The Artful Dodger

On one side of the VC outside, we have three desert tortoise habitats. 

Digger, the 50 year old tortoise, lives in the first one.  Dozer lives in the third one way to the right of this pic.  Desert tortoises spent about 90% of their lives in their underground burrows.  For well over a year, there have only been two tortoises living here.  I’ve shown pictures of both Digger and Dozer in the past.  There was another tortoise in the middle habitat, but it disappeared quite some time ago.

A couple of weeks ago, this little tortoise suddenly appeared in the middle habitat.  It’s shell is only about six inches from front to back.  Where did it come from?  It’s been a mystery to all of us.  Could it have not been seen for over a year?  All three habitats have a feeding dish that we fill with things like broccoli and other dark green fresh vegetables for the tortoises to eat.  No food has been put in the middle habitat for a year or more.

A visitor was the first one to spot this tortoise, and thankfully she came in to tell us about it.  It was a surprise to everyone!  Poor little thing didn’t really have a name.  Since the other two tortoises had “D” names, I suggested Dodger.  It reminded me of Dickens's Artful Dodger in ‘Oliver Twist’.  After all, had it not avoided detection for over a year?  If not, it’s just one of life’s little mysteries.

There is also a desert garden surrounding the VC, and the Beaver Tail Cacti have begun to bloom.  Their flowers are such a brilliant rose/pink color that all the blooms just hit you in the face as you walk down the entrance sidewalk.

The ocotillos are also blooming even though there are no leaves on their stalks.  The plants here in the desert certainly have interesting adaptations to deal with the arid conditions.  The black-chinned hummingbirds have arrived and they are also enjoying the nectar from these blooms.

This little cactus is only about five inches tall, but it’s blooming too.  Can you see how it got it’s name?  It’s a nipple cactus.

Today I drove to Yuma to meet Janna, from Montana.  When she read that I was uncomfortable going to Los Algodones, Mexico, by myself, she offered to go with me.  She wanted to get her teeth cleaned, and I wanted to get a filling fixed.  I chose not to go with their suggestion of treatment.  They wanted to do a crown, and I’m not ready to go there yet or return two more times to accomplish it.  I’m a chicken when it comes to dentists and going to Mexico.  It is what it is.  I guess I’ll just visit the dentist I’m sort of comfortable with in Minnesota next fall.  Going to a dentist makes me nervous enough that I didn’t even get a picture of meeting Janna.  I’d like to thank her though for making this trip so much less stressful for me.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy