Tuesday, August 30, 2016

EXCITEMENT LAST NIGHT

Last night after it cooled off outside John started opening up windows and doors to let the cool air in.  Our house is a passive solar house, all that means is, the rammed earth walls are heat or cool collectors to keep the inside of the house comfortable year round.........well except for that monsoon season, when the humidity and cloud cover some nights, means the nights don't cool off.  So the house gets a little warmer than we'd like, but we have ceiling fans, so no big deal.  

Anyway he's going around doing his thing, and when he opened the window out to the back patio, there was a real loud buzzing noise.  He didn't even hear it, I assume a rattlesnake rattle, is in the range of hearing he no longer has.  Too many years of working on military planes.  

While my brain is trying to wrap around, what is it, and where is it, Nigel the cat ran over to a big basket under the window and started trying to beat it to death.  LOL  Wish I had the camera, I guess he thought the snake was in the basket.  Got a flashlight and found a pretty good sized unhappy snake.  Guess the vibrations of the window opening got her attention.  I say her because usually the ones that are big around are females.  The guy's stay skinny.  She was probably between 3 and 4 feet long and big around as a man's wrist, it was hard to tell, since she was up against the house, wadded up.  

Over the years in the fall we've had rattlers around the house.  They are busy hunting, getting ready for hibernation and go places they usually don't go.  


This was in 2007 on the back porch.  At the time I thought it was a boy and girl, doing the dirty deed, but a snake person told me it was 2 males fighting.  Sure enough there was a fatter one watching the show, waiting for the winner I guess.  

The bird watching is a roadrunner.  I think it was a young one with visions of grandeur, either one of them could have eaten him, he wasn't full grown.  I guess he thought they were too busy to go after him.  

John put Penny in Quilla's old pen today to get a little bit of sun and a different view than just being in the hay barn.  I looked out and it looked like she was trying to dance and John was hanging onto the lead for dear life.........!!! LOL  He finally got her in with the gate shut, I asked him if she had danced the whole way from the hay barn and he said for the most part.  We'll double lead her tonight when we put her back in.   I guess alfalfa and sweet feed does make them hot.......!!! LOL 

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