The road between Fernley and Silver Springs, Nevada. It doesn’t get much more rural than this.
Realty World, Silver Springs, NV.
A victim of the recession. A never-built housing development just north of Yerington, NV.
Sage Crest Drive-In, Yerington, Nevada.
We’ve had some very strange weather lately. Humidity in the 40 percent range, and now, rain. Go figure. Not complaining, really. We need the precipitation and if we can’t get it in the winter, I’ll take it now.
I woke up at 3:30 in the morning to the sounds of a huge downpour, so after I got up for good I stepped out into the backyard to see if I could find any remnants of the moisture. While the grass was a bit damp, no evidence of the early morning storm was to be seen.
Still, the hibiscus was blooming . . .
and the grapes were starting to ripen.
Buddy napped one minute . . .
. . . and hoped to see a rabbit the next.
And while I was processing these photos, rain!
It’s been an exceptionally harsh year, weather-wise, not just in our neck of the woods, but everywhere it appears. But in my area, where the growing season is already abysmally short and precipitation is always in short supply, our mild, bone-dry winter has unleashed a torrent of all kinds of burrowing and nibbling creatures. Rabbits, voles, squirrels and other such creatures are laying waste to gardens all over our part of the state, from above and below. Our yard is no exception, and even our “desert hardy” bed has been decimated. We try planting and within a week the plants are gone. A rose-bush I planted out front was pretty much razed. The Mexican primrose and other flowers, usually left alone, have been mowed to the ground. It is beyond depressing.
One little plant is bravely trying to make a comeback. In the midst of sand and gravel, there is this one little flower.
I have no idea how long this one will last.
I caught Maya and a jackrabbit staring each other down through the front door this morning. I shot about a dozen photos, alternating focus between Maya and the jackrabbit. I finally settled on this one. I love that they are both looking right at each other and that their ears seem to mirror each other’s.
Another Great Basin Whiptail made an appearance today, this time in my front yard. These guys are extremely skittish (and fast!), so I had to go very slowly. Still, he let me get in pretty close! As a reminder, clicking on any photo will bring up a larger version. You may want to do that with this series.
He skittered under a shrub, so I slowly made my way around.
He kept an eye on me as I moved in . . .
Here’s a shot of him blinking his eye. Their eyelids are transparent and close from bottom to top. I highly recommend clicking on the photo to get a closer look. Better yet, click over to my Desert Creatures SmugMug gallery to see the original in all it’s reptilian glory.
Here’s a view of his full length. As I mentioned yesterday, their tails can be as long as 2/3 of their entire length. His tail is nearly complete, but it appears there is some new growth at the end. For scale, the leaf right behind his tail is nearly one inch long. This guy was about 7 inches or so. Other scale info: the rabbit pellet just to the right of his forearm is about a quarter of an inch or so across.
One last close-up.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Same shots, different treatment. I took all of these this morning about 8:30.
This?
Or this?
This?
Or this?
Personally, I prefer the black and white landscape photo. I like where it takes my eye. On the other hand, I find myself going back and forth over the withered branch shot. I’m leaning to the black and white, but . . .
I spied this creature out in the undeveloped portion of our 5 acre lot. He was about six inches long, though he should have been longer. You can see that his tail is growing back, so it isn’t as long as it can be (up to two body lengths, according to this site).
I was able to work from home today and that meant that I didn’t have to leave the house early in the morning. Taking advantage of the extra time before my “work day” started, I headed out to photograph the backyard in the early morning light. Today was watering day and the flowers still held droplets of water from the sprinklers.
And then there is the purple sage . . .
The flowers are indeed lovely, but they also attract some six-legged creatures. I’ve given up trying to avoid them, and now seek them out.
After fighting with VPN and reports all day I slipped out into the backyard once again, and guess what I found hiding in the roses? Anyone know what this little guy is? And he was teeny. A grasshopper? Cricket? Locust?
Carissa Snedeker Photography 