what is orange and black

and comes in a can?

 Well, it really didn't come in the can but it was going to leave in the can. Any guesses?

 Look closely.

 Ok. Let me put the flash on the camera so you can see it better.

Oh yes it is. It is the Gila Monster that crawled back under the fence into our yard a couple of weeks ago. Did you miss that little story? Click here if you want to read about it.

Why is the Gila in the can with the bird seed you ask?

An even better question. Why is the Gila in the can on the front seat of the car while the Reptile Wrangler is in the driver seat?  Oh, and Prom girl is peeking in the window.

Well, here's the story. And this could only occur in our backyard, it's uncanny (ha!)I tell ya. This is a picture of the back patio. Just around the corner by the black grill is where that Gila guy was spotted a couple of weeks ago. This time? Last Saturday, a couple of hours before the prom brigade was about to arrive (Birthday Boy Grandpa Johnny included), I opened the sliding door to go outside. 

Meandering right in front of the wood shelf unit was the Gila himself.  I shouted for the Prom Girl to, "come and see this"! The squeak of the sliding door made him take a left claw turn in between the shelf and the plant. As we went out to get a little closer look it had disappeared behind the shelf. And that is right where he was going to stay until Reptile Wrangler came home.

I don't think he believed me at first, that a Gila was back there, because the gap between the wall and the shelf is fairly narrow. But, apparently these buggers have a way of squishing themselves into small places (or under fences). Yep, there he is....

We decided since we were only minutes away from guests to arrive, the Wrangler would not be doing any wrangling. It had probably been around since I spotted him a couple of weeks earlier, so I didn't feel the need to start up the rodeo right then.

Prom pictures went on while he hung out behind the shelf. I wonder if he felt like he was up against a brick wall?

The next morning, the Wrangler pulled the shelf out a bit, and with a broom he gently coaxed the Gila into the metal can that he had set down on its side. The Gila walked right in, perhaps the few traces of bird seed helped to entice it, and our hero, the Wrangler, tipped up the can and put the lid on it. I took a few pictures and then he loaded the can with the Gila Monster into the front seat of the car. He drove it out to the open desert area and let it go. This time the Gila is away. Far away. Far from our backyard.

And then the Reptile Wrangler drove back home and fixed me a nice Mother's Day brunch of waffles and fresh strawberries. He wrangles and cooks! As long as he doesn't start cooking what he wrangles.

The most clever thing about the whole event was when Prom girl looked into the can to get a good look at the Gila (reminder:pronounced Hee-lah) and she asked, " how do you know it's not a Shee-lah"?

Think about that for a minute. Ha!