Unusual Creatures -- Thurs., May 24

Cotulla, Texas:

Looks like our gate is about to get busy again. One of the job foreman told me to expect a bunch of semis tonight to haul away the big water tanks. Then in the morning, we will see a line of tanker trucks come in. Our days of one-to-three log pages are over.

Bob is up in San Antonio this afternoon and evening. He is doing a Costco and Office Max run. I took over for him about 1:30 p.m., but the gate hasn't been too busy up to this point. We are just finishing up page two on the log.

The temperature is 102 today and a hot breeze is blowing which alleviates the black biting flies. We've had dust devils come ripping through our site (and believe me there's plenty of dust and wind). I try not to be outside in the path of one.

Last night one of the Springbok antelope was visible on the ranch across the road. 

Springbok Antelope

kaybruce.wordpress.com

The springbok is a medium-sized brown and white gazelle that stands about 70 to 90 cm high. Springbok males weigh between 33 and 50 kg and the females between 25 and 40 kg. Wikipedia

Scientific name: Antidorcas marsupialis

I am a nature girl. Love to be out in it, exploring, discovering, communing with benevolent wildlife. For some reason the wildlife like to live with us. You heard about the Bewick's wren we had to dissuade from nesting under our slide out. ( A Little Bird and A Little Bird, Part 2 )

Today we had a walking stick living with us on our entry door. Isn't it cool! I love walking sticks. They're designed to camouflage in bushes by looking exactly like a twig. Bob pointed out that this one wasn't doing a very good job. Our fifth wheel trailer door is white.

In the photo, I put my hand next to it so you can see how big it is. I would have picked it up and put it on my arm, but I didn't want to disturb it. (Again, my apologies for all the dust inside my camera. I don't know how to get it out. Compressed air says not to use it on camera mirrors.)

That is the biggest walking stick I have seen. We had walking sticks and praying mantis at our house in Hawaii, but nothing like this. (Everything's bigger in Texas, right?)

Other unusual creatures: 

• Bob and one of the workers spotted what looked like a scorpion without a tail. They didn't know what it was so they squashed it...said it was real juicy. (Just like a man to say that.) Looking on Google it may have been a vinegaroon (alt. spelling vinegarone), sunspider [also called wind scorpion] or a whip scorpion, none of which are harmful to people.
• I saw quite a few 2" long, shiny black, wasp-like flying insects. One of them had picked up a cricket as big as it was and carried it away. Sounds kind of like the new "warrior wasps" from Indonesia.
• Numerous types of beetles

The trailer is shakin' like a leaf on a tree as the winds are picking up. Weather forecast says gusts as high as 21 mph. I think the gusts may be a bit stronger than that. We have massive clouds of blowing dust. The dust sets off the motion detector at the gate and rings the bell in our trailer. Think of a continuously dinging doorbell.  It's making me a little ringy dingy.  : (


Darkness is descending. According to our log, there are still two people at Pad A. I wonder if they're still back there or if they exited through the "cow gate." Hmmmm.


All for now. I'm going to attempt to latch the front gate (in the wind, no less.)


Got the gate closed. While I was out closing the gate, I saw four deer crossing by Pad A.