Happy Ostara/Zombie Jesus Day

[summer_jackel]

Spring is beautiful.






A baby banana slug moistening itself in my goldfish pond.






Things found under rocks! CA slender salamander and darkling beetle.




Juvenile ensatina




CA slenders






centipede millipede


Whose home is this? A trapdoor spider? A burrowing grub?




This was another, very near the first. I've never seen these before, probably because they are very subtle and I haven't known to look, possibly because their makers are rare or live in s very specific kind of redwood duff habitat.




A black salamander!


This pretty thing, true to species type, was fast, and bolted into her burrow with haste.






The CA slenders don't go anywhere.


An attractive fungus!


An attractive dog










A mother wolf spider with spiderlings!






A tender forest orchid



I lost one of my lovely silver dollar fish, Spot, to the power outage last month. Adding new fish to my tank is a big deal because it's so old and established; the youngest fish in there up until now was Comfort the pictus cat, who is five years old. The three remaining silvers, Silver, Sterling and Swift, are probably around eight (I've had them for seven years). They are schooling and three is not enough of them, so I just brought home a couple of adorable baby silvers. I'm calling them Sprite and Sleekit. I can't seem to take fish pics that don't suck, but this is still cute:

Comments

[summer-jackel.livejournal.com]

I really enjoy yours, too; we have totally different biotia, and I love seeing what's common in your area and doesn't exit at all in mine. Neat that there are any banana slugs nearish where you are, although not at all good because they're invasive. I didn't know that they had become an introduced invasive anywhere, and am fascinated.

[summer-jackel.livejournal.com]

Any idea how they got there to begin with?

[larylich.livejournal.com]

Did you get to poke the salamander? They like to be poked.

[summer-jackel.livejournal.com]

I didn't handle any of them on this particular occasion, although I do love to pick up the slenders and the ensatinas, which are quite docile. Still, as they are skin-breathers even as adults, I try not to handle them unless I am able to moisten my hands (and we forgot the water that day). The swift, spotted fellow was either a black salamander or an arboreal salamander, which turn out to be related species which are hard to tell apart. Kyn and I have both pored over it, and I don't think either of us have decided if we have an opinion about the ID. Both species have lungs, but both bite, and unlike the lungless species are quick and do as much as they can to evade people. I had no desire to handle her, though seeing her was a thrill. I see them much less frequently.

It's warmed up here now, and though May is gorgeous, I believe we are past the rainy season, when there is a salamander to be found beneath every piece of fallen bark. Oh well. All seasons have their wonders.