No See-Ums

These things give me the shivers.  Scorpions were never anything I wanted to meet in person.  Many moons ago while camping in Death Valley (I'm sure there are better places to camp) we were sitting by a campfire when my Mom screamed FREEZE!!  

I did exactly as I was told, having been completely indoctrinated in rattlesnake protocol on our horse packing trips to the mountains.  If someone says freeze, you do it so you don't get bit.  It happened on more than one occasion.

My dad grabbed a shovel and smashed a huge scorpion right between my legs.  For a fresh recruit of seven years old, that was pretty traumatic!!  Scorpions are NOT my friends.

I have been warned about them here, as they are very small and very hard to see, almost translucent.  They were right.  A couple days ago, I picked up a paving stone and found a tiny one-inch long harbinger of death looking up at me, completely camouflaged on the pale tan concrete.  Without even thinking, I smashed him with the stone in hand.  RATS!!  I should have taken a picture.  This one came from the internet.

There was nothing recognizable left ... I'm good at that part ... so I replaced the stone in the hopes another one returns for a photo op.  Definitely no see-ums since they are so small and can hide in the tiniest of cracks.  I actually found another very dead body in the bottom of my screen door.  Thank goodness the pest service is working.

Another no see-um around here, mostly because I haven't seen them at ALL, is the javelina.  They are here though.  How do I know?  Because they destroy my water station every time they stop by.  When the sprinklers come on and I see a giant water spout, I know they've been here.  

Javelinas like to chew things and have the teeth to do it.  They bite through the drip irrigation lines like nothing.  After all, they eat cactus with two inch long spines!!  Repairs are always required.

One thing I HAVE seen is hummers.  They are so tiny you almost miss them, except for the loud humming noise they make as they scream through the trees.  They have finally discovered my feeder. Although they don't come in bunches like in California, they are here and feed throughout the day.

This is the same guy ... he thought he heard something in the yard next door.  Boy did his neck stretch out for a look see!!

With all deemed to be okay, he went to feeding.  This little guy is about two inches tall.

My bunny buddies are no see-ums during the day, but come out every night about 5:00 for water.  Eventually the ranch hand will rebuild the water station and make it javelina proof.

Now THESE critters I see every single day.  We all sit on the couch at night, but obviously they don't leave me much room!!  They're so cute when they're asleep!!

If I'm REALLY lucky, I'll have some amazing Arizona storm cloud images this week.  The weather guessers say there's a storm heading our way.