snakes

 This is a picture a friend took (Thanks Kate!), but is included because it is such an awesome picture of a lesser known snake species.

The head looks all large and rattlesnake like, but it was small and has no rattle, SO this is a hognose snake, an amphibian eating specialist that can eat the otherwise poisonous toads while they are hiding in their small burrows. The ribs behind the head flare out exactly like a cobra, but this guy's only defense against being picked up is a stinky smell (which is actually pretty effective.....the SECOND time you meet one).

Another friend passed on to me a spadefoot toad that was found in Rio Rancho. To be clear, I do NOT need more pets. I also think wild animals are best kept in the wild, BUT I also love these guys. They make horrible pets because most of the year they just hide in the dirt and do nothing, but they are also very photogenic and pretty low maintainace. All frog needs in captivity are different, but this guy just needs a small and clean warm, damp space with some good heat (60's). He is a big fan of a low roof to his burrow. I feed them moths, but with over feeding their enclosures need pretty regular cleaning and because of that you disrupt their hibernation, so you have to keep them at least for the whole winter. They actually do not like swimming, this picture shows him getting his once a year bath in tepid water for identification purposes.

wild animals have to find their own food. The take advantage of changing environments. Here, a raccoon print shows where it stuck it's snout into a crayfish burrow, likely looking for a hiding juvenile frog. The scuzzy is dry now and those juvenile bullfrogs have to move out temporarily. The ditch is now a damp meadow, a very rare type of environment indeed.

this story of tracks shows a squirrel coming down to the waters edge for a drink. The soft clay shows a retreating edge of still, silty waters and the burrows of a worm species as they seek the oxygen of surface water. The squirrel clearly wasn't expecting the mud to be so soft!

the turkeys are moving in to the fields to feed. They will soon be joined by cranes.