Double-Fisted Snakes!

So tonight was a snake night.  We set out on the usual trail behind our house for a
walk with CeCe.  Right away, Linda spotted a juvenile Great Basin Gopher Snake.
He was pretty easy to catch, since he was right in the middle of the path.  So in my
right hand, I was holding this little baby hissing, biting gopher snake.  And then, we
were walking across the street about half-way through our walk (as I am still carrying
the baby snake) we spot a large Western Yellow-bellied Racer in the gutter!  So, with
one snake in my right hand, I was able to wrangle the racer with my left.  The racer
promptly bit my hand, but then quickly calmed down and just rested with it's head tucked
under its body for the rest of the walk home.  Here is a shot of me once we got home, a
snake in each hand and a grin!

1975...

That will be our address.  Pretty cool since 1975 was the coolest year ever in history.  The only thing that sucks is our house currently looks like this:

It's Official...

...I've been in Reno 1 year this weekend.  Both Linda and I are glad to call Reno our new home.
There is just something about the West....something that only people who lived a long, long time
in the East can understand and not take for granted....

Meana and Tuna have certainly made themselves at home.

Critters abound in my backyard.

Natural camouflage, its really quite amazing.  Now I know why I haven't seen one of these
guys until last night, when we took CeCe for a walk.  This little lizard was basking in the middle
of the path.  The wierdest part about it, was that I spent a few hours on the Internet yesterday at
work, reading about horned lizards, and wondering where I could find one.   Then, as I was walking
with Linda and CeCe, I said, "you know Linda, we should be able to find horned lizards around
here..."  Five minutes later, we walked up on one!   Pretty cool since I was thinking about
them and how I always wanted to see one, and then there one was....

Labor Day Weekend Post #3 (Monday)

On Labor Day we drove a little north out of Redding along I-5 to check out the Mt. Shasta area.  We ended
up at the Castle Crags State Park for much of the time, hiking in the mountains and along the Sacramento
River.

The highlight for me was encountering a Shasta Alligator Lizard:

Labor Day Weekend Post #2 (Sunday)

On Sunday morning we departed early and headed north out of Redding up into Oregon with Crater Lake as our destination.  It took about 3 hours to get there but it was worth it...

Labor Day Weekend Post #1 (Saturday)

Last weekend we headed over to Redding, CA and met up with my pops for a weekend of outdoor activities.  Lassen Volcanic National Park was on the list for Saturday.