Staying Out Late

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This is a really cute baby Coachwhip Snake (Masticophis flagellum) that Marble brought inside and presented to us on Saturday. The morning temperatures have been freezing  down to the mid teens in the mornings, but the high was around 70º F on Saturday afternoon; therefore, I guess this little guy was out trying to find another meal before hibernating, or Marble was scratching around in the mulch and found the snake. Lizards and snakes like to burrow into the mulch when it’s cold outside. The mulch is warm campared to the outside temperatures because of the composting action. You can see a photo of steam rising from one of our mulch piles on a cold morning at https://photos.tandlphotos.com/blog/2015/9/bright-night-cool-steamy-morning. You can also see photos of a pair of adult Coachwhip Snakes in their mating ritual at https://photos.tandlphotos.com/blog/2017/5/snakes-in-love. And lastly, you can see Spunk’s reaction to a Coachwhip Snake at https://wp.me/s1yQyy-snake.

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Resa’s Tree in Morning Light

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Resa’s Tree looking north.

I was thinking that Resa’s tree might turn all yellow before turning brown; however, we had a har frost last night that turned the lower leaves brown. Many of the trees in the bosque that were yellow last night turned brown today.

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Resa’s Tree looking northeast.
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Resa’s tree backlit looking east.
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Sandias reflecting
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Cottonwood in the bosque that still has a yellow on top.