It has been like living on the "Discovery Channel" this last week. I have had more encounters with wild animals than I am used to.

Our dog, Missy, barks when there is a snake on one of the porches. So, in order to get her to stop barking, I had to "sweep" one of the snakes off. It was a small snake about 16" long. I used a broom to sweep it off. When I did, it flew and almost hit the dog. She gave the most perplexed and hurt look, like, "Why would you throw it at me? I was trying to protect you!" I laughed so hard - Of course I didn't mean to get it close to the dog, I was just trying to keep my composure to hold the broom steady!

Then, the other day, I came home and noticed, in the garage, that a Lizard had been trapped on a glue board we put out to catch insects like scorpions. It was terrible. I tried to peel him off, but it was no use. I even got the poor thing stuck in it more. I couldn't leave him there to die a slow, torturous, death and I couldn't get him off of it. So, I thought it was best to put him out of his misery. It was horrible! I couldn't get the poor thing out of my mind for the next two days. Consequently - no more glue boards! I remember Stuart going through the same thing when we had to trap a mouse in the kitchen. Stuart was the one that had to "put it out of it's misery". I remember it affecting him the same way.

The last sad animal thing was - I heard a cow die late at night. It must have been attacked by something - coyotes or a mountain lion. It was moaning very loudly with hard breaths. All the other cows were moaning a sad and scared "moo" with it. That was very creepy. Life is hard out here.

On a happier note, I have come to recognize a pair of Quail that have a nest close by. They forage around the same area every day. They are so cute. We have quite a few beautiful birds that live close by. Bright colored song birds that busily build nests and look for worms.

But all in all, I am learning a lot. There are such a variety of living things out here. All struggling for survival. It is a day to day challenge and the competition is fierce. There are more animals than humans out here, unlike in the city. It is like living in a zoo, only the humans are the ones in the cages.