wildlife

 No, I'm not living a wild life, I am referring to wildlife. as in the creatures that live in the wild.

I guess the dry spell we are experiencing draws animals into the yard looking for water.  Can they sense or smell the water in the pool?

Of course this hawk could see it from above.

She walked along the edge for a few minutes, trying to figure out a way to reach the water.

Finally she took off and splashed into the water and right back out again. Not sure if she was actually able to get a drink or not.

Puss was watching the action and rushed over to poolside to see if a rescue was necessary (yeah, right).

On another day I carried out a rescue....

A box turtle in the pool with no way to climb out.

I scooped her out with the net and then splashed her around in the bird bath to rinse the chlorinated water from her skin and eyes.

She wasn't too shaken up about it.  Pretty markings!

Next time, it was a deer up near the pool.  She looked at the water but didn't get too close.

It turns out she was thirsty because she went over and got a drink from the bird bath.

Then topped that off with a drink from another bird bath.

Then she thought she might as well have a snack of Phlox from the flower bed. 

That's the only flower she found appealing but the grass nearby was mighty tasty!

Earlier that day, I had noticed something that looked like a wide ribbon flapping around at the right side of the swing...moving back and forth in the breeze.

I had an idea what it was and as I got closer...yep, a snake skin.  A long one, too!

I was trying to look overhead and at the ground too, making sure the snake wasn't still around.

Can you see the skin there? Hanging between the swing and the tree?

Looks like the snake snagged the old skin on the rough wood and crawled right out of it.  That was smart - to let gravity help with the job.

Here's the other side. I took the skin down and it looked to be about 5 feet long.

That about wraps up my wildlife for now.

I'm so glad we are finally getting some rain today!