley, Back-Valley and Robles' Dens all gave us nothing. Still, it was a nice day overall. Then, in between the path to Robles and Sly's den area, there was a Garter laying next to the path.

We'd seen some in the Spring in this area but never really considered it a den site. That all changed when this skinny guy just disappeared into the ground. About 15 feet away, there was another that appeared to be half in, half out, but I found the cute noggin which was hidden by a piece of wood.

Not bad. It wasn't really warm but in the sun, things were good enough. Note in those photos... they're keeping their bellies in the sun!

We checked a few more spots before the Cottonwoods dens but saw nothing. But Andrea spied this skinny mini at the Cottonwoods!

Cute overload!

We saw nothing at the Rock Wall Den so we headed back and decided to see if any frogs were up near Joe's Bridge. There were none, but we stayed there looking at the water. Then, she came...

An old bag (probably my age) came up and asked what we were looking for and we said frogs. Somehow, that triggered her snake hatred and she became very dramatic and said "as long as it's not snakes... ewww" and she shuddered. I told her that we'd been lucky and had seen three. Her drama became even louder as I explained that they were all off path (except one! shhh!) but she kept shuddering so I told her to calm down, everything here is harmless. But the drama had to go on so I said "it's all part of nature's creation" and she had to admit that yes, everything has a place. But then she had to go and say "but what about Adam and Eve? The serpent is a devil!" at which point it was no longer even a discussion based in reality. I told her "but that's just a fairy tale" as she walked off, saying it was real.

Some people actually think the Adam and Eve story really happened? I wouldn't have thought it possible, but there you go. What a twat. I should have asked her opinion on dinosaurs. I realize that I no longer have any patience or tolerance for any animal hatred anymore.

Hey... it's now November 30th and we haven't been out since the 8th. It has been shitty and/ or busy. Fuck you, November!