Bay Bay and Cabela know that they get their breakfast after the Mama and Daddy finish eating. They sit in a strategic place on the great room rug to keep tabs on us as we eat. Click on the image to enlarge.
Critters
Bacon Time
Cabela and Bay Bay know that around seven PM is time for the bacon treats. Click on the image to enlarge.
Extermination Day
Last week we discovered a scorpion in the master suite. We found a second one near the office in the hall on Monday. I don’t know about you, but two scorpions in a few days is two too many.
I got on the phone yesterday and called the exterminator we had out last year for ants. The technician showed up today and did a perimeter spray inside and out. Hopefully, that should be that for scorpions and other crawly stuff.
Monsoons bring out all the insects looking for shelter. Unfortunately, it also brings out the termites and it looks like we have some subterranean termites building tubes around the base of the house. That will require a separate procedure which we’re going to have done soon.
Colorado River Toad
I noticed something moving on the RV drive last evening after some thundershowers. I thought it looked like a frog. We took photos of it while it was climbing up the slope behind the drive.
After a little research this afternoon, we believe it is a Colorado River Toad, a.k.a. Sonoran Desert Toad. It matches the description given in Wikipedia for such toads.
We have long heard that desert toads respond to thunder and come out of their burrows to look for pools in which to spawn. This is our first encounter with a desert toad.
Click on the image to enlarge.
From Wikipedia
The Colorado River toad, Bufo alvarius, also known as the Sonoran Desert toad, is a psychoactive toad found in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. Its skin and venom contain 5-MeO-DMT and bufotenin.
The Colorado River toad can grow to about 7.5 inches (190 mm) long and is the largest toad in the United States apart from the non-native cane toad (Bufo marinus). It has a smooth, leathery skin and is olive green or mottled brown in color. Just behind the large golden eye with horizontal pupil is a bulging kidney-shaped parotoid gland. Below this is a large circular pale green area which is the tympanum or ear drum. By the corner of the mouth there is a white wart and there are white glands on the legs. All these glands produce toxic secretions. Dogs that have attacked toads have been paralyzed or even killed. Raccoons have learned to pull a toad away from a pond by the back leg, turn it on its back and start feeding on its belly, a strategy that keeps the raccoon well away from the poison glands.
Zonked
Bay Bay and Cabela looked so cute this afternoon relaxing on the cushions in the great room. Bay Bay was on the sofa looking out the back door and Cabela was on the love seat looking out the front window. Relaxing, but still vigilant. Click on the image to enlarge.
