Fur, Scales and Armor

It is no secret that I love all critters, large and small. It doesn't matter to me how commonplace they may be, or how often I see them, I always get a thrill when I'm up close and personal with nature's 4-legged gifts.

Deer are pretty prevalent right here in my neighborhood. I often see them grazing on the golf course in the early evenings and a couple of times have actually had them jump right out in front of my car. Phew! Gotta drive slow through here, and not just for the random kid darting out into the road.

The best though is when I'm sitting out here in my bitch cave, only to look up and see one or two in my own backyard. This never happened when I lived on the other side of this street, so this has been a treat for me. Just yesterday, late in the afternoon, I glanced up only to find two beautiful deer at the edge of my yard. I took some pictures right from my seat, but going through the screen never produces the best pictures.

So I got up and very slowly made my way to the screen door. Very quietly opened it and very quietly stepped out onto the grass. They were both looking at me with curiosity and looked ready to bolt, but for some reason (maybe they sense my love of them?) they stood their ground and let me snap my pictures. I kept moving closer and closer until I was about 15 feet away. I knew that was about as close as they'd let me. In fact, one of them did take off into John and Tracy's yard, but the other stayed and stared at me.

Oh, she was so beautiful!

Click to enlarge, please.

That same night, while sitting outside I heard the brush crackling in the woods behind my house.  I knew it was an armadillo because they are so not graceful and tend to sound more like an elephant moving through the woods.

Whereas some think they're adorable little prehistoric-looking creatures, many others hate them due to the fact that they will tear up your yard in no time flat.  I tend to think of their rooting as aerating our soil.   And boy do they.  I've got a multitude of gaping holes in the dead grass to prove it.

 

  

  

Those are just a few among many.

'Dillos are in my yard all the time, nature's little rototillers, but this night I happened to have the spotlights on in the back so was better able to get some pictures.

Once again, I crept out the door and onto the grass very very slowly.  He/she sensed me and scurried off into the woods, but I was patient; I walked to the edge of my property and stood still, waiting for my dillo to come back out.  It was cold.... near freezing, but I was so excited about my critter that I didn't even feel my toes freezing.

 

There he is, flashing his hiney at me!  Hey, I said I got pictures.  I did not say I got good pictures.  You try doing this in the dark!

  

  

Then, last night I heard it again... the unmistakable sound of an armadillo rooting through the woods.  Once again I grabbed my camera and stealthily made my way out into the yard.  He was in my next door neighbor's yard, digging under the mulch.  Joy!

 

I stood there, snapping away, each time checking Jim and Lori's windows to make sure they weren't peering out, wondering what the hell the crazy lady was doing.  Or worse, what if they mistook the flashing lights as a UFO come down to earth?

 

Believe it or not, that's his face!

Now tell me that's not one of the neatest looking creatures that you'd be happy to have tear up your yard!!!

I have another absolutely astonishing animal to share with you, and one that not many people can say they see on a fairly frequent basis.

These pictures are not mine.  They were taken by my MIL's best friend on Thanksgiving day as she was taking a walk through their neighborhood.

Meet one of my favorite scaly critters.

 

Yes, she was actually that close to a wild gator.  She's standing on the sidewalk which is just this side of the grass.  Pretty cool, huh?

 

I've yet to see one in any of the retention ponds throughout my neighborhood but I will hold out hope!  It's one of my dreams to get that close to a gator!

Yes, you may call the men in white now.

Pssst! If you love me, you might love my stupid sister more. Go visit her at Jill's Believe it or Not, and tell her I sent you!

Fade to Black --Living to Stuffed-- ***Outdoor Wednesday***

It's time for another Outdoor Wednesday hosted by Susan at A Southern Daydreamer! After you've finished here, make sure to visit Susan and say hello, then visit the other OW participants!

Recently I bought some flowers to use on my now extra patio table. It's a fairly ugly table and having it sit in the corner all naked just wasn't working for me.

While cruising Ace Hardware, I came upon this pretty, interesting looking plant. Love the color of the leaves. And look at those adorable berries!



Does anyone know what this is? Well, I'll tell you. It's a peppercorn plant!

Who doesn't love a Gerbera daisy? Of course, a week after I potted this it stopped flowering. Dammit!



New Guinea impatien...



This next little plant is called a Crossandra "Flame". Love the apricot colored flowers.




This next one has me all verklempt, even though there's nary a sign of a bud on it. A few weeks ago, while reading Kathy's blog, Casa Dolce Casa, she extolled on the virtues of this beautiful flowering plant. She had me at "vanilla", which is what the blooms of the marine heliotrope smell like. According to Kathy and the nice nursery lady at Ace Hardware, the scent from the flowers is quite powerful, and vanilla being my very favorite scent in the whole world, I had to have one! Unfortunately, all of their heliotrope had just been cut back so no blooms for me just yet! I cannot wait until they show up though!



This next plant is one that I planted from seed a few months ago. Ugly as sin, and more than once I've threatened to throw it out if it didn't start perking up. Well, it's still ugly as sin, but just a few minutes ago I noticed it had flower buds on it. I swear, I nearly wet myself! Well excuuuuuuuuuse me, (insert Steve Martin) I'm sucking down coffee here and it doesn't take much to get me to pee!

What had better be a purple zinnia...



Now I'll show you how ugly it is. I guess I could take off those dead leaves, eh? This plant is so ugly (brings to mind Yo Mama jokes, but I don't think there are any that refer to plants) that it just sits on this here chair for now.



But even more than pretty flowers, one of my favorite things about the outdoors is bad weather. Here are some pictures I captured of the angry skies this week.

Saturday, had to stop at our golf course club house to snap these. Amazing.









I snapped this yesterday while at a stop sign in my neighborhood. I probably could have gotten a better shot, but just as I had my camera ready a car pulled up behind me. I didn't want to be rude, so I just snapped real quick and was on my way.

Today (yesterday, by the time you read this) Jill came to bring Madison home after having her for 9 days. As usual, we immediately went out shopping. While Jill and Mikayla were inside a store, I stayed in the car with 3 of the 4 kids. Loved looking at this sky.


Now you may not consider this "outdoors", but what you're about to see used to be outdoors. When they were alive.

We ate dinner at Clark's Fish Camp. The food is basically overpriced crapola, but the atmosphere is wild.


Yes, all of these animals had been alive and kicking at some point. The restaurant owner is an avid collector and has hundreds of taxidermy animals inside the restaurant.





I took this next picture especially for Picket and Ginger.
Once again, animals that used to be alive.

A sampling of what you can order for dinner. (Gulp)

And look who I found floating around beside the restaurant's dock! Look closely or you may miss him. It was Twilight and I've yet to find a setting on my camera that takes a good shot in low light. Click to enlarge!

Yes, Tiney spotted another gator. Two in just over a week! Ooh, the excitement!!!




I hope you enjoyed my Outdoor Wednesday post this week. I'm guessing a lot of you are wiping your brow in gratitude that I'm slightly less "wordy" on Outdoor Wednesdays!

Have a happy hump day (am I the only one that giggles when I say that?) and make sure to visit Susan now!





Pssst! If you love me, you might love my sister more. Go visit her at Jill's Believe it or Not, and tell her I sent you!