Feeding the Missionaries

We have the opportunity to feed the missionaries frequently. This is the third set we've had over to dinner since our move, but the first time we bothered to take photos.

The highlight of dinner was the cookies-and-cream brownie dessert pictured here: 

(Janell, if you do come visit us, we will make you some.)

The missionaries usually share an uplifting message with us at the end of dinner, but this time they got a bit distracted and instead spent the time admiring our critter collection and hearing about our lizard project.

This is Sister Donaldson (from Logan, UT!!!) 

with Drayk, the desert iguana:

This is Sister Farley (from Fresno, CA) 

with Charcoal, the king snake:

If they don't get transferred in the next week, they want to get permission to 

come out to the desert with us on their P-day (preparation day) to catch critters. 

We admire them for taking to heart the commandment: 

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15).

Star Wars Geeks Forever

  April just can't resist clearance sales on Star Wars shirts,

especially when they have 4 sizes that happen to fit her 4 children .

If Lizards Could Speak

 We've encountered many FTHLs this year with injuries.

While a few of them are obvious as to the reason--

i.e. if a lizard is inclined to bask on the road...

it might end up looking like this--

we see many injuries that make us wonder,

"What exactly happened to you, little guy?"

 Surprisingly, many of our captures are missing one or two occipital horns and a portion of the tail.

 

We can only guess that perhaps a Roundtail Ground Squirrel 

(the #1 predator) may have attacked, but we don't know for sure.

We've seen a handful of these predators, Leopard Lizards, in our plots over the summer.

But who would be inclined to just bite a leg off?

Then, one day on a survey plot, we found this FTHL lying belly-up, paralyzed from the waist down, but still alive. It had visible puncture wounds on both sides of the body (on either side of the number 5) and there were kit fox tracks in the vicinity. But if a kit fox bit it, why didn't it eat the whole lizard? A member of the crew did witness a kit fox catch and ingest a FTHL on a different plot.

 The following day, another lizard was found in a similar condition, its back end paralyzed,

and hence the reason for its strange track pattern.

(click photo to enlarge)

We have yet to see this predator/prey interaction (photo courtesy of  Lin Piest), 

but who knows how frequently it might occur...

Mango Addiction

 Mangoes are one of the delectable pleasures of mortality.

They are on sale in Yuma nearly every week at Food City (3/$1.00).

Food City is a block away from our house.

Witness our poster child, happily promoting the virtues of the mango:

It takes but a few minutes to blend up a mango lassi and even fewer minutes to ingest one.

We think we need to see if a mango tree will grow in our yard here.