I moved a rock and under it was this guy - he immediately walked to the nearest rock for shade, so I think he's a shade critter. He looks like he might be from the scorpion family? (If you don't mind critters like this, click on him twice to see him closer.) UPDATE: These insects are Solifuges - small spider-like arachnids also called sun spiders, camel spiders or wind scorpions. Thank you to Becky and gumo for the identification. :)
This is another one - smaller, he was under a smaller rock, and also scurried to a pile of little rocks to crawl under.
Second is something puzzling we came across. Katie and I were walking the other morning, and near a bush we found this:
I was showing my neighbor and he put his foot there so we could document how large this is. Right in the middle is a pile of sand - I think a big animal urinated here during the night and clawed the sand over the wet spot like a cat does. It was pretty big, though, and I was puzzled about what kind of critter we have in this area with feet/claws that big - wandering around outside The Palms at night.
Two days later Katie sniffed it, and knocked the top of the sand off and it was still wet underneath. Have you seen anything like this? Any idea what kind of animal was here?
Third is the delicious - you're going to have to trust me here. Hazel and I went to Blythe on Saturday. I had some business to take care of, and afterward we were starving and went to Denny's. I grabbed my camera to bring in and take a picture of my full plate of delicious breakfast. I haven't done that in a while - but I was so hungry, I forgot the camera until I was done.
This is the best I could do for the breakfast photo:
Boy! Was it good! :)
And Fourth, the cute:
Katie has a new toy, an Elephant. She was so excited the first time she saw it. She immediately played with it, threw it up in the air, shook it, etc. Then she just left it alone. I keep Elephant sitting up in the corner of the couch in front of that pillow. This morning Katie was sitting on her quilt making noises like she was excited or wanted something. I looked over and she kept glancing over at the Elephant. Finally she grabbed it and bit it to death. Figuratively speaking. She had so much fun with it. Every so often Katie gets feisty, and it's really fun to watch her. So cute!
Welcome to our newest Follower, Papoojack! He has a blog that hasn't been updated in a while, but there are some pretty good jokes on the few posts that he's published. Definitely worth a look! Thanks for following along with us, Papoojack, Katie and I are happy to have you aboard! :)
From me and Katie, have a great day, everybody! :)
When I worked at the wildlife refuge last year I was told that cougars (mountain lions) did that. We had them on the refuge in South Texas. Not sure they would be in that area of the country. You could google it and look for similar images.
ReplyDeleteGosh, Barbara, you've touched on so many interesting things! You've mystified me with the scratch/urine photo--looking forward to people's comments! Breakfast must've been good--nothing like a clean plate as evidence! Katie is so cute--it's lots of fun to see dogs play. First two--scorpions?
ReplyDeleteI have never actually seen a scorpion other than in pictures. I think they look so interesting, and would love to see one close up. Please let us know if someone can identify the 2nd photo - hmmmm, mountain lion? Wow, I hope you can photograph it from the safety of your home.
ReplyDeleteIt's a zoo out there:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sdmb.org/tips/critters/
Last year in LaPosa South there were some people who were feeding a Cougar. (crazy people)
ReplyDeleteI blogged a paw print that we thought might be a cougar.
I don't like creepy, have no idea about curious, love delicious, but cute little Katie is the best!
ReplyDeleteI have considered getting a game camera to take on trips with me and setting it up every night. It may surprise me to find out what all is wandering around the RV at night.
ReplyDeleteWell, those are scorpions - eight legs - they're related to spiders - arachnids. But, don't fool around with them - they're treacherous.
ReplyDeleteI love Katie playing with the stuffed toy. My little Bella (Shih Tzu) had a whole basket of stuffed toys she played with everyday. She really loved one little bunny that said, "Happy Ether" when she chewed on it. We lost here a year ago and Lacy still goes nuts when she sees a black and white Shih Tzu - I just know she 'remembers' Bella.
My first thought was scorpion. I've had that same breakfast at Denny' s before. LOL!
ReplyDeleteStrange markings indeed but I think those claw marks look too small for a cougar. Nails seem to close together. I could see a Raccoon doing that but don't think there are Raccoons in that area. Perhaps Aliens. Been a few years since we have been to Denny's but your photo brought back pleasantly full tummy memories. I see cutie pie Katie's Elephant was blue. Pheebs has a gray one.
ReplyDeleteEven Jim didn't have any idea what you've got going on there. Our girls just destroy toys. They don't play just go into destruct mode. Katie is such a sweetie.
ReplyDeleteWas anticipating what yummy things we were going to whet our appetiate with, instead just felt the urge to get up and do dishes.... I fought the urge until it passed. lol
ReplyDeleteThe creepy is a Solifugid, commonly called a Sun Spider.
ReplyDeleteThat sun spider is a real friend to us humans. They cause no harm to us but love to eat brown recluse and black widows and scorpions.
ReplyDeleteThe creepy has many names including those shown above or CAMEL SPIDER - it is neither a spider nor a scorpion but in family of arachnid - huge ones found in mid-east but also found in AZ and NM - can jump really high (often found hanging on camels back) can run 10 mph and have nasty jaws - DON'T mess with them and don't google a YouTube video - especially at night or you will not sleep !!!
ReplyDeleteEugh, the creepy give me the willies!
ReplyDeleteThe mystery critter? I don't know. I thought maybe large wild cat of some sort since it buried it's urine?
Haha on breakfast! I do like Dennys.
But yes, Katie is the bestest of all!!
The sand pile is definitely feline. My two outdoor cats do the same thing. Bobcat maybe? I doubt a mountain lion would come that close to people. Take care~
ReplyDeleteCheryl Ann
You should measure the paw prints (if there are any)...if they are 4" long, it IS a mountain lion. I found a set up in our local mountains one time a couple of years ago. A few days later, I returned with a ruler and measured them.
ReplyDeleteCheryl Ann~~
I prefer NOT knowing what's crawling around outside my rig at night !! LOL
ReplyDeleteHAHA - love the empty plate photo! Haven't been to Denny's in a long time but I do remember cleaning the plate. The best of course is the photo of Katie. Poppy wasn't much for toys but Rusty LOVED them. First thing he did was take the squeaker out, then disemboweled the stuffing all over the house. If he got a toy he really loved, he would leave it whole for many weeks.
ReplyDeleteEwww...I don't do creepy things. I guess there is a huge benefit to living in a climate that is cold and snowy...creepy crawlies don't survive.
ReplyDeleteThe photo of Katie is adorable. She's having a ball with Mr. Elephant!
I agree with Katie about the Elephant!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a "cat thing" to me and I hope someone in the neighborhood owns a Maine Coon cat. They are quite big.
ReplyDeleteThe other "unmentionable" would freek me out!
The mystery -- the first thing I thought when I saw the photo without enlarging it was that it was made by a person. Sort of starburst looking and it seemed odd an animal would keep turning in a circle to scratch sand up from all sides. Also, the bottom marks don't seem to have the same depth of "claws." Since you saw it in person, do you think there is any chance it is the human animal?
ReplyDeleteKeep those cutie Katie pix coming! You were describing how she was eyeing it for a while at first and making sounds. That kind of thing always makes me chuckle about what "thoughts" are going through a doggie's mind. Is it like, "Hey, I remember you, you little stuffed elephant -- and I'm considering whether to snatch you up." LOL