Fritz's New Antic . . .

This little animal never ceases to amaze me. 

I checked the flower pot to see if she was done in there asleep.  I looked closely and no she was not down in amongst the stalks of the plant.  Then I realized she was laying on top of the leaves, stretched out like a small but fat snake.

I guess she did not need the security of being hidden down in the plant, but counted on her natural camouflage to blend in with the leaves.  Well she fooled me, for a while.  Like I said, she was sort of bent around the leaves, ceverly using her colors to blend with what was there.

She seemed to be out of it, asleep.  She did not look at me nor did she spook.  So I guess she was still out of it.

Checked the afternoon, rainy day, and she was long gone, out on the hunt somewhere or other. 

I'll bet she will be back in or around the flower pot late this evening.  It is her refuge.

Amazing how little insignificant animals live and survive around us.

Checked the Flower Pot Again. . .

I noted yesterday about 8 AM Fritz had departed the flower pot.  Indeed saw her all over the patio and the sidewalk around the patio.  She was more mobile with the increase in temperature.  Hungry too I bet.

I cut the grass and as usual had to blow off the sidewalks and street curb.  Came around to the back of the house and Fritz was out in front of the wood pile about 10 or so inches from the edge of the sidewalk.  So I skirted around her.  She was unperturbed by the blower noise, powered by a 25 CC two cycle engine.  I blew the remainder of the sidewalk off and looked back and she had not moved.  As I went back to the front I blew over her and she just sat there.  I think she was expecting a few bugs to blown out from the cracks.  No matter, she could careless about me and the blower.  Now if I did not have the blower, well she may not have let me get that close before skedaddling away.

So this morning I got up just after 5 AM, and was in the kitchen area by 5:30 and on a lark decided to check the baker's rack and the flower pot.  Yep, she was in there all bedded down.  It must be a secure spot for her, to high for a snake to get her, though I suppose if the snake knew she was there, it would climb the baker's rack and go after her.  But first the snake has to know she is there and of course, we have have a snake too.  Haven't seen a snake around here for a couple of years.

While cutting the grass I saw a Fritz junior out back near the hose box.  There is an abandoned flower bed there and another not abandoned across from it.  The hose box is next to the water faucet from the well.  There is also a small, well it is taller than me, Crepe Myrtle there too.  We have seen Fritzes there on an off over the years.  There is yet another one that lives under the well pressure tank.  He has reached the adult stage but is still not as big as Fritz.

And there is a front porch Fritz, medium sized that lives in and around the front porch, well more like stoop. There are a couple of large spruces and other plants about.  So it is ideal hunting territory for him.

Strange pets of sorts, but they are ours.

Fritz . . .

Checked the flower pot on the baker's rack this morning and she was still in the pot.  The weather is going to heat up a bit this afternoon and I am sure she will come out hunting.

I do not know these little animals know when to stay put and when to come foraging.  But they do.  In her case, I am sure it is temperature related.  I think lizards are cold blooded so they need the heat to be able to function.  Until it gets warm, she will stay put.

And until then, I can not water the plant.  Cie La Vie!

We Got Rain . . .

We had a nice long soaking rain last night.  We had a little more than an inch and half of rain,  
That is almost unheard of this time of year in this locality.

We were drying up.  We had been spot watering using a single hose and sprinkler from the well.  That way it was not a strain on the system.  That perked up the Weeping Willow tree out front and the Wax Myrtles.  They were showing signs of the doubt.  The willow has lost about half its leaves.

We had to have the irrigation well tune up.  It just quit a couple of days ago when it was really hot and dry.  That did not bode well.  The well people came out and checked it out.  It seems the pressure switch which turns on and off the pump was shot.  They also replaced the starter circuits too.  The capacitor for the starting circuit is on top and not on the well pump itself.  The pump is submersed and is a couple of hundred feet down.  At any rate that really perked up the system.

The way it works is when the pressure in the system drops to 45 PSI, the well pump kicks on and when the pressure reaches 65 PSI, it cuts off.  Well the switch was not kicking on right and finally just stopped.  The starter circuit enhanced the response of the well pump too.   So they put a new pressure gauge on, adjusted the new valve and now it runs like a top.  Now I know to lubricate the switch every once in a while to keep it from getting stiff and to keep that rapid response up.

So the yard is greening up.  The oak trees are smiling so to speak,  They were showing signs of distress.  Even missing one day of watering was tough on them.  Now they are all good to go for a while.

Lot's of people do not realize we live on the edge of the desert here.  The local cities rely on man made lakes for their water supply.  So if it does not rain regularly things get tense and then very hard nosed.  So far this year we have escaped that since we had a wet spring.  That was about to run out but this recent couple of rains have done much to recharge the resevoirs and green up the vegitation.

Relief for a while, then the cycle takes over again.