Beautiful afternoon in Arizona!

 

Sonoran Coachwhip

 

This big pink Sonoran Coachwhip was stuck in our garden fence. They are non-poisonous, extremely fast, and apparently they can be aggressive and quick to bite when cornered. Hillary told me there was a dead snake in the fence, so the next day I went out there to look at it. It looked dead, but when I grabbed its tail it started moving all over the place! It was still alive, but it had really gotten stuck bad in the fence.

I didn't want to kill it, because they actually eat rattlesnakes! But there was no way I could cut it out of the fence without risking getting bitten. It was stuck so bad there was nothing else to do but kill it.

We've only seen one rattlesnake since we've lived here, and that was 10 months ago (knock on wood). Maybe this guy had been eating them.

Drywall

Before

After

I spent the weekend hanging drywall in the den. I rented a drywall lift which was a HUGE help for getting those heavy sheets onto the ceiling. It took four 4X8 sheets of drywall to get the job done. Next step will be to use drywall tape and mud to fill in the seams. That's going to be the messiest part because it involves lots of sanding. 

Great Plains Toad

Spotted this toad a few nights ago on the back porch. I had to read a lot and look at a lot of pictures online before I could classify it, but I finally decided it was a Great Plains Toad. Apparently it stays underground most of the year and only comes out during monsoon season.

Box Turtle and Tarantula

We went for a walk down our road on Thursday evening, and came across an Ornate Box Turtle walking across the road! They are native to this corner of Arizona, but they are described as secretive and difficult to find. I didn't even know there were turtles around here until I did some internet research trying to figure out what kind of turtle it was. Apparently it's against the law to even pick one up.

Then, while we were observing the turtle on the road, a huge tarantula came walking down the road right towards us! The tarantula ignored us and the turtle and just walked on past. I think it would have walked right over my shoe if I hadn't moved out of the way.

Den Demo Finished

This is how the den looks after clearing most everything out. I forgot to thank Sally and Joe for helping in my last post about the den. Joe and I finished the demolition in one morning, which would have taken me at least two full days to do by myself. Sally even helped throw drywall and wood onto the trailer.

I have decided not to put drywall up in the den until I buy some speaker wire. I'm going to wire the room for surround sound and then put up the drywall.

Garage

Hillary and I got the garage organized a little today. We hung two bikes, a jogging stroller, and a bike trailer from the ceiling and organized some other stuff.

The two other walls are still junky but we at least made a little progress.