Roadrunner PDA -- Wed., June 6

Cotulla, Texas:

Night shift. Medium-strong winds. Things that go bump in the night. I heard a bump outside and went out to see if our garbage can lid blew away. Nope, it was attached to the can with a bungee cord. I walked around the 5er, didn't see anything amiss.

Now I am back inside the 5er waiting for vehicles to come to the gate, reading "American Idol," napping, waking when the motion sensor sets off our alarm. So far, multiple false alarms as dust blows in front of the sensor.

Every once in a while at night, I make the rounds and look out all the windows of the RV, looking for illegal aliens, animals, interesting bugs. It's 11:30 p.m., the time when weird creatures come out. Last night I saw my first scorpion. We've seen lightning bugs. I saw an armadillo the first week we were here.

Last night around 10:30 when I went out to close the gate after the last semi had come in, I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Maybe it's a myth, but I've read that if you feel the hair on the back of your neck stand up and you get goosebumps (chicken skin, for my Hawaiian ohana), then it's probably a mountain lion. While I was outside, I heard an owl and what sounded like cubs of some kind mewing.

Tonight, I looked out our hall window and saw something four-legged. At least I thought I saw it. It froze. I kept watching and it moved, so I really did see it. I went for the binoculars but by the time I got back to the window it was gone. My best guess is coyote or bobcat; although it could have been a mountain lion, but it didn't look big enough. I saw it at the edge of the trees, right at the edge of the available light.

We know that there's a pond across the road on the ranch. I'm guessing lots of desert animals go there at night for water. 

As much as I would like to go walking at night when it's cooler, it ain't happenin' folks! I prefer not to become prey. I will watch from the safety of the 5er. When I go out to let in a vehicle, I figure the noise, headlights and rumbling will scare away any critter in the vicinity for a little while.

I had another nature moment today. Involving roadrunners, no less.

Perfect camouflage--find the roadrunner! Hint, you can see its tail.

Roadrunner hiding from me in the tree.

Won't come down until I leave.

There he is...but he's more interested in something else.

A female roadrunner!

I never, ever thought I'd see this!

All done.

Time to skedaddle.