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Borrego Springs, CA

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Spiders, red wolves, and bears… Oh My!

Yes, some days I feel like I am living in the land of Oz.  If you take the time to look, there really is so much to see every day.

_MG_0554Some people don’t like snakes, and some people don’t like mice.  I don’t really care for spiders, but they are such interesting creatures.  I found this large common garden spider wrapping up his dinner the other day.  I’m not sure, but that might have been a dragonfly that got caught in the spider’s web.

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Then on the way home from working the Gateway VC this evening, I glanced to the left down one of the refuge farm roads and saw my first ever red wolf in the wild.  Yahoo!  It immediately took off running, and I stomped on the brakes, turned, and tried to follow it.  Believe it or not, it is that little dot on the edge of the right hand tire track down near the tree line.

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I tried to crop another pic way down to get a closer view, but Picasa kept it small.  Don’t know why that happened.  I did get two wonderful views of the wolf as I was driving, but I haven’t mastered driving and taking pictures at the same time like some folks have.  Green with envy  The most amazing thing to me was the speed that this wolf attained.  It ran the entire length of the field in mere seconds!  Seeing that wolf sure made my day!

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Last Monday evening as I was driving to meet my friends Carl and Ellen for dinner, I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye.  There was a male black bear peeking through the woods.  I stopped the car to wait and see what he would do next.  I think he wanted to cross the road.

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He turned around and went back into the woods.  I decided to wait a bit to see if he would reappear.  Sure enough, a couple of minutes later he stepped out onto a fallen log that jutted out into the water ditch.

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He reminded me of the poor bears you see in a circus balancing on a ball.  It was so much better to see how they can balance that big bulky body naturally.  After staring me down for a few minutes, he again chose to go back into the woods.  As I sat waiting, I glanced at my rear view mirror and saw him scampering across the road about 50 yards behind me.  He got where he wanted to go, and I enjoyed the brief encounter.  So, I clicked my heels together and said, “There’s no place like home.”  Of course I wasn’t magically transported anywhere because, after all, I am home.  Smile

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                                                                               THE END!!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

23 comments:

  1. Great pictures! I love the one of the bear peaking out! The highlight of a trip for us one year was seeing a magnificent wolf in Idaho. What a beautiful animal he was.

    You, Judy, seem to have an eye. Rich could catch movement out of the side of his eyes, something practically has to slap me in the face to see it! When I see your pictures, I feel like I'm really seeing the animals. Great blog.

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  2. Your home is the best. Hopefully you can get a closer shot of the red wolf.

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  3. What wonderful photos. You just seem to always be in the right place at the right time...and we are lucky enough to enjoy your adventures.

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  4. I have a great fascination, and a healthy respect, for wolves. Would have made my day to see one in the wild like that. The spider is creepy but it's a great photo!!

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  5. What magnificent pictures, you are so lucky to see so much, your eyes are really trained, you are in the perfect place.

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  6. I like those safe, personal encounters with bears. Notice I said safe.
    Syl

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  7. Any time I get to see a bear or a wolf or a fox is magical to me. And I like spiders and snakes, but cannot stand rodents of any kind and that includes rabbits! I would have to say that mice are worse than rabbits though.

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  8. I'm like hobopals - I just don't see things unless they walk up to me and say hi. The bear was sooo cute peeking out at you and then figuring out how to get behind you so he was safe to cross. Love it.

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  9. Ok, you can keep the spiders although their webs never cease to amaze me. We're off in the RV for a few days so hoping to see a bear or two on our travels.

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  10. Judy, my friend, if any of us "deserve" to be magically transported by the wonders of nature, it is YOU!

    You are giving and you are receiving a bit of your reward!

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  11. I can't believe what amazing bear photos you have taken this year, Judy. truly wonderful

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  12. Excellent pics of the bear. He's a beauty, isn't he? BUT, as far as I'm concerned, you can ALWAYS leave off spider pictures. They give me the shivers....

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  13. Great shot of the bear. Like playing hide and seek.

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  14. More great encounters ... I've had some great wolf encounters ... and some foxes, too ... but all of those are recorded in the brain cells and not in digital images.

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  15. We enjoyed our trip to the zoo yesterday but it is a much richer experience to see critters in the wild.

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  16. terrific bear photos, just love them. Awesome spider one, too. Glad you got to see the fox, even if you don't have a digital photo. I've missed some great nature memories because I was fiddling with my camera.

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  17. And you're not wearing Ruby Red Slippers!

    Glad you got to see your wild wolf. With all the wildlife there, who needs to go to Yellowstone NP? ;c)

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  18. I don't like spiders on me but I love to look at their webs, they are fascinating. That is a big bear!!

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  19. Love those bear pictures. Amazing how often you see them. That first one is calendar quality. You are sure living some life you lucky thing. I know you wish you hip would stop giving you trouble in this great life. So do I.

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  20. Love those bear pictures and the wolf and the icky spider

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  21. Amazing, amazing, amazing photos. . .makes me realize I need to just get out and explore more! Thanks. . .

    Janice
    ReadyToGoFullTimeRVing.blogspot.com

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