Wildlife on the commute...

[Running Mommy]

I'm not a commuter- work from home, but I do see a lot of desert critters on all my rides. This morning it was a baby taranutula and a baby lizard. And when I say they were babies.. think the size of a cotton ball!
But the other day was wildlife central around here. Saw two snakes- almost ran over one! , a big quail family, racing lizards (they race me down the street), a road runner with a small snake in his mouth, and a coyote.
I was a bit concerned about the coyote as we usually don't see them mid morning unless they are sick..

[crazycanuck]

Um..what's a racing lizard???

Also, can you take a pic of a road runner??? Are they dangerous or is that only when Wily Coyote's around?

C

[amy]

Wow! I need to get out of the city!

[margo49]

Thank you for the picture and info.
It sounds very "adapted".
Do not think I would like to reincarnate as one tho'

[dellafalls]

Small.... town WestCoast, I've been seeing deer, salmon jumping, geese, and lots of black bears along the river.

[margo49]

a road runner with a small snake in his mouth, ..

You mean a roadrunner is an actual for real animal not a Disney creation?

[7rider]

You mean a roadrunner is an actual for real animal not a Disney creation?

I think you mean Warner Brothers!
Yup, they're for real.
http://www.desertusa.com/mag98/sep/papr/road.html

[northstar]

I think you mean Warner Brothers!
Yup, they're for real.
http://www.desertusa.com/mag98/sep/papr/road.html

Wow, that is a bizarre looking creature!

Still batting 1000 on seeing deer in the morning. It was a BIG one this morning!

Closest I ever came to having anything swooping at my head was when I almost got taken out by a huge goose. That probably would have brought about a trip to the emergency room!

[RoadRaven]

Closest I ever came to having anything swooping at my head was when I almost got taken out by a huge goose.

On my training ride at weekends, and any day I get to commute one way or the other to work, I am bait.

We have magpies who swoop and are getting braver and braver (although they always attack from behind. Usually before summer begins there are some who connect with helmets.

So my partner/ sons go and lie in wait with a rifle for me to bike past in the various "magpie zones" in the hope they will see where the birds land. So far we have sorted one!

[Running Mommy]

Ha ha! Yeah, we have some real critters around here..

CC- I call them "racing lizzies" because they race me down the road. It's hysterical. They are fast little suckers, and they can keep up for a good while!
I happen to like lizards. Good thing too because we have a ton in the back yard. They are quite amusing to watch. Some of them stand and do lizzy push ups on my patio. Yes- push ups. Very funny.

And roadrunners.. They are quite cool birds. Some of them are pretty big, and I haven't yep stopped making the cartoon "beep beep" when one runs by.
We also have ground squirrels and cute little white tailed bunnies.
Oh- and Gila monsters... That is the one lizard I DONT want to see..
But that is life in the sonoran desert... Lot's o wildlife!

Oh- This really upset me! There is a wash (large dry creek/ riverbed type area used for monsoon rain run offs) near my house. Washe's typically are a rattlesnakes habitat. That is one reason why I stay OUT of the wash, as does running son.
We do take a trail to school that runs parrallel to the wash. I always see kids cutting through the wash on their way to school. I have warned them that there are snakes in the wash, and that they need to be very careful. Our snakes are a perfect desert brown, and with all the scrub brush in the wash, it's hard to spot them- but they are there.
A year ago a little dog died when the owner was walking it through the wash (dumb owner) and it was struck by a snake. It died on the way to the vet.

So anyway, my neighbor told me about another neighbor who was walking through the wash with his kids recently and came across a snake- so he killed it!! This angered me to no end. I HATE snakes, they scare the bajeepers out of me. I don't know how people can have them as pets, they just aren't my cup of tea.. BUT that is THEIR house, and IMO they deserve to live too! The poor snake was just minding his business hanging out in his home and BOOM some stupid human decided he needed to be dead- all so that his kids could save a few footsteps on their way to and from school.... Oh it just made me so angry!!!
My neighbor said "yeah, now we call him the snake killer"... She wasn't happy either.