Austin, Part 1

A lovely, lazy weekend at Scott and Monica’s ranch in Wimberley. Thursday night started off with a bang when Monica discovered a snake in the chicken coop, bulging with the two eggs it had just stolen from the hens’ nests. Scott quickly dispatched the snake, a few feet long, with his rifle. It kept moving after it was killed, heightening my sense of how creepy snakes are.

Hanging out at the ranch is always a time for nature exploration. Aside from all the animals they own and actively tend to, there are a host of wild critters easily available to view. Dave spotted this jackrabbit by the way the sunlight made his ears pink.

This orb spider has woven a huge web outside Monica’s office window.

Care for a close-up? Click here OrbSpiderFull.

There are also teeny wild deer and a family of wild turkeys. We spotted one toad (larger than my fist) on Thursday night and another one Friday morning before the dew burned off. There was a spiny lizard sunning himself on the back porch, too. Monica keeps lots of hummingbird feeders out and it’s not unusual to see a half dozen or more hummers circling about. She also has some fabulous birds – we saw cardinals, titmice, and chickadees, along with a number of buzzards.