Anole tucked in under the dock.
Millipede at work on an old stump.
Armadillo making tracks out of my flashlight beam.
A toad perched precariously.
We recently renovated the garden pond after we lost our 3 koi to the winter of 2009-10.
Actually, they just vanished.
They were last seen before the one inch thick ice formed over the pond, but no one remembers exactly when they saw them last, so their departure is a mystery.
Did the owl or some other beastie snatch them pre-ice or did they take advantage of dead fish after the ice thawed?
I don't know, but there are now 3 new koi babies in there and the owl has been hanging out on the pond bench, so ...
A green tree frog was perched on a palm frond near the pond.
Along the drippy, dark trail were several gopher burrows. I know where they are of course, so I would douse the light each time I approached a burrow and on this one it paid off. The gopher was just making his escape when I hit the lights and took the picture.
Bear has encountered this gopher, out of it's burrow and grazing, once or twice on our daytime walks.
I never seem to have my camera when that happens, but one of these days I will share the Bear-Gopher encounter with you.
It involves a lot of barking.
12 comments:
What a wonderful walk. I love the color of the anole.
I love coming to your blog to see all the great Florida critters. The gophers are making me insane with their digging on son's property. Someone will break a leg someday, I'm sure.
FC - have you noticed any decline in the anole/frog/etc. population as a result of the cold winter? I have a purely non-scientific theory that our little green "chameleons" survived better than the more tropical brown anoles. marge
Great wildlife there after the rain. It's such a good idea to take a walk after the sun has gone down.
Awesome pics!
We were hit with a surprise storm with wicked winds and heavy rain the other night and lost power for about 6hrs!
ThreeC,
I know! That must be the night time shade.
FloridaGirl,
I love having them around and so far no one has snapped a tibia. LOL! I don't have any long legged livestock though.
Marge,
The natives are fine, but the exotics are gone.
Hooray!
Robin,
Dark walks are totally different.
Dave,
Enjoyed talking to ya last night.
Your camera serves you well! I think Gophers are just the perfect example of Mother Nature in action- but they can be hard to catch in action so I'm happy to see this fellow. And it made me think, as I sit here watching the clouds and sun over the mountains...I'm not sure it was Florida (although Florida is brutal on my skin) or Chicago (although Chi-town would give anyone SAD) that was getting to me; it was urban life. US-19, the Loop: so many cars and drivers and so much schlock and so little of this. This being your gopher, your green tree frog, my hawks and owls and a BEAR here in our new home! I'm thinking about this...thanks!
Do you have any run ins with snakes that have taken over the holes?
Vicki,
I understand US19 and Florida Schlock completely. So glad you found your quiet place.
J,
Only the most pleasant kind. A gopher burrow supports a ton of other critters.
Marge and FC...I have to say my neighborhood was hit by multiple freezes this year, with a low one night of 26 deg. However, I still have the Cuban anoles. I see just as many as ever...I don't know, maybe more. It seems I see more and more every year, probably because the garden gets more dense every year. There was nothing but grass when we moved here. Anyway, the weather didn't seem to have an effect on either the green or the brown. I have to say I love them both! Cool beasts.
I was in Miami in March and people were talking about how the cold had seriously depleted a lot of the exotics. I had to bite my tongue when somebody started relating with pride how they had rescued several iguanas into their garage and released them once the weather moderated.
neat!
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