Saturday evening nature walk...

I got chewed out tonight (Monday) by my husband about how careless I've become. I don't wear my snake boots and instead of leaving an area where there are dangerous animals I sneak in for photos, gulp! I had a close call tonight with a Copperhead snake. A very dangerous snake and one that blends in quite well. I went to put more feed in the Hog trap, as right now I have left it open hoping the hogs get comfortable enough that they just walk right in. Last night something ate all the feed, deer or hog I don't know. But when I stepped over to the Hog trap this evening there was a Copperhead, ekk. Thank goodness it chose to flee and not strike or I would have been in deep doo doo. Also thank goodness I told Michael to stay in the truck! And Saturday afternoon/evening I had another close call with Feral hogs...So I guess it's time I start paying attention, backing down and wearing my snake boots, ugh! They're very hot is one reason I don't like wearing them. But I suppose it's better to be dripping with sweat than have an IV dripping in me.

As I am sitting here drinking de-stressing tea and waiting for the adrenaline rush to go away I thought I'd post photos from my nature walk Saturday, enjoy!

I told Fred that I saw a buck with his antlers starting to grow. He didn't believe me so I managed to snap a photo of him while I walked down the driveway. Normally they don't let me get this close but I think they are just getting used to me and know I'm not dangerous. I love that as it makes for good photo ops!

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This is a crab spider. I am always walking into their webs when I am out walking the trails. They are not dangerous but their webs are annoying!
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As most of you know we have a group of Feral hogs running around here. 3 Large Hogs and about 15 to 20 piglets. As I was walking I heard a deer snort and run and then I heard Hogs. They had been lying down under some oaks. I stopped and watched and waited. They moved off so I continued...I got to a large tree and saw movement straight ahead about 20 ft. I stopped and looked and it seems the Hogs didn't move off they were right there...Uh Oh! They didn't see, smell or hear me so I just stayed still. The one pictured above was eating and the others moved off again so I stood there and took photos...I had also stopped next to a large tree that I could climb if the need arose.

This pig just kept eating and was totally oblivious to me being there. I stood there for about 15 minutes trying to get a decent photo of it through the grass but I finally decided it was time to leave. I backtracked and headed up a hill on a different trail. Well when I got to the top of the hill I heard hogs...As I looked around I had piglets all around me rutting in the ground, just great! Where were the Big Sows? I couldn't hear them and I couldn't see them but I knew they had to be there. I stood quietly and didn't dare try for photos. I was too close and was afraid the noise from the camera would put them on alert. As I was standing there looking at which trees I could climb one of the piglets (a white one) started walking down the trail right for me, ekk. I decided it was time to do something, it was going to walk right into me. So I said "Hey" and that got their attention...Thank goodness the Sows were in the brush and ran the opposite direction and all the piglets scattered and headed toward the Sows, whew! That was a bit too close for comfort...I decided it was time to leave and went back to the house. I told Fred what had happened and he grabbed the gun and asked me to take him out there. So I took him back out there but we didn't find them, sigh! Then Fred wanted to go over to the tank and sit for a bit to see if they came in for their evening drink...

While we were at the tank I spotted a painted bunting and his mate taking baths. They are one of my favorite birds. So many different colors splashed all over the males. I tried for a decent photo but it wasn't easy as the sun was pretty harsh and I wasn't suppose to move either...remember Fred was waiting for the hogs, lol...

Not a great shot but you can see the colors, aren't they gorgeous?

And the female painted bunting taking a bath.

We didn't see the hogs but I did manage to have a prickly pear cactus slap me on the way back to the truck, OUch! So glad Fred was there to pull the spines out of my foot, that hurt! Guess it's time to break out them snake boots and wear them! Save me a lot of pain and discomfort!