Plant sex

In my Docent studies I've been trying to learn all the plants in our yard. It's a big yard--nearly an acre--and there are a lot of shrubs, scrubby plants and trees that I can't identify yet. Among the things I can identify are a barrel cactus (fishhook barrel) which actually is crestate (see picture) and a yucca, which I believe is soap-tree yucca, a plant that had great value to the native Americans and the Tohono O'odham. It served as a source of soap, fiber, and basketry. In the spring it has spikes of gorgeous creamy white flowers.

Many yuccas are fertilized by a tiny moth that flies (at dusk) from flower to flower, gathering pollen in a little ball that she carries under her head. When she has created a pollen ball BIGGER than her head, she chooses a flower to fertilize. First, she cuts a hole in part of the flower's ovary apparatus and lays her eggs. Then she crawls up the stigma of the flower and deposits her ball of pollen. The pollen fertilizes the flower, and when the moth eggs hatch the larvae have plenty of seeds to eat. But they only eat a few of them, so the yucca is able to reproduce also.

I continue to sleep happily surrounded by lots of roosting quails.

Furry mammals

We had a lecture on mammals in Geezergarten this week, followed by a live demonstration of a captive bobcat by a wildlife rehabilitator. This cat was on leash, and spent a lot of time alternating between eating bits of chicken and growling. Sometimes it looked just like a regular house cat.

The rehabber told us that bobcats cannot be tamed, nor is this one tame. It has possible brain damage, which may be why it’s okay with being exhibited. They will not attack you. They have no feelings for people at all. They are WILD ANIMALS. But they sure are cute!

Grisly quail update

Holy maroney! A moment ago I saw movement out in the bird garden—a Cooper’s hawk had trapped a quail in the corner of the fence. Her belly was ripped open. She was struggling. He stood on her for a few minutes. She continued to struggle. He took a firmer gripped, hopped once, and flew off with her in his talons.

Quails, again

There are a huge number of quails roosting here. I haven’t counted any in a systematic way, but the other evening through the window I watched 13 quails go to roost in the olive tree outside my office window. Some walked up the longer branches and others flew straight up into an overhanging branch.

In the front, several flew into the pyracantha bush (two flew ONTO the pyracantha bush, then settled down into it). And there are the usual handful or more in the dorm tree. Some of them may even be from the brood in this blurred picture from last summer.

It’s a nice, comforting feeling to know that I go to sleep at night nearly surrounded by roosting quails.

Snakes and quails

First, I haven’t done an exact head count, but there are a gazillion quails roosting in the front these days. I have definitely seen some—smaller ones—flying into the pyracantha bush to the right of the front porch as you face it (the dorm tree is on the left). I guess I’ll start thinking of the pyracantha as the dorm annex.

Second, just had to post this photo from Geezergarten yesterday. This is a beautiful Common King Snake, the exact type of snake I have around my house, and about the same size as the one (presumably) that shed its skin on my back porch on Sunday.

Some of the other students were afraid of the snakes, so we had lots of practice handling them. Me—I was thrilled. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this snake.

More from Geezergarten

At lunchtime, I took this photo of a very small desert spiny lizard sunning himself. He has such great protective coloration that you may not be able to see him:

I also photographed a very calm male Costa’s hummingbird that allowed me to point my camera within a few inches of him:

I also got a photo of a crestate barrel cactus. The crest at the top is the result of a genetic mutation.

Quick quail update: a cold front blew through two nights ago. Just at sunset I heard a big racket from the front yard and looked out to see about twenty quail  squabbling and chasing each other. Eventually they all started flying into the tree, flying out, flying into the pyracantha bush, flying out. I assume they got it all sorted out, but I didn’t see how and I didn’t get a head count.

Alien abduction

Today in Geezergarten, we got to watch a rattlesnake in the exhibit area. This was a large diamondback that had been caught in the Park and will be let go after it shows off a bit more. Our facilitator kept the snake in line with snake tongs, and you could see it was terrified. It spent almost the whole time (at least half an hour) rattling and alternately trying to escape, striking at the snake tongs, and rising up in a defensive posture as the picture shows:

I imagine that this was like an alien abduction to the rattlesnake, surrounded by a dozen giant warm-blooded creatures, repeatedly approached by one of the creatures, and menaced by an instrument that didn’t yield when he struck it. Oh, the tales he’ll have for the other rattlers. And speaking of tails, here’s a close-up showing his, striped, with an impressive set of rattles:

Tohono Chul Critters

I have attended presentations about reptiles and a captive Harris Hawk (rehabilitated, but can’t be released to the wild). Here is the hawk, Sueno:

She is a gorgeous bird.

The snake below is a hognosed snake, the one that plays dead by lying on its back:

…and a coach-whip snake. The coach-whip can grow to be nine feet long, and is fast-moving, with bubble-gum pink coloration:

And finally, a molting Gila monster, the only venomous lizard: