dog days of summer and oh so many creatures

 The end of last week and the beginning of this week have been quite creaturific... to say the least.

                                                                          This is Luna.
                                 She is Rachel's dog that has been staying with us this summer.

She has a cute face and will occasionally allow things such as this...

 

Mostly though, she likes to do this.

                                                                And sometimes this....

                                                            She is a master at napping.

She is a very quiet dog when it comes to barking. She doesn't do much of it or whining or really making a lot of sound at all. She follows us in and out of the house regularly and if I am in the yard watering, she will most often stay near me. There are a few spots that have become her favorites in the yard. She will sit and stare for a long time and perk her ears at the sounds that come from the bushes. She tiptoes through the rocks and plants and trees, and will occasionally chase after a bunny or bird. Most of the time, well sometimes... if there isn't something that catches her sniff, she will come when you call her. And then sometimes she doesn't.

So, last week, I was in the back corner watering early in the morning.  I heard her, quite literally, 'crazy' barking. Our neighbor dog was barking as well, which usually means there are some javelina passing through the upper area out back. That is what I though Luna had probably seen.. So I walked around the corner, more quickly, because the barking was escalating.  Luna was hopping around barking and making quite a scene at something in the grass. As I got closer, I could see this....

A tarantula! I know, I know, they are suppose to be harmless...but, you know...spiders and snakes!
I called to her to come over to me. Nothing doing. Nope. She was not listening at all!!
So, I stepped closer to get her attention and that is when I saw this...

 Closer... On the tarantula's back was what I had heard about before and have seen flying around but never...never...would I have imagined this...

It is called a TARANTULA WASP! Yep. A giant black and red wasp-like thing. And let me just tell you what these things do. They land on a tarantula...sometimes they even go into their hidey-hole and drag them out...and then they sting them several times to paralyze the spider. THEN...they drag them back to their den where the female wasp lays her egg on them. When her darling baby wasp hatches, it sucks the juices out of the spider, thus finally killing it. This is the newborn wasp's first meal. I will not add the video that I found on youtube. But if you are so inclined...google a tarantula wasp and give it a little look.

 My pictures aren't the clearest. I had my phone in my pocket and snapped off a few and then grabbed my bigger camera. However, I was staying very clear of this whole thing!!

And, I was still shaking so much because the part I haven't told you is that Luna was going quite crazy! When I tried to call her over she wouldn't come. She kept barking and lunging at this small menagerie and I was worried she would get stung, bit or actually get this in her mouth! So, I reached for her collar to pull her away as she was spiraling and barking... (I'll add here that she is usually a very calm dog) as I was trying to pull her back, she pulled herself right out of her collar. So, I threw myself on her and grabbed her fur and bear hugged her around her middle to pull her away. I was finally able to get her collar back on and get her in the house.

 After saving Luna's life...I went back out and snapped some pics. This all happened outside Leah's window. She was sleeping so soundly, she didn't hear a thing! After waking her and telling her to come outside and "see this", we went out and it was gone. Reading more about this wasp later is when I learned that the wasp drags the paralyzed spider back to its den. If I knew that before, I would have stayed and watched... to further torture myself. That was my morning excitement.

Later...thinking a swim was in order...I went out and noticed THIS in the water!

Back stroke, front stroke...I'm not sure. And I'm not sure what the heck it is. I scooped it into a jar and it is still alive out there on the patio. I thought maybe our young science teacher might like to take it into her classroom next week when school starts! So, I had a land adventure and a water adventure all in one day!  Isn't is a strange looking water creature? I spent a little time trying to find out what it is but, didn't have any luck.

Ok...so that was Friday. Freaky Friday! Now, Monday rolls around. Manak Monday! And when I was posting my Monday quote day...I told you I had some outdoor distractions.  And, I said that there were three things that may have been related to the other or one attracting the other and one not doing its job..so here ya go.

Chuck called me out to say there was a little duck in the pool. Oh..."and bring your camera", he said.

But when I got outside he said..."not a duck...it's one of those little Burrowing or Screech Owls". How it had gotten itself in the pool is a mystery. Or not. There have been two of these little owls on the back fence occasionally. Usually, at dusk or after dark,  we have heard them and seen them a few times. But, in the pool?

Ok...here you go. Maybe this guy had chased it in there? Or maybe the owl somehow fell in and couldn't get out and this King snake was waiting for the opportunity to have breakfast? The Reptile Wrangler (thankfully he was home for this one) chased the snake back into the place we know it lives.  We like to see these particular snakes because, if you'll remember, they are the ones that chase away and even eat the RATTLESNAKES...

                                                       so...Kings are good...Rattlers are not.

After dealing with the snake, Chuck scooped the little, very soggy, owl out and set it in the grass. Before we could decide the best place to put it while it dried its feathers and could fly again...

 it skittered over near the wall and tried its best to take flight. Instead, it just did a sad flop, flop, hop routine and disappeared into the corner under some bushes. We figured it was best to let it be and let nature take care of itself. Hoping it would dry and fly very quickly! I was able to snap two more quick photos before it disappeared.....

  ...this one!!

.....and this one!!  Are you looking at me??? 

So, if you are keeping track, I said three things happened. One because of the other...which I'm saying is the King snake possibly waiting to prey upon the small owl. And the third thing?

Later that afternoon...Luna again started her ferocious crazy barking. I went out the back door and asked Chuck what she was barking at? When we looked, we could see that she was lunging and barking into the corner under the bush where the little owl had escaped to. She was keeping a good distance this time. Both Chuck and I tried to call her out. After a few stern shouts from us, she backed up enough for Chuck to get a look at this...

Freakin' freakazoid!!! A Rattlesnake.  We grabbed Luna very tightly this time and had to wrestle her into the house. I (of course) grabbed my camera and went out for one quick, very telephoto'd zoomed in, cuz I was standing way back... kind of a photo.  My first thought was...the rattlesnake got the little owl! Yes, the rattlesnake was the third thing and it was there because the king snake had not done its thing!

King snake because of soggy owl. Rattlesnake because of worthless king snake.

It was a close call for Luna but, perhaps she sensed the danger or has had some rattlesnake training in her past. They do that around here. They let the dogs sniff a snake in an enclosed cage and then they zap them with a shock collar. Either way...thankfully, she kept her distance and barked enough to alert us to the snake. Reptile Wrangler flung it out and over the fence.

Then yesterday...Leah and I hear Luna barking like crazy again... we go out and she is in the same corner. But this time she is barking and lunging in and out. We kept trying to call her out,  screaming in almost hysteria because...rattlesnake...she was not listening and was very determined. She dove in one more time and then took off. Leah and I were both so upset. I went around the corner to see where Luna had gone...and she was there. With a bird. Not the owl. Maybe a dove.
Not a snake.

Too much activity.

Too many creatures.

Dog needs to stay in her little cozy bed.

And me...I need a tranquilizer!