Featured Strange Sights For Strange Times--what Weirdness Have You Seen Lately?

Awesome, DCS!!!

 

Perhaps a rattlesnake or a lizard or a rabbit. Just on the other side of the walking path that I was on is a "wash" as we call it in the desert--a creek bed that's dry 99% of the time unless we get a monsoon or big rain. So I guess he could catch something in there if it had been raining but most likely it would be an old tire or discarded sweatshirt.

 

My walks have been unusually un-strange lately....until today. Rather than my typical hilly neighborhood route I went west on the river path. I saw plenty of strange sights today including a turtle in an aquarium perched on a block wall. I'm kind of thinking I should call that sighting in to a local wildlife rescue? He looked like he was asking for help.



I also saw these sights on today's walk. There seem to be more homeless and homeless camps lately.



Edit: I called Arizona Fish & Game this afternoon to report the turtle which, from photos I texted to Tucson Wildlife Rescue, was confirmed to be a desert tortoise, a protected species. Like I said, the turtle looked like he was asking for help. I'll walk by again tomorrow morning to see if anything has changed.

 

A couple of days ago I saw more wildlife than usual, too. This first critter is a King Snake which reportedly (and thankfully) eat rattlesnakes. But I don't know that I'd count too much on this little guy--he looks a bit small to me to take on a rattler at this point.


There's one spot on my usual walking route where a "wash" crosses the residential street(translation of wash - a dry stream bed that runs only and profusely when it rains). I've seen a javelin stroll out of the wash, cross the street, and make its way up the shaded hill on multiple occasions but haven't been able to snap a decent photo. On this day I scooted over and under the trees and was able to get a photo of not only the javelina I saw cross the street but also of his buddy who was already in the underbrush.

 

Yesterday on our morning walk with Annie, Mr. Sandi and I walked past the yard of a place where some new neighbors have moved in. Typically their little white dog comes charging out and barks like crazy at Annie who has learned to ignore the ruckus. But on this day there were new critters who came to the fence to say hello. I don't have photos of the chickens but there four chickens, three ducks, and a white turkey. Yes, @Duckadiledundee, ducks in the desert! And in the middle of a city, mind you.

Neither Mr. Sandi nor I have ever seen a white turkey. Have any of you?? He was pretty happy to check us out and fluff up his feathers for us. I don't know if Annie's eyesight has gotten really poor these days but she ignored the white turkey the same way she has learned to ignore Little White Barky Dog.

 

The new neighbors who have the ducks, chickens, and turkeys I posted photos of recently also have a little white dog (Jack) who loves to lie in wait and then run out and bark madly at Mr. Sandi and Annie and me. Probably mostly Annie. A couple of days ago we saw Jack out with the two little girls of the family new to the 'hood. We stopped to chat and to ask them why Jack was riding in a wagon. They said they wanted to take him for a walk but they couldn't find his leash so they put him in the wagon and took him for a pull.