While watching a large Monarch larva crawl away from the milkweeds, paying attention to where it might be heading to start pupating, I was very fortunate to discover a juvenile rattlesnake hiding behind a clay flower pot on the grass. (For those counting, this makes five since I’ve lived here.) Had I not been watching the caterpillar, I never would have found the snake. Quickly gathered a bunch of snake-catching utensils and a couple of containers and surprisingly easily coaxed it into one of the containers. Drove it down with my mom to the far end of the street and walked it far down into the canyon to release it. Took some pictures of the whole adventure. Never once during this entire episode did it rattle or even seem upset.

Discovered

Coiled and caught

For scale

Undercarriage

Released

New home

My mom found this 4″ baby Alligator Lizard on our dining room floor today. Caught it in a styrofoam cooler and set it free in the backyard. He was not a happy little guy. Hope he grows up to eat many Black or Brown Widows.

Took some super close-up macro shots of two tobacco hornworms on one of my mom’s tomato plants. These guys were huge. They are amazing creatures that look nasty but are so docile. They are the larvae of the Hawk Moth, also known as the Hummingbird Moth or Sphinx Moth. I also learned that the “eyes” on the sides are called spiracles and they are actually used in respiration of gases. Nuff said.