Wildlife encounter at fruit tree pruning workshop in San Diego, CA (Kearny Mesa). A first for me: baby rattlesnake at trunk of pluot. We’d been warned of rattlesnakes, and I won’t be wearing shorts next time we do work there!
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Awwwww!
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That rattlesnake is so scary! You can hardly see it.
I didn’t get a pic, but I saw a nice sized black snake skin that had been rubbed off on my pear trunk! I’m very happy to see my black snakes have started wandering through the orchard. The birds and rodents are afraid of being too near them.
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I don’t think I’d call that a baby…I associate the word “baby” with innocence. I didn’t get that association when looking at that snake… 
Katy
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Saw a wood duck and her babies trucking through the woods yesterday. When I went for a better picture the momma acted wounded and led me away and the babies just seemed to vanish.
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For a lot of reasons that are hard to explain, this is my favorite orchard wildlife I’ve ever found. This is a wild bobwhite quail nest! It was in tall grass right beside my orchard. I’m so exited because quail are actually pretty rare and are becoming more so every day. As I hunter I genuinely care about the well being of game animals and resources, even if that does sound contradictory. Quail are also such beautiful birds, and I love hearing that wonderful “BOB-WHITE” call they make. I’m also excited because my Brittany Spaniel will have more chances to interact with his target animal. I found this nest because I noticed him locked up on point and went to investigate. Mama flew off and I was thrilled to find a perfect dozen quail eggs. What a wonderful surprise!
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We now have a pretty good BOB White Quail population at my place. Tremendous eating. I have found over the last 4 years by eradicating the Raccoons, Possums, Armadillos the Population of ALL the ground egg laying birds gas increased substantially. In trying to remove the nuisance population that eat all the eggs from the ground you can increase the good bird population actually quite substantially and in a fairly quick period.
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To beautiful to post in an insect thread! 
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Quail are pretty scarce in my area nowadays and I always get excited when I see one. When I was a kid I saw them all the time and even had one for a pet. Anymore all there is is fescue pastures and they really don’t have anywhere left to raise their brood.
Used to be that mocking birds would mimic them constantly and it seems as if the ones around here no longer know how. Thanks for the pic and memories.
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Garden friend!
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I keep on throwing tree frogs out of my pool. I get brown leopard types too. For many years I wondered what that noise was in the trees. Then I finally saw one as it chirped. They don’t sound quite like a regular frog. They hang out in the trees and go swimming after dark.
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I just came out on the deck to enjoy a cocktail and there was a bear down below. Last night they tore apart my birdfeeders. A couple nights ago one visited a few homes along our road at 3am, it woke me up and I watched it for a while until it climbed on our deck railing (2nd story) and was walking around on it. We finally discharged a pistol to scare it off (no, we didn’t shoot the bear). Word around the neighborhood is we have 2 juveniles causing a bit of trouble.
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Too close forcomfort!
We have coyotes and my property backs on to a pond and marsh where packs of them live. I’ve been taking my puppy to my orchard twice a day. It is only enclosed with hidden fencing on two sides. Last evening I spotted huge coyote Skat in my orchard. The coyotes have eaten four small dogs in the area. Scared the poop out if me, so took new puppy inside. So much for enjoying my orchard!
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