D. August Baertlein - Writer & Ruminator
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Black Cows and a Calico

9/26/2019

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Bovine—velvet, black as night
Saunter past in broad daylight,
Slurping water meant for birds,
Leaving big, soft, squishy turds.
 
The calico, she stares wide-eyed
At that gorgeous velvet hide.
(She's colored brown and muckle dun.
Thinks velvet black would be such fun.)
 
But now the cows are moving on,
Behemoths browsing on my lawn
Of scrub oak regrowth freshly cut,
That has already run amok.
 
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It's been a busy week, so I went domestic. Luckily for me, the neighborhood cows have been hanging around lately, drawn either by the birdbath or tender new growth from recent brush clearance.
 
The barf-colored cat, as my husband calls her, sometimes stands spellbound from the safety of her window seat.


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The Mighty Mule Deer

9/18/2019

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     Okay, so this young buck actually looks pretty scrawny. He's trying, though. See that spindly pair of uneven, velvet antlers he's sprouting? Almost as big as the mule-ears!  Unfortunately, time's just about up for a Mule Deer  to finish growing his rack according to American Expedition.  Maybe next year will be better for the little guy.

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     He's the least shy of a few who have taken an interest in the new growth springing from this year's brush clearance. Yes, that knee-high scrub oak he's nibbling was cut to the ground only a few weeks ago. Ranch maintenance is never done! 
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​     We're very grateful for the deer and cows that stop by. And a little amazed! Even the youngest oak growth is prickly and looks awfully unappetizing from a human perspective. I'm sure these browsers would love an orderly vegetable garden. But I'm not quite that grateful.

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     When water is scarce the birdbath attracts more than birds. The neighbors tell me a stock tank (AKA pond) is even better. I'll put that on my husband's To-Do list.
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The Frenetic Hummingbird

9/12/2019

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     Here you will find the best hummingbird pictures I've managed to get over the last few weeks, culled from literally hundreds. Some are even not too bad, if I do say so myself.

     It's tough! Even when the light seems perfect, and my 125X camera is set on sports mode. The little buggers are fast! Especially when they're in defense mode, protecting a food source from other hummers.
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     Around here, at least now, in late August and early September, I have mostly (if not entirely) what I think are Rufus Hummingbirds. The Audubon map indicates that here in Arizona they are common during migration. I'm guessing this is their fall travel time as it's been very fall-like for the last few days.
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​Native American Headdress

    
I love the fantastic orange-and-black-accented tailfeathers on these guys—like they're wearing Native American headdresses on their butts. If I'm not mistaken, they spread those tailfeathers widest while screeching threats at each other. But maybe it's just part of their quick stops into  stationary hovers. After all, they're pretty much always screeching threats at each other.

     Beauty of Birds notes that Rufus and Ruby-Throated are the most common hummingbirds across the U.S., and describes some fascinating things they do, some of which I've been lucky enough to witness.

     For example, back in Lake Hughes hummers indeed drank sap from holes in a tree trunk. (Apparently, some other sapsucker makes those holes, and the hummers later take advantage.) Everyone thought I was just making stuff up! But there it is. On the internet. So, it must be true!
 
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​      Are Hummingbird Feeders OK?

     I'm always leery of feeding wild animals, worried I might be giving them the wrong thing, making them less healthy, or keeping them from doing what they should. (Like maybe migrating south for the winter.)

     So, it's wonderful to know that Audubon approves. Of course, flowers are better if you can keep the garden blooming. In my yard, when they can, hummers enjoy Orange Trumpet Flowers and Mimosa fluffs (photos above), Red Yucca and Salvia, among other things. But with our current drought, they can often use a little extra boost from a feeder.
 
I try to judge how much they'll drink so that the feeder runs out within three or four days without wastage. And I clean them well before refilling; sugar water can turn to icky slime before you know it, and that can't be good for a bird.
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Hummingbird Sugar Water
                  
(Approved by Audubon)


Materials:
• 1/4 cup refined white sugar

[Audubon Editor's note: Please do use refined white sugar. Honey can promote dangerous fungal growth. Organic, natural, and raw sugars contain levels of iron that could be harmful. Plain white table sugar is sucrose, which, when mixed with water, very closely mimics the chemical composition of natural nectar.]

• 1 cup boiling water
• Bowl
• Spoon
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Note: There's no need for red dye here. Red coloring is not necessary and the chemicals could prove to be harmful to the birds. 
 
Steps:
1. Mix sugar and boiling water until sugar is dissolved. 
2. Cool and fill feeder.
3. Hang up your feeder outside and wait for the hummingbirds to come.
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                                   Enjoy!!!!

   And if you get a chance, let me know in the comments what you see at your feeder or flowers.
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The Nerve-Wracking Rattlesnake

9/4/2019

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    This large lovely was nosing around a trap we keep where we park the cars, probably catching scent of a recently demised pack rat. (We'd leave the pack rats be if they'd leave car wiring off their menu, but that's another story.)

     We happened to be outside one evening in mid July, when this snake sprung the trap and launched into his distinctive and unhappy rattle. The dog scampered away, tail tucked. She knows! The husband went for the snake grabber, and I stood gasping and sputtering as I tend to do when a rattlesnake rears its beautiful head.

     Yes, beautiful. Even in my fright, I find snakes to be amazing and graceful creatures. I had a gopher snake (bull snake) as a friend for many years. This place has been a reptile haven for more than a hundred million years before any human showed up, and they have at least as much right to be here as we do. Plus, who knows how many pack rats this guy ate to get so big. He's undoubtedly helping us out.

     I figured he was a gonner, though, his head snapped in the trap that way. We might have to put him out of his misery. But he kept rattling robustly, signaling loud and clear that he had no intention of dying.

     Okay then.

     I pinched his neck-ish region firmly but gently with my LONG snake grabber, while my husband used long-handled pliers to pry open the trap. Once the snake was free of the trap, I placed him into a 32-gallon trash can and bungee-corded it shut. We loaded it in the back of the truck, drove him out into the boonies and set him free. 

​     The next evening, driving past that spot, we saw him lying (very alive!) stretched across the road. We stopped and shooed him off, explaining that this wasn't a safe place to sun. I'm sure he understood! At least we never saw him there again.

Correction: We saw him on that same stretch of road again on Saturday, 9/8/2019. At least it sure looked like the same guy. It makes you wonder just how big their territories really are. I hope he's finding his new home satisfactory.

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​     This little guy startled me on a on an early September walk a couple of days ago. Pardon the low definition photo, but all I had was my cell phone and no desire to get closer. He looked very angry. I think it's the same species we'd accidentally trapped a month and a half before.

     You may be wondering what species. Yeah, me too. Rattlesnakes and raptors give me fits when it comes to exact identification, but I'm going with  Arizona Black Rattlesnake or Crotalus Cerberus based on photos and DNA analysis listed by The Firefly Forest. (I'm a sucker for DNA analysis.) Also, here's a video of the spring emergence of Arizona Black Rattlesnakes, some of which look a lot like mine.

     After hours of searching and finally deciding, I found the Tucson Herpetological Society. They show a great variety for the Arizona Black Rattlesnake, only one of which looks like mine. Given all the confusion out there, I'm betting only the snakes know for sure.

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​     This young fellow (notice the tiny bud of a rattle indicating he's probably been around only long enough to shed his skin once) crossed our path in September of 2017. I believe he is a Rock Rattlesnake (Crotalus Lepidus), based on information from the Tucson Herpetological Society.

     Then again, he looks a lot like the juvenile Arizona Black on THS's Arizona Black page.

     I give! Just watch where you step. And if anybody has any better guesses, please do let me know.
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    Author

    I made a career of writing software by day while scribbling stories by night, a combo made even odder by the fact that I started my adult life as a marine biologist/geneticist. 

    I got my Ph.D. ever so long ago, but I still love science, especially the biological variety. Now I write SciFi and Fantasy that's full of it.  Science, I mean.


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