Critter time with the Sson & family

When Sson and family arrive, we usually have at least one small critter scene. One year it was a spade foot toad. This year, an alligator lizard. All credit goes to the Yoda cat. Twice he hunted down and caught the youngling . It was in the house. He was relieved of his catch almost immediately, of course, and the animal was popped into the handiest container in the kitchen.

Out came the cameras. GD (above) and GS (below). Me, too, of course.

Sson shoots a close-up with a long lens.

Next, he picks up the little fellow for another close in shot.

And kindly gives me a chance at a closeup, too.

Other critters that were collected this visit: a big, muscular pine borer beetle (no, not the kind that kills the trees, but the kind who bores into trees already dead) and (below) a silvery looking grasshopper. I think an Oak Creek tadpole resided in the hallway for a day or so also before heading for a new life in Louisiana on Wednesday.

Linkage: First off, the July Festival of the Trees, where Walking Prescott rates a mention. Then, another Crown King fire picture, this one by Dagny showing a ghostly Thumb Butte nearly hidden by the smoke. Followed by a fascinating bit of agricultural practice -- Maria Langer, a writer of computer books and a chopper pilot from Wickenburg, signed on to fly over Washington state cherry orchards to help dry the ripening fruit following rains. Apparently if the fruit stays wet, it may crack open, thus ruining the crop. Also: please go back a few posts to read the final comment which came in last night from a native son who talks a bit about the old days in Prescott. He also wants to know just when the local Cornet store closed. I know it was after we arrived in the area in aught-81.