Wylette et al

Hello all, As you noticed, I had to change that wily coyote's name to Willette, and not I'm changing it to Wylette so you can know the correct pronunciation.  Well, no sooner did I have my last post finished when Wylette was out there again.  I'm sure it was her!  She was checking out my newly enlarged labyrinth.  She was standing in it, then laid down in it and was kind of rolling around in it, stood up and looked around, then walked over to the side in plain view of my "window on the world". It was amazing!

 

A few days later I saw another coyote as I turned the corner of our road in our development, or "undevelopment" one would say, looking at the desert-scape. And a few days after that Ron said 3 coyotes crossed in front of him as he drove into the church driveway.  So I asked Bev, my friend who moved to West Hampton, to look up in her animal totem book what coyote means if you keep seeing them around.  Her report is that they are tricksters, and that I must need to "lighten up" in some way perhaps.  Well, since my last post I heard that those Wiley coyotes use a female in heat to attract a dog, and then leads it to the pack.  And then....dun, taduntun! Very tricky indeed.  And last week Jill, across HoneyBee Canyon  from us, looked out her dining room window and saw a coyote.  OK, I'm getting lighter by the minute!  Ha, I wish! 

Last week I had red rock put in my labyrinth path and a cement bench installed.  I love it!!! I had to trim back 2 chollas that were dangerously close to my path. I only got stuck on my elbow and hand.  I swear, some of them really are "Jumping Chollas"!  they jump right onto you.  And later when it is all past freezing we'll move the bigger agave out of the entrance pathway, and move the fencepost cactus that is close to the bench.  That will be phase 6.

 

 

 

And as you can see, we were close to a freeze so I covered up the top of the columnar cacti for protection.  Now today it is 78 degrees.

Yesterday there was evidence of another (??) animal on my labyrinth -- scat in the pathway but no tracks on the outside of the labyrinth itself.  And just a while ago a big rabbit was laying outside the path but right up next to it just taking a rest.  So I guess my desert friends like the energy of the labyrinth as well. Actually, now there are 2 bunnies out there doing the mating dance. OMG!  I guess they really, really like it out there!

 On Friday night there were 13 of us out walking the labyrinth in the dark with flashlights.  A great christening!

 

 

 

And now, last but not least

 

 

 

 

a bit of our Christmas...   And Valentina's as well!!!  We're heading there soon!

WILEY Nov. 232, 2013

Tucson Wildlife Blog    Wiley    Nov. 23,2013

 You know it is Fall in Tucson when the Ocotillo leaves turn from green to light orange then yellow, and they lose their reddish-orange flower 'torches' at the tips of their stems.  This results in spiny brownish-gray tendrils that all come up from the center at the bottom, resembling “seaweed” on our desert floor.  When they are in this state, I am never quite sure if they are still alive – until next spring when they sprout their new green tiny leaves.  They are fascinating though, and there is one area southwest of Tucson on the way to Kartchner Caverns that is mostly all ocotillo cacti covering the hillside. It's quite a cool sight when they are in bloom.

                                          

It has been so long since I wrote, but I have to report about a big coyote who frequented our yard. By “yard” I mean natural desert and planted cactus next to our driveway.  One day I was out laying stone bricks for the borders of my labyrinth when I heard dogs barking rather alarmingly nearby.  I guessed that meant there was something threatening them… could be a mountain lion, though unlikely (hopefully!), javelinas, a bobcat, or coyotes.  Observing that warning I went inside.  About 5-10 minutes later outside my “Window on the World” came a big coyote walking up the driveway in front of me and turned up and was checking out my labyrinth, stopping, scratching and smelling the heart-shaped stone I have in the center.  Wow, I wonder what he would have done if I were still out there!  I wonder what I would have done! 

                          

                                  

                                                     

I named him Wiley after he walked up the driveway several more times in the next week.  And one day my friend Sly and I were out on a walk in our neighborhood.  She is new to Tucson, moving here last summer.  We were just going around sort-of-a-block when I noticed the big coyote walking alongside a house maybe 10 yards away from us.  She had never seen one since moving here and was excited.  Then in front of us a rabbit was hightailing it across the street, and in hot pursuit was Wiley.  They got to the corner of another house, and he stopped…the bunny got away.  Thank goodness!  Several days after my sightings of ole Wiley, Ron was on his way to work and saw two ladies out walking with a big dog… and that big coyote was following them!  He turned around and tried to ward off Wiley, and they just kept walking.  I inquired via email who the ladies were with the dog and followed by the coyote.  It turned out that they were not disturbed by the coyote, and in fact they said it was the latest “love interest of Jack”, her dog.  So now, I guess I have to call “him” Willette! ??  And now, no sightings of Willette in the last month.  I kind of miss her!

The other news is that today The Tour de Tucson is supposed to happen.  It is the biggest bicycle event for Tucson…111 miles, with 9,000 riders here to ride.  They also have an 85-mile ride, a 60-mile, 45-mile, and 5 & 10 -mile rides starting at later times along parts of the same route that surrounds Tucson.  This is HUGE!  Last year I went out to the street that passes our development and watched part of the race.  One guy stopped for a snack he had and told me this is his 3^rd ride of the Tour, and he travels here from Colorado for it.  He highly recommends riding, and said “It changed my life!” when he started riding.  Well, I do have a bike that Blaire won in a raffle about 10 years ago.  I am considering getting it tuned up.  I will have to start with going around the “block”, however.  The other part of the story is that we have had rain all day yesterday, all night, and it’s still raining.  This is the first time in 31years that it has rained on The Tour.  Rodney’s brother, Dennis, and wife Roberta came again to accompany him on the ride from Colorado Springs!  They are unfortunately not participating in it this year, as it is continuing to rain.  This means that many washes that cross the roads get flooded, and it is too dangerous to cross them, even in cars!  But… the good news is that we got to load up on carbs last night with them at Tavolino’s, just in case the rain stopped!  Homemade fennel-sausage, mmmm!  But I digress.  Maybe next year.

Next post soon.

 

     

 

More Bits on Bats, Amazing Sunset -- 8/18/13

More tidbits about bats... there are 20 species of bats in Arizona, but their habitats are becoming ruined.  Recreational cave mines delete their roosting places, and since there are not a lot of belfries for them, their numbers are decreasing.  We toured the cave pictured above, Kartchner Caverns southeast of Tucson in  the Benson area.  They have protected their "Big Room" because it is a roosting place for the bats.  Tours in that room are prohibited from April 15 to October 15, as it is the bat nursery.  It is a State Park, and they also have a campground for those interested. 
The Wild Bird Store's newsletter has a great picture of a bat feeding from a hummingbird feeder.  They can empty it in a night.  However, people are encouraged to allow them to feed as this helps to keep their population going. 

Other information you might want to know is that not all bats have rabies.  A few of them do, just like any other animal. They may be hanging low or on the ground; if you come into contact with them, don't touch them, they are probably sick.  You could call the Az. Game and Fish Dept. to get them. The healthy ones will just fly away.  Also note, even though when you are sitting outside when they are flying around, they may come closes to you because they're eating the bugs that are attracted to your body.  They will not run into you! There is a good book about bats in the Nat'l Parks Store if you want more info.

 Now, I must show you the beautiful sunset I took on Tuesday from our backyard...Totally Awesome!! See for yourself.

 

 

 

It's still overcast much of our days, and this plus the moisture in the air provides us some excellent thunder and lightning.  Friday night at Sly and Ira's we had the best sky show!  Their son Brett was filming and trying to get photos, so I hope to get some from him to  include.  It's a big WOW factor! 

 

 

Perseids Shower and the Desert Tortoise Aug.15, 2013

The fastest ... and the slowest here in our Tucson desert.
According to Tucson News Now: 

The year’s best shooting star show, Perseids meteor shower,  occurred last Sunday and Monday nights,  best seen after midnight. It is an annual event every year in August.  There are several others, in April and  November, but “The Perseids are the good ones,” says meteorite expert Bill Cooke of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.  Ron and I saw 2 on our way home from Valentinaland on Sunday evening. I saw more on Monday night.  Friends sat out in their yards and had a great show!!
The Perseids take their name from their apparent origin in the constellation Perseus, the hero of ancient Greek myth born from a shower of heavenly gold. Known for producing fireballs that might streak across a third of the sky, they owe their brilliance to the speed — nearly 134,000 mph — with which they smack into the upper atmosphere. “It’s also because of the size of the meteors,” Cooke says. The dust grains are about one-fifth of an inch across and burn nicely as they zip overhead.
Those dust grains come courtesy of Comet Swift-Tuttle, which circles the sun once every 133 years and leaves behind a debris trail. (Comets are basically dirty snowballs that develop tails when they approach the sun and start to melt.)  Picture of meteor shower below:

 

Now the story on the slowest...  The Desert Tortoise, (Gopherus agassiii).
First Jill saw it next to the road in our development, HoneyBee Ridge.  After picking me up we wanted to get a picture of it -- of course!  It had already traveled away from view.  A half hour later Ron was driving home and saw a turtle next to the road just outside our development.  He stopped and got a picture of it while assessing if it was safe enough to leave there or if he should move it. There was no traffic so he left it.  It's a good thing, because you are not supposed to pick them up.  They empty their bladder if they are picked up, which causes medical problems for them.  The desert tortoise population has declined due to urbanization, and they are fully protected in Arizona.  The good news is that you can adopt one of them from the Desert Adoption Program. You can never "own" one, but you may provide custody of one -- if you pass the requirements! If you see one you are supposed to notify the Arizona Game and Fish Dept. so they can assess, protect, and monitor their whereabouts.  Ron, being a good Samaritan, of course notified them after learning about this.  Here it is!!!
                      

 

Tucson Wild Life Blog   Oh, Bats!!   8/13/13

 

 

This is from our good neighbors across HoneyBee Canyon:

“Hi Peej, Jill discovered this little critter last night in our yard. The light shining on him and his handiwork made it beautiful. It was shimmering in the very light breeze.

 

Best, Rodney”

 

                                        

Speaking of spiders…there was a black widow in our mailbox yesterday.  By today it had webbed all over inside and had already captured another small spider. The black widow webs are white and spun in a "crazy fashion" I was told.   I had to clear it all out (with my pink Japanese fly swatter from Catherine…it has it’s own little fly dustpan attached.  Very cute!) so we could get mail, and so as not to bite our mailperson!

The other recent wildlife around here are BATS. Of course they usually are seen flying around at night.  We see them under the streetlights, but since there are no street lights in our neighborhoods, we don’t see them much at our home. However, last night at sunset there were 3 of them --bigger ones with a unique call flying over us. They looked like birds.  One of them took a flyover and quick drink from our pool.  As I readied my camera they all flew off. Our other good friends, Jon and Catherine, had small bats drinking from their hummingbird feeder and had to bring it in at night or it would be emptied.
Last month however, there were thousands of  small ones that flew out from under a Tucson bridge, covering the sky.  The story was on our news.   

Bat Bridge Discovery

Please read on…story from KVOA TV  page down to read story..

keep going....

now you see it!

Every Thursday evening at dusk, in June, July, and August, docents from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum are stationed at two "Bat Bridges" in town: River/Campbell and at Pantano River Park (located at Pantano/22nd). Every night at this time of year, huge clouds of Mexican free-tailed bats swirl out from under Tucson bridges at sunset and fly into the twilight sky. The bats start flying at sunset (about 7:30 p.m.) and usually fly north. This is a great opportunity for the entire family to enjoy beautiful sunsets and appreciate firsthand this awesome spectacle. Docents will have bat detectors and hands-on materials and will be available to answer questions. We recommend arriving 40 minutes prior to dusk.

KVOA.com

   

   

Bobcat 7/24/13

Hello all, I wanted to share some photos of the Boulders bobcat who delivered  kittens in the backyard fireplace of Bill and Susan's neighbor in Scottsdale.  I understand they "basically gave her the run of the yard". When they were old enough, the mom carried them over the fence out to the golfing world and surrounding desert.  Looks harmless enough...and beautiful!

While we are on the subject of bobcats, I received some photos of one who was chased by a mountain lion and ran right up to the top of a saguaro where it waited until it was safe to come down. 

TUCSON WILDLIFE BLOG – Snake Watch, Toads and Tarantulas…7/22/13

Since it is cooler in the morning many people choose to do their exercising very early in the day.  The News station reported several weeks ago that because it is cooler then, the snakes are also out taking advantage of that more suitable time of day to be out.  I have been looking for them but have not seen any!  In some ways I feel fortunate as they have a perfect resort in our front yard where they could hang out.  So Saturday morning on our way to the Farmer’s Market, Susan V. and I first noticed a small garter snake almost finished crossing the street.  Up the road a bit further there was a diamondback something or other on the side of the road, and not a baseball player!  After snapping a photo we decided it was, in fact, dead as a doornail. We just about got creamed by a pickup behind us who did not expect us to stop and ogle a (dead) snake…and this was in our development with 20 miles an hour speed limit.

He should know to watch for animals of all sorts!  I usually have to stop for the father quail to spur the young ones across the road, following the rest of the brood who sped across following the mom. 

The Monsoons also bring out the Desert Frogs, who venture out from their underground homes.  It is so strange to see frogs here.  Last week we had one in our pool, and so did Jon.  He took a great picture of it. This guy was 5-6inches big just in the body alone. 

These desert frogs are poisonous if dogs lick them, like Benni who was barking at it.  Who would’ve thought to look for frogs!

 

And then we have 3 tarantulas in the past 5 days…all outside.  Thank goodness! You saw the pic of one of them last blog.  One was on our front door threshold, one2 days later on our back door threshold, and the last one was in front of Jill and Rodney’s garage door.  They are very fond of entrances you know!  Their mating time is summer and fall, and then they go underground and spin silk to cover their subteraneum home’s doorway.

The other news is that Susan reported from The Boulders that her neighbor discovered a bobcat had kittens in their outdoor fireplace.