Dead skunk in the middle of the road

Apache Violin Spider

We come across a fair amount of wildlife out here. Largely because often times we are actively looking for it (well, Joe actively looks, I actively look at whatever he points out once he finds it). There are instances when the wildlife comes on unexpectedly, like when a nice bird flies near our living room window, or when an apache violin spider skitters across the bathroom floor. Ah, yes. The brown recluse-ish spider that we found last month was the female counterpart to  the smaller male that we found two days ago. This time Joe captured it and brought it to the entomologist at NM State University, who informed us that it was not a brown recluse but a member of the same necrotic-cell-inducing family. Fun.

Stinkin' to high heaven

Although I'm not yet emotionally prepared for it, snake season has begun. I've seen two already, luckily neither was of the venomous variety, but it's only a matter of time. Meanwhile, there's no reason why not to celebrate the cool creatures that we've seen in our short time out here. The other day we scored big and found TWO dead skunks in the middle of the road. (Note the fine vegetation in the picture-- that's what all of southern NM looks like.)

L: Cooper's Hawk
R: Golden Eagle

In related news, last night Joe gave a presentation on Peregrines and Golden Eagles to the Southwest Environmental Center. He looked dapper as always and did a great job sharing his information and answering questions. We're well on our way to becoming pillars of the community.