Part of the attraction here is the variety of wildlife in Yarnell, Arizona. I truly enjoy watching animals and birds wander into the yard but recently the wild got a little personal.
Last week during the middle of the day movement in the yard caught my eye at the farthest water bowl maybe 30 feet away. Oh my, a coyote, in broad daylight. I quickly closed the front door so Sierra wouldn’t go outside and my movement caused the large coyote to run. No pic. I hear them almost every night yipping and howling. Night being the key word. But water is scarce and I keep several large bowls full.
A few days later word around town was about a skinny brown bear wandering our neighborhood. The woman who took these photos at 3pm lives on the block behind me. The fence belongs to my backyard neighbor. Not sure I want to see this wildlife in Yarnell as there isn’t enough natural food for them to eat.
I myself am not living a wild life here in Yarnell, no social butterfly, letting my hair down, or chasing around. Unless you consider a 30 mile drive to Wickenburg for groceries running around. I’m still wasting a lot of time on the computer, social media and labeling photos in March 2018 now.
I applied for a winter job at Joshua Tree National Park, a place I’ve thought about working for a while. I was referred to the Park Ranger jobs in California on the Inyo National Forest. Received an email asking if I had a preference for Lone Pine or Bishop where the Forest Service helps staff visitor centers. The Bishop site would also include the White Mountains Ancient Bristlecone Pine visitor center which offers more opportunities for interpretation and education and also my preference. This was not a job offer, yet.
About as wild as it got last week was National Selfie Day June 21st. Also would have been my mother’s 92nd birthday followed by dad’s 94th on the 24th. I’m lousy at selfies but decided to play.
I’m not always successful at photographing the wildlife. The multitude of various lizards tend to blend in with their surroundings as did the adorable three baby quail that dad watched over, and the deer bedded down in the shade in the wash.
Hummingbirds fly up to the doorway to let me know the feeder is empty.
A bird flew into the house and to the light of the kitchen window then to the other end of the house and window where Sierra chased and caught it. I quickly covered it and Sierra’s head with a towel, she dropped the bird and I took it outside where it flew away. Yea! There’s no screen door and I leave the door open most of the day for the airflow.
The wildest animal may be Sierra who will let me know with a stare and meow when she wants a treat or her food and water bowls are empty. Really, they never are but when they get low I think she worries.
My biggest wildlife worries are scorpions. Every night before going to bed I check for scorpions with the blacklight, on the floor, walls and ceiling, pulling back the covers all the way and carefully flipping pillows. Scorpions glow in the dark.
Sunday night, two hours after going to bed I woke up from something tickling my leg under the covers. Sure enough, a 1 ½” scorpion at the bottom of the bed between the sheets. My lower leg felt tingly. I grabbed the glass and cardboard bug catcher, trapped its unhappy glowing body, then threw it out the door. This quickly followed by a Benadryl and a bag of frozen peas on my leg. Couldn’t even see where it stung but there was a definite tingling and a tightness near the area. Rather freaked me out and I was almost prepared to go sleep in the 5th wheel if it hadn’t been midnight and a walk. I stayed up for about 30 minutes to make sure I didn’t have an allergic reaction. I just felt tired yet wasn’t sure I wanted to crawl back into the bed. But really, what’s the chances of there being two scorpions. Sierra let me sleep in until 7am. Guess I’ll survive although there was a numb and tingly patch on my leg all the next day and then it felt fine.
Actually, I may be the wildest one around here. Wild as in bat-shit crazy. Something needs to give soon. A decision about where I really live. Right now I am operating out of three places. Seems whatever I’m looking for is in a different place. I want to look up a bird, bird book is in the truckcamper while I’m in the house. Soon I may have to admit I really don’t have a summer job as a Park Ranger. In that case, I may become some of the wildlife in Yarnell.