ArizonaRanch

  Spring Critters by rdpecken on May.28, 2011, under Seasons We made two trips up in April and May.  The weather was very nice for both trips, with no rain, and highs in the mid-60’s to mid 70’s both times. During the April trip, we found that we needed to be very careful where we stepped, because we didn’t want to kill any of the multitudes of caterpillars that were all over the ground.  It seemed like there was at least one every 10 feet or so.  I don’t know what kind of butterfly/moth these turn into, but it seems that later in the summer, we always have a bunch of the little yellow butterflies flying around, so maybe that’s them. Caterpiller For the May trip, we found that we should probably watch our step as well then.  Here is a black rattler that was sunning himself on Markham Pass, about 4 miles off the highway. Rattler He wasn’t too excited to see us, and just kind of slithered off into the weeds. Rattler in weeds

  April 2010 Ranch Visit by rdpecken on Apr.23, 2010, under Seasons We didn’t do a lot of recreational stuff during our visit this April, as we only had a couple of days and wanted to get the plumbing finished. We did go for a little hike while I was testing out another cellphone for the Ranch. While we were out hiking, Remy (our dog) found a deer skull from a relatively fresh kill.  We’re guessing coyote or mountain lion made the kill, as hunters would have taken the head with them to prove their deer was a buck.  Also, this was a pretty small deer. Deer Skull Anyway, being earily facinated with dead animals (I had a dissection kit when I was in 6th grade), I picked up the skull with the intention of bringing it home for the gradkids to look at.  It was still not fully dried/bleached out, so I put it on an anthill for picking.  If some wild animal doesn’t drag it off, maybe it will be a nice bleach-white by the end of the summer.

  April 2009 at the Ranch by admin on Apr.21, 2009, under Seasons We made it back to the Ranch over April 17th through the 20th.  The main goal of this trip was to finish painting the house, but while we were doing some repairs, we spotted a roadrunner walking across the drive.  Since the camera was handy, we snapped this photo.  It’s kind of far away and zoomed in, but you can see him near the center of the picture on the road.   RoadRunner, the coyote's after you... The weather on this trip was really nice.  It started off on Friday with a high in the high 50’s, then dropped into the low 30’s overnight.  After that, it warmed up about 10 degrees for the highs and maybe 5 degrees for the lows each day.  For the first night, we used the heater in the bedroom, but after that, we didn’t need it.

  April at the Ranch by admin on Apr.30, 2005, under Seasons April Cold nights and Variable Days With an average low of around 30 degrees and an average high around 70 degrees, April is still a little nippy at night… Carpet of Green April, 2005 We have received over 30 inches of rain in the last year, and 25 inches of snow. The meadow is showing the payoff in the carpet of green grass growing.   Green Meadow Good Grazing April, 2005. The cattle have been keeping the vegetation mowed pretty well. We don’t expect the green to last more than another month, but it is nice to have it right now.   More green meadow Nearby Pond April, 2005. Someone put a pond in a little ways south of us. We hiked over to have a look. It looks like it was pretty full, but has probably soaked in, as the soil isn’t very dense there.   Pond over on State Land Black Mountain April, 2005. Another rainstorm moving in.   Black Mountain Rainstorm Little Yellow Fl...