An inquisitive old fart with a camera
I’m not sure what left this trail, but I get a kick out of the little loop-de-loop lower left. Maybe the whatever-little-critter version of turning around as you head out the front door because you forgot the car key, only to realize it’s in your hand.
This from yesterday. As last time, almost off the trail. Definitely alive, but very sluggish — I gently nudged it with a stick. Syd yelled at his dogs to keep them away from it. Happily, none really noticed snake nor yelling. And regardless, managed not to step on it.
Here’s the last one (30 September) — different coloration:
And this from November 2016 — Falsa Crucera de Hocico Respingado – Lystrophis dorbignyi (the tail is a giveaway):
And this from last November — Falsa Coral – Oxyrhopus rhombifer rhombifer (?):
I’m not particularly into snakes, but it presents an interesting challenge to figure out “who’s who” in the local snake world.
I’ve walked by this many times, but this day it caught my attention: burned-out (from the fire that deforested our dog-walk area) trunk of a pine tree. Charred outer bark, and inside the wood is disintegrating in rectilinear chunks. Huh?
Then, a snake. OK, just a snake – but no, the air was quite cool; the sun was quite hot, and the sky was blue dotted with puffy clouds, and it was lying still, almost into the sandy trail. We tried to keep the dogs from noticing it – and they didn’t – but because Syd and I stopped to look at it, three dogs came back, curious about the unusual human behavior. One almost danced on top of it, but amazingly none stepped on it. And still it didn’t move.
My best guess is it got to the side of the trail in lovely radiant heat from the sun, but when a cloud blocked the sun the cool air took over, its energy went away. I am not a biologist, much less a herpetologist. If you know more, I’d be interested to hear if I’ve got a handle on this.
It appears to be Lystrophis dorbignyi, or South American hognose snake.
Hearing the dogs stir shortly after sunrise this morning, I got up to let them out. Almost immediately Mocha started barking at the closer avocado tree (for the record, not the one I put fence around). Aha!
The first year we had avocados, there were 32 of them. So when a possum got one, it was a big deal. This year, both trees have been producing since March. At 6:45 AM, standing naked in the back yard watching a four-legged looter getting ready to steal an avocado, my best course of action quickly became clear: go back to bed.
Later we saw that the critter had indeed had a heart-healthy breakfast. Mocha wonders if it is still in the tree.
Meanwhile, a few feet away, our little orange tree whose first harvest (three oranges?) happened this year, looks primed to do considerably better next. Which would be wonderful. But I have to wonder if it will be as “dumb” as our lemon tree, and grow so much fruit that a branch breaks. Time will tell.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see it.
Note the size of my shoe at the bottom.
Here’s a video of one that showed up at a get-together in the interior.
Here’s a video of one we encountered on a walk.
A bird in our backyard pine tree, which is not particularly attractive but, as Syd told us long ago: “In Uruguay in summer, shade is good.”
Volunteer squash plants from the mound of dumped non-composted compost, taking over the side passageway of our house, fortunately not otherwise needed. Slightly wilted in the midday sun.
Yesterday, suddenly all the dogs were barking — at something just off the trail. Judging by the markings on the back, this doesn’t seem to be the one we saw a week ago.
And then a snake, similar markings to a dead one Syd and I saw. Not sure what’s going on with its tail. About 50 cm long and moving quickly to get away from us..
Here’s Ralf’s photo of the “dinosaur” Benji found the other day.
While Syd knows the entire area like the back of his hand, and has a pretty set route, Ralf likes to wander and explore. The other day we ran across beehives, which I’ve seen before, but wouldn’t be able to find on a map.
How nice to know that honey bees are happy and thriving in Uruguay!
You may recall that frogs here make strange sounds.
And remain oddly invisible, even in broad daylight.
Well, the town has decided to work on drainage, and lo and behold, with foliage gone we have plainly visible frogs! And of course Benji doesn’t quite know what to make of it.