Local Friends

When we moved here, I knew I would miss the animals that lived near us in San Diego. There were rabbits that would come eat grass in the evenings right next to our building, and when we put out a bird feeder small birds with various rainbow-colored chest feathers would come to eat. Not that I wanted rabbits in our backyard here - they'd eat our garden!

Thankfully, my fears were unfounded; there's plenty of wildlife around! There are lots of insects, and for the first month and a half at least one fly came in our house every time we opened the door. I have become adept at hunting them down, and use our small, flexible but substantial DVR manual as my weapon of choice. Because of the insects, we get lots of animals that feed on them, including lots of spiders. In addition, both Daniel and Leslie have encountered small silvery-gray snakes in our backyard, and one evening as I was sweeping the deck I found this individual tucked between the deck and siding of our house:


I bet beneath the deck is a damp place well protected from predators, but I never guessed I'd run across amphibians in my own yard. Now if I can just see one of those snakes...