Biodiversity…I Spy…Surprises!
I walk our farm at least twice a week, usually more, but I always find something new, and sometimes, very surprising.
Butterfly weed, Asclepias tuberosa. This is the first time I have seen this bloom here.
Most of the time I have walking companions – three sheep, a goat, and a dog or two. Such a crowd of four-legged ones walking around seems to trick the birds into thinking no humans are present. Sometimes the dogs and the goat call my attention to things I haven’t noticed – the dogs by barking furiously and the goat by freezing in position and refusing to move.
One of the dog’s finds, a young feral hog below the fallen trees). Hogs are all over Texas, but this is the first time I ever saw one here.
It was too brushy to get a good picture.
Leila (the goat) spotted this broad-banded water snake in a little dip on our path.
And then other times, all the animals charge down the path so I think it is clear, and then I step on a snake that not a one of them noticed. (Just an Eastern Hognose, no worries.) At my age it is good to keep my reflexes working!
Also the sheep are notorious for munching the exact plant I am trying to photograph, or inadvertently scaring the frog I am trying to photograph, so sometimes I go out alone. I don’t know if I see more animals that way, but I am pretty sure I see different ones.
This coral snake was out in the middle of the pasture in broad daylight. I did not have the usual thundering herd with me, so I caught it unaware.
And sometimes creatures just pop up in unexpected places.
This feisty crawfish showed up in the backyard this morning.
A Carolina Wren built a nest in the barbeque! This is Day 4 after they hatched. Bad picture but I don’t want to disturb them.
Other surprising things:
- A Great Horned Owl swooped down and tried to catch one of the ducks as it was swimming in the very middle of the pond. I had no idea an owl would risk getting soaked, or that they would go after such big animals.
- There are salamanders called sirens, that have only two legs, and gills AND lungs. I know because one about 12 inches long turned up in our minnow trap. I had no idea such a thing existed, much less in our pond.
- I am amazed that Eastern Kingbirds are still in existence, because every day I see a crow making multiple trips to steal the eggs they have laid in their nest.
- To make a rare butterfly, snake, or bird appear, all I have to do is get on the phone with someone. The minute I hang up and am able to aim my camera with both hands, the rare creature disappears.
What wildlife surprises have you had?
Your comments are spot-on about walking with goats. Mine would block my path if they sensed danger. We had to point 2 feet away to look at specimen flora.
It is nice to be able to rely on the animals sensing strengths as we go along. They alert me to snakes and such, and they run to me for protection from the big bad UPS truck if it drives up. Good deal all around! 🙂
Um, isn’t a coral snake poisonous ?
Yes, but they have tiny little mouths, and they eat tiny little food for which they save their venom. They have no interest in attacking something they can’t eat. I was really at a safe distance. I have an awesome zoom on my camera.
You’re so calm about the snakes. Whenever I see one, I scream and run away. I don’t think I could ever photograph one. 🙂
…says the woman who can stand to go into a prison weekly, to teach. (I am VERY claustrophobic.)
I used to be afraid of snakes, but then I learned so much about them. I read that Navajo people revere them because they eat the mice that would otherwise eat their corn, and it just helped me see them in a new light.
And last year was a very snaky year around here, but whenever I came across one, it just wanted to go its own way. My only worry is about one of the dogs getting bit, but they listen to me if I call them away from a snake, so now I just keep my eyes open and try to get some pictures. 🙂
Another set of lovely pictures. This morning Jim and I walked in our neighborhood and I told him about your recent posts. I’ll share the link with him so he can take a look, too.
Oh, thank you. I never thought of myself as an East Texas girl, but I love the things I get to see here on the farm, and I love sharing them.
Those were interesting pictures. Do the feral pigs get aggressive? I figure they would if they had young. I like the colors on the coral snake. And that crawfish looks menacing.
Thanks for these and to Melanie for sharing.
The feral pigs can get aggressive, but I have also known them to lie low in the brush until everybody in a group passes by, and then they burst out and run the other way. I definitely would not mess with them though. They are bad because they can have such big litters so often, and they tear up river banks, etc., and also eat baby quail and other natives. They are the one animal in Texas that can be hunted all year round and even at night!
I saw a weird TV show about people who hunt them.
I used to work with a guy who hunted them every night after work, with dogs and a four-wheeler. That was one reason I was surprised to see the one in our woods – around here they are kept down pretty well by people who hunt them for food.
Many thanks for the fascinating photos. You have such diversity of wildlife available on your patch of earth, though I could do without the snakes. Yes, I realize most do “good things” but I’m always so startled when I come across one that my heart gets quite a workout. My wildlife consists mostly of deer, raccoons, and birds. In winter I sometimes see coyotes and foxes. Lately the house finches that nest in my neighbor’s siding have taken an interest in my porch ferns. They are quarrelsome creatures.
I have pretty much the same wildlife as you, but I have never seen a raccoon or even tracks here! Or a skunk. A forester that I know says that the fire ants kill the babies and that their populations are depleted as a result. The fire ants have also killed off the chiggers and ticks though, so that is a good thing.
Is that crawdad just… out for a stroll?! I don’t think I’ve ever seen one out of water, or at least not more than six or eight inches from water.
I have no explanation. We have had so much rain, I think even the crawfish are looking for new real estate. I have reeds and sedges growing in my hayfield. It is a little soggy.
We live outside a small town in the country a bit and we’ve had a variety of animals from rat snakes, to rattlers and many different types of birds. I love to watch a red tail hawk hunt for rodents, etc., as they are amazing creatures. They can be so high in the sky one moment and next they’re on the ground.
For past 3-4 years, we’ve had several families of chimney sweeps who have raised many broods in two nests; one on the front porch and one on the back porch. I’ve taken the nests down more times than I care to talk about and yet, they rebuild. I’ve hung both owl and snake blow up creatures from the ceilings, etc., they still come. So we’ve decided to just enjoy them.
At least they are out there eating mosquitoes for you!
We have red-tailed hawks here occasionally, but mostly red-shouldered hawks.
I am not worried about the snakes we have, but we have never had a rattler here. I have seen them in West Texas and Arizona, but you can see the ground out there and keep an eye out for them. Here it is so overgrown and brushy everywhere, it would worry me if I knew there was one around.
I am amazed you even have ground to walk on after hearing all the dire weather you have been having but glad for you. That Butterfly Weed is stunning. Thank you.
Stay safe!
Fortunately, I now live upstream and uphill from all of that bad flooding in Houston. I used to be in the thick of it – I have driven my car into deep water because I didn’t know better, and I have cleaned up houses after they flooded too. But I am glad that now I just have to worry about getting stuck on our dirt driveway! Thanks for the good wishes!