You are lost

Seeing as it’s way past time for an update here goes.  I’ve been working a lot.  We’re down 2 people in the kiosk at the moment, one of them being the boss.  My boss was promoted to distribution.  So now, with the blessing of everyone in the store, I vie for her job.  Interviews will be conducted sometime after July 1st so I won’t know for a while.

The other night I found a Tiger Centipede in the middle of my kitchen floor.  After collecting and identifying it I went to smoke.  While smoking I saw another strange insect that I trapped and identified to be a Wind Scorpion.  Fortunately neither pose any threat, but they’ve given me the creepy-crawlies for the last couple of days.

Aside from that not much new.  As I don’t really use this site as much as I thought I would, I am pondering disabling it.  It’s not a yes or no yet, I’m just debating it.  I’m not big on myspace, but it’s free, whereas this is not.  Hmm.

Anyway, always more to do.

I added some new pics to the wildlife section, most of which I took today and I’ll talk about… now.

A big motivating factor in my decision to identify the creatures I find in my yard on a daily basis is some of them are poisonous.  Most are not.  Some mimic those which are, but are not.  My task is to know the difference, because staying the fuck away isn’t always an option.

For example today I saw another of those red and black snakes.  I was excited to have the opportunity to show you all what it looks like, so I grabbed my camera and snapped some pics.  I had formerly thought it was a Banded Sand Snake, but as I got closer and studied it, I found it to be a Ground Snake (yes, that’s it’s actual name).  As you’ll see in the pic, the Ground Snake mimics the Sonoran Coral Snake, except it lacks the yellow stripes that mark it as highly venomous (the Sonoran Coral Snake is native to this area as well).  As far as no option to get away, well, this Ground Snake resides in my front yard.  By my front door.  Between the foundation and the slab of concrete that makes my porch, just under the paneling of my house.  Fortunately it’s only a little more dangerous than a Garter Snake; it has a mildly toxic saliva that can cause irritation.  I can deal with that.

As you’ll see I’ve also found a Jumping Spider.  I think it’s simply an Arizona Jumping Spider but I haven’t been able to verify that yet.  I’ve also found the Black Widow.  Not really a new thing to me, but not a wonderful thing to find next to your mailbox.

I can’t wait to get back to work, if for nothing else than to have something else to tell you all about other than my new found nerdy fascination with the various critters I find.

I saw a 17 year Cicada yesterday.  I was tidying up the yard when I raked over it, causing it to make the shrieky noises.  I didn’t know what it was at first, so I looked it up online.  These things are neat.  It starts as a nymph (I saw a nymph in my garden the other day t00 btw) and lives underground as deep as 6 feet.  After 17 years it emerges to molt (I’ve found some molts too) then lives for about 5 weeks above the surface before it dies.  Sweet.  Kinda like graduating from school only to die the month afterwards.

Other odd sightings include a couple of Praying Mantis’.  We had 4 of them on the porch the other night.  I didn’t realize that they came this far north. We had a Road Runner in the driveway the other night; they don’t look anything like their cartoon representation.

Apparently there are around 15 different species of hummingbirds native to this area, of which I’ve seen at least 4.  I’m learning more about identifying the local birds as I get time.

So aside from the antelope and mule deer that graze the undeveloped countryside that I call my front yard (although it is across the street) I’ve been able to witness some of the other local critters that grace my home.  I set up some bird feeders that have attracted a couple of goldfinches and multitudes of hummingbirds of various colors.  I’ve also seen a couple of Arizona woodpeckers in the backyard.  I saw my first cockroach (not so pleased about that) and today while I was out smoking I saw what we believe is a banded sand snake (fucking sweet, although Sara and Matt are less than pleased).  I haven’t seen them yet but I’ve heard about 4 or 5 coyotes in the hills as well.  No scorpions, no tarantulas (too high up in the state and altitude) or anything like that.

With all the goings on and unpacking (still) I haven’t really had time to take pictures, but I imagine I’ll have some soon.  Tomorrow’s going to be another busy day and I’m still adjusting to daylight life.  Going to bed by bar-time seems so… odd.

Seriously though, I’m impressed by the sand snake.  It’s slightly venomous, eats cockroaches and other soft insects (aren’t most insects soft, and if it can catch a cockroach it’s got to be fast) and mostly active at night (I saw it this afternoon, in a bush in my yard not 2 feet from my ashtray).  I want to see it again, and I look for it each time I smoke (unless I’m watching the hummingbirds, there’s seriously a fuck ton of them).

Will post more ramblings soon.