California Backyards #2

Roadrunners around here like to nest in cactus. Even crows don't like raiding their nests. Snakes do. I've seen them run, glide and jump on snakes. Not necessarily rattlers, was too far a way to see. They try to get as close as they can behind the neck, when they attack using both beak and feet. Been known to glide, drop snake to stun snake, repeatedly. When snake is good and dead they take it home and feed the babies or eat it in a safe spot. They do glide into trees and are capable of short flights.
Just my observations over the years of the wonderful RoadRunner.
I think they are smart and wonderfully adapted to our desert environments. I always have to smile when I see one.
WIB!
SW

That's cool! I saw a gang of about 4 or 5 hummingbirds yesterday, dive-bombing, chittering like they do when they're alarmed, and facing down a hawk that was sitting in a tree. One just hovered in front its face! I've seen hummers take on each other and crows take on a hawk, but never hummers face down a hawk!

Ever noticed how in the old Road Runner cartoons, whatever contraption the Coyote was using to catch the RoadRunner was always made by "ACME" ? He was a very good and loyal supporter of ACME products...failures as they all were !

Yes, Acme is almost synonymous with 'clunker,' isn't it? LOL

It is now, Ima and JD. Loyal to the end. I always felt the coyote should have been a Marine. No disrespect, but the loyalty to Acme, the improvisations, and you got to admit he was in pretty good shape for a scrawny looking coyote. He took a lot of abuse from the RoadRunner. Kind of like the mail order junk you got from the bubble gum wrapper ads.
Back to hummers. Among Native American Tribes the tiny Hummer is honored for his Warrior attributes. They call him the Warrior bird.
Haven't seen a single hummer today. Just some finches. Still have a few mealie bugs, but yesterdays treatment definitely helped. Thought the banana had them till I realized those were hummer poops on the chair. They played another joke on me. LOL!
WIB!
SW

I had 2 little green finches playing around the courtyard fountain this afternoon.....SO cute!

And where was your camera? I know, your hands were probably covered with clay. Got a kitten trying to steal my glasses. I'm going to buy Buddy Holly his own. LOL! He is trying to learn to type too.
Green finches are different than the house finches that live here. Must have been a sweet moment. It got all gray and overcast. Maybe we will get some rain. Bones ache enough.
Okay not Buddy is trying to wash my hair. Poor kitty. He just can't get it all in one lick. Too funny.
Got to go and do something to justify my presence on this planet. Guess I'll play with Buddy, since he won't leave me alone. : - )
Buddy (gift from DP), and Griselda. Buddy has made himself quite at home, much to the other cats dismay. LOL!
WIB,
SW

Look who came to visit today and perched on the side of our pool! It's an immature juvenile green heron, a short-legged small heron. He stayed for over 3 hours. He was hanging with the mallards that have been visiting lately. (We're a couple of miles from the wetlands.) He finally flew up into a tree. When I tried to take pictures of him up there, he flew away. It was so cool. We've never had a heron before!

Buddy's adorable! Can't say that for the heron---they always look to me like grumpy old men. but very cool that one visited.
This was my visitor a little bit ago. She was all over me till I got the camera out, then got mad that I was trying to take her picture and moved to another feeder.

What a cooperative little hummer, ima! Must like photo ops!

Great photo of the heron, surf! I've never seen one like that.

surfcity, what a thrilling time for you. Nice photo too! I've never seen a green up close, you must have been thrilled! : - )
ima, I'm jealous. Haven't been able to capture a hummer on the camera since I got back from vacation. I see them, but don't have the camera on me when I do, or it's been too crazy around here.
Now, house finches, I have all over. Got to get the rest of that sunflower seed while they can, I guess.
I am still planting like crazy for the fall and planning on the winter beds. Need to let weegy know the iris' arrived. : - )
Got a bunch of fuchsia's (bareroot) potted up and in the gh. Still have so much to do. Sigh. Even though we don't have season's like they do in the higher latitudes, fall is here and there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done. Heard some people already got snow! I also heard that the northern part of the state may have gotten some rain?
Just doesn't seem like it here, despite the cooler temps. Especially when you look at this guy!
WIB,
SW

Great roadrunner tales. Here is one of mine. Usually I see the roadrunners further from the house, in the back and along side fence. One day last summer there was one walking around the kitchen patio and dirt only a few feet from the slider, walking under the bird water and around the plants. That was in the morning. Later, early afternoon I was walking into kitchen and glanced out the den window and saw him on his back in the dirt, wings splayed out. I was so disappointed he was dead and wondered how that had happened (and that his body had not been claimed by the 'killer'). Even got DH to look out the window (he is usually totally oblivious that there is life outside of the house). DH was starting to go outside to pick up the body when the roadrunner got up, dusted himself off and was on his way. He was just taking a sunbath!!

That's priceless. Would love to see that but, in the meantime, your story gives me a great mental image!

DP - good idea bringing up the hardware cloth under the raised beds. Last year we dug out about 18 inches to make a veggie garden and lined the sides and bottom with chicken wire.

SW - Let me say this: #1 - if the wire needs to overlap to cover the area, make sure to use landscape pins close enough to prevent entry through the 'flap', #2 don't use chicken wire instead of hardware cloth (even though it is more expensive) as gophers (at least ours) have sharp teeth and #3, if you are adding a little fence against the rabbits, consider chicken wire and running it down sides of the wood box so gophers don't enter through the gap. And yes, they sometimes do come out of their holes.

Ima - great job in both photography and web design. I would be more impressed if they had gardens like that in someplace with more of a weather challenge. LOL I remember when I lived on the coast, EVERYTHING grew in peoples yards. You could see cactus, pines, roses, etc growing right next to each other. I liked those cottage garden looks, but for us "Inlanders", xeriscaping and firescaping like Kaper's are really more practical and safer.

Thanks quiltygirl---and I agree with you totally about the gardens! Even though I'm only a few miles away from them, I have a totally different climate. I kept walking through the gardens ticking off all the stuff that would never survive in my yard. And I had to wet-blanket the friend who accompanied me because she lives in a rural area that had a very nasty fire last year. Still, it's fun to look.....LOL!

Also, you're absolutely right about hardware cloth vs: chickenwire laid on soil under the beds. Hardware cloth is WAAY more effective than chickenwire, will hold up a lot longer, and is less likely to work its way up and get in the way of cultivating. Yes, it's more expensive, but worth the investment if at all possible.

QG, I already know about burying the chicken wire, and that is a good idea about using the landscape stakes to anchor them together. I will be starting from scratch, and hope to remember to do a photo documentary. While I know that others use wood to make their raised planters, I planned on using straw bales, (Yes, I know they will need replacing, we have to buy new ones every year and I'll get the old ones). Eventually as the bales disintegrate the will be used as mulch and replaced. The whole garden area will be fenced with 1" x1" chainlink, because we already have it. Had to enclose the pool until the gh could be built over it).
I discovered, most of the tricks of farming out here while growing pumpkins, corn, beans and gourds. Rabbits can jump over three feet high. Dratted wabbits! The gophers are atrocious, and I often make holes in the sides of the potted plant and bury the whole thing entire, to keep them gophers from killing trees (usually fruit trees). We've found that if you dig a huge hole, double wrap the root ball with chicken wire, then place the broken glass shards we've saved around and below where we plant the root ball, the tree usually survives the depredations of gophers.
We have a nice south facing slope, which is partially protected from the north wind, that would be a perfect place to do terraced raised garden beds. I am going to call a neighbor today about some good horse mulch, will probably have to drive a stick shift to get it, and haven't done that since the accident, but when there is a will, you ignore the pain.
Then I will put down the harware cloth, stake the bales in place with rebar, then backfill using good dirt, horse mulch, and regular mulch. Let it overwinter.
I may only get one tier done a year, but eventually I'll have me some nice easy raised beds to work, for my kitchen garden. Any other suggestions about my ideas would be appreciated.
Will take a couple of photos later to show the before and give you an idea of the area I will be using for my kitchen garden.
I usually try to think these things thoroughly and do my homework before I ever start the project. It just kills me that I can't lift and don't have the endurance to get much done in one day. Trying to pace myself. Seriously thinking about stealing DH's forklift, and teaching self to drive tractor. Still thinking, and QG's suggestion is a good, it will be incorporated into the overall plan!
Well Randy, glad to hear the Day Lily wall is planted. I think one of the ones DH weed whacked might have survived, and I'll get it to you. Please keep us updated.We're all invested now. : - )
Before I forget, I know the lousy gophers come out of their holes. I like to put gopher snakes down their holes, and I do have my rodent control specialists on the job (cats who bring me 'presents'). It helps.
Had to laugh though, I can tell you've been gardening in my neck of the desert. Those blasted gophers have extremely sharp teeth. LOL!
Haven't had much trouble with the gophers lately, just bugs. Ants and mealie bugs. Yuck!
WIB!
SW

SW-Do you just 'find' gopher snakes? Are they different than garden snakes. Have only seen a few snakes in the yard. Couple were rattlers (DD, Ariana, killed one) and have seen 2 that I called garden snakes (??) just because they were not rattlers and did not match the HUGE King snake we had in our condo patio in San Diego that put me in a panic. Read - City Girl - lol. That was before watching nature's creatures at work, bottle feeding a goat and giving vaccinations to livestock.

I love the straw bale idea and have considered trying to plant IN them after reading threads on that on DG. I wonder if gophers come up through the straw? Probably need wire under those too. The local nursery, that has gardening classes, recommends using horse/cow manure that has aged for a year. We have 2 horses, so plenty of manure, but we put it in the green recycle bins to TRY to keep flies down (gestation period is 8 days and trash is picked up every 7). We have neighbors, however, that just pitch their single horse's poo outside the corral and move the corral about every 6 months. Soo.. I use their manure.

The tractor would be a good thing to use. Another neighbor has a really old one and is a pretty busy guy, but I have been able to have him come over a couple times to help, like when I had him excavate for veggie garden so we could put in chicken wire. That is why I know hardware cloth would be better - learned the hard way. That year my 'fun' Mother's Day was taking truck to neighbor's to fill truck bed up with horse manure! I live such a glamorous life! Sisters that were taken to brunch don't know what they are missing, ha-ha.

My favorite Mother's Day gift was about 33 years ago when I asked for an Ariens rear-tine tiller...I still have it and have never received another gift I loved as much. To each his own......

Linda;
Here's a link for you that'll give you a few different views of a gopher snake.

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=gopher+snake&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=cPDVSpTVHYuKsgOY6aDmAg&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=8&ved=0CCoQqwQwBw#

Terrific link, DP! Now I know in detail what to look for.
I had a close encounter once, but didn't know the exact differences between it and a rattlesnake - just knew it wasn't one!

Wow Kathleen!! Did he make it into your garage??

No, I used a broom to shoo him out - gently! Then he parked on the front doorstep for a while until I encouraged him to move on again. He was big - probably 6-7 feet. Judging from the lumps, he was digesting his breakfast in a warm spot, but I did NOT want him going into the garage. Snakes don't bother me if I know they are non-poisonous. However, they can still bite and deserve some respect.

Saw this little fella sunning himself on the road in No. Calif (Lava bed National Park) while visiting the grand kids over the past weekend.

We drove past and turned around to get a better look, he didn't like being disturbed and moved on

Well, that's a silly place to stop, snake! Nice photo, Sue.

Yeah, I thought so too! At least it was a quiet day on that road, we were heading to explore a cave. (Skull Cave)

Those ARE rattles on the end of his tail, aren't they? We had a baby one here once and it had one 'bud' on its tail, which it shook like the devil when I accidentally got close.

That's a Western Diamondback. Commonly known as a 'coon tail for the black a white stripes on his tail as he gets older. That one looks to be about 2 1/2 feet long or so, comparing him to the stripes in the highway. They can leave a pretty nasty mark.

He slithered away quietly into a bush where he blended in so perfectly and when son-in-law shook a branch, he shook that rattle right back but it was barely discernible. I was leery of all walking areas the rest of the weekend!

This message was edited Oct 14, 2009 10:26 AM

Beautiful country Sue..

Off of I-5 north of Shasta Lake, the old Hwy 99 bridge before the freeway was built.
We love traveling around the back country roads and discovering places like this!

Gosh, you've been busy.
Kathleen gopher snakes are pretty gentle really, you just have to know how to grab 'em. I personally prefer to use a forked stick to hold their heads still while I grab 'em, but I'm not as co-ordinated as I used to be.
Those are the kind you stick down the peskiest gopher hole you can find. Love them guys!
I like King Snakes and get upset when people stupidly think they are rattlers. They eat Rattlers!
DH's grandfather killed off most of the rattlers here a hundred years ago. I did encounter one once since I've lived here. He was huge a great grand daddy of a rattler. I had a toddler in one hand and was holding back a dog with the other. DH wanted to know if I killed it. With what? Did he want me to whack it to death with the kid or the dog? Both of whom wanted to play with the snake so I couldn't just let go and grab a rock! So I carefully backed away and apologized for disturbing him. Live and let live.
Dragged kid and dog home and locked them up. Then I went hunting, but the snake had already slithered into a large group of rocks. Lectured both 2 legged and 4 legged kids about snakes. Then I broke out into a sweat. Oh My Goodness!
Personally, I've always thought DH brought him in as a hitchhiker, because Dh had just brought in a load of bees to that area.
Haven't seen that GGDaddy of a rattler or any rattler since.
Now once I had a really dumb cat who caught who brought me a baby rattler. I had to take him (the snake) outside, and the little bugger wiggled (I was more squeamish then), and I dropped it and bloodied the poor baby snakes' nose. I really felt bad about it too. I didn't realize until a few hours later what I'd removed from the house. Seems a neighbor had disturbed a rattlesnake pit earlier in the day, and the cat thought it would be a great present for me. My little brother still teases me about snake handling and have I joined a new church? Well, he thinks it's funny.
Great photos Calif_Sue. I'm glad I got to see the photos, of your trip, but didn't have sit down for the ride! ; - )
I agree that the old highways are the best. : - )
WIB!
SW

Thanks Randy. I just have to remember to focus if I come across one and am startled. I know I freaked when I saw the huge King snake in the condo patio years back. I had seen our cat get scared and run away from window then looked out and saw that very colorful snake. Did not know then what it was or that it was a good guy. He nosed around then went back through the drain hole.

Jules - wow to you for handling that grand daddy snake with your little guys. You need to walk the range with a shotgun. Not a situation I would want to be a part of. Bravo to you! Do your gophers not cover the entry to their holes? The only time I see a hole is if it has only just been dug in the last hour - maybe.

Sue - that is pretty country. I've driven through the back country on hwy 49 from Hwy 140 to Grass Valley a couple times. Stayed in quaint Inns, went to off the track wineries, got to ride a cutting horse, went to an authentic, working saloon and just really enjoyed off season fall weather.

QG,
Squir tguns work better and don't harm the snake, no matter what kind. Keep your distance and squirt snake, it will move out of the road, and yes, I have deliberately saved snakes sunning on the road by chasing them off the road. Learned that from a Parks Maintenence worker also NAI, and also reluctant to kill snakes.
Some gophers do, but a lot don't. Which is good because the burrowing owls take over the old squirrel and gopher holes. They can't all be gopher holes, and my dog Daisy killed most of the squirrels around here. Still looking for more sign of the Burrowing Owls. I haven't seen any recently, but I haven't been out at dusk either.
Nice to hear from you!
More to post later on.
WIB!
SW

Beautiful photo, Cal Sue.

Snakes....euwwww!

Found this picture of garter snakes on the Cal Flora Nursery site. Fortunately, I haven't seen any snakes here in Suburbialand.

This message was edited Oct 15, 2009 11:40 AM

We have gopher snakes up in the hills here and LOTS of alligator lizards. There's one huge alligator lizard in my garden that drives my cats insane...he's way too fast for them and they're both too old and lazy to try to hop the fence. He attaches himself to the stucco about 6 feet off the ground and hangs there for hours basking in the sun.
He's been able to out-maneuver the cats for about 5 years now.

I have big ones and little ones. I think I have an alligator lizard nursery somewhere around here, but I've never seen one hang off the wall for hours at a time. Grab the camera next time would ya! : - )
Usually the cats, bring me lizards for gifts. Sigh. I like lizards too.
Reptiles are interesting. I guess having all those brothers kind of cured me of a lot of squeamishness.
LOL! : - )
WIB,
SW

I'm the mom who, when we'd have parents' night in jr. high, would have the 6-foot boa draped around her neck. I got 100% of the science teacher's attention----all the other moms were cowering in the opposite corner....LOL!