This one's for you, Aunt B

I have a wonderful blogging buddy, Aunt B. She has an awesome blog called Aunt B's Backyard where she chronicals the daily musings of her backyard critters. Some of you may know that I am a wildlife biologist (I'm on break right now), so I have lots of pictures of critters from my days out in the field. Aunt B recently asked me to share some of my critter photos, and I thought everyone might get a kick out of seeing some of my local fauna. Make sure you hop on over to her blog when you get a chance because she has some seriously awesome photos over there!! For now, here are a few of my favorites.

First up, the elusive federally threatened desert tortoise. This little guy is no more than 4 or 5 years old. Isn't he cute?? (BTW, under the Endangered Species Act, it's against the law to take, harm, harass, injur, kill, maim, etc., etc. any federally listed animal. Rest assured I took this picture with a very good zoom lens - I was VERY far away from him!)


Next up, quite possibly the best photo I've ever taken, is the Zebra-tailed lizard. These guys are TOUGH to photograph because they are so darn fast. They seem to never sit still. This little bugger sat on the rock for about a minute before he ran off. Check out his black and white stripped tail as well as his long skinny toes, perfectly adapted to practically glide over sand. No wonder they're so fast.

Last, but not least, is a picture of me holding a glossy snake. These snakes are, for the most part, quite gentle. Ocassionaly you'll get a mean one, but that's pretty rare. I suppose snakes have their bad days, too (like being caught in the middle of the night and handled by strange people - LOL!).

I think, from time to time, I'll post some fun pictures like these. I hope you enjoy them!