Animals of Prescott

8/6-9/2010

This weekend I went up to a camp in Prescott with my friend's church for a nationwide conference. While up there I had a few run-ins with different kinds of animals, some that I have never seen before which was exciting. On the first day I was walking around the camp with a friend and as we were nearing the cabin at the edge of the property, he yelled, "What is that!!" There was a short snakish thing scurrying toward a hole under the cabin. I immediately ran at it and stopped it from going under. Then we got some pictures of it and noticed it had tiny legs. My first thought was a skink, but then I remembered another similar lizard that had another name but I couldn't think of it at the time. After that I got my reptile book out and found it to be the Madrean Alligator Lizard. 

That night in the cabin a large beetle was wandering around. I got some pictures of it, the rhinoceros beetle. Then I went outside and saw a skunk off in the distance. I ran inside, grabbed my camera, and followed the skunk through the forest, taking some pictures as I went. 

The next day I was wandering around the forest where the alligator lizard had been when I heard a squirrel barking at me and making lots of noise up in a tree a little ways away. I kept walking and it stopped. Then I went back to the same spot and it went crazy again. Every time I walked on this little plot of land it would yell at me. My guess is he hid something there or I was near 'his' tree. On the last night a few of us were left gathered around the camp fire at the amphitheater. Then I saw something scurrying under the top bench. So I went up and it was a tiny mouse. So I followed it taking pictures until it stopped and then  I got the following one of it. 

Rabbit Hunting

8/03/2010

Today my two brothers, friend, and I went rabbit hunting on Four Peaks rd. We noticed they were doing some construction where the old dirt parking lot and bathrooms had been. It seems they are filling it with various desert plants. There are rows of agaves, pronghorn cholla, saguaros, etc, which will look kinda strange for so many desert plants to be grouped together but we'll see what they plan on doing with it.

We went out with two .22's and two 20 gauge shotguns and paired up so each two had a rifle and shotgun. We ended up getting two cotton tail rabbits to add to dinner the following evening. I do need to find a better recipe for cooking the rabbit because they are a tough meat. Something that would tender them up and make them better would be great. If you have any methods of cooking rabbit, please leave a comment. It would be greatly appreciated. I didn't post any pictures of the rabbits because they were kind of gruesome and I know some people reading this blog wouldn't appreciate it. But the view around there is amazing with Four Peaks and Weaver's Needle in the background.

As we were heading back to the car to head home, I saw a whitish blur on the ground. A lizard! Twice in the surrounding area I have seen a white blur but never got close enough to distinguish the species of lizard. I had been hoping it was the desert iguana, known to be quite fast and a white/grey color. It is still a possibility but after going out riding the next week (in a different area) I saw a very similar blur but was able to identify it. I will post that story later. As for rabbit hunting we will probably go out again soon if not for the main purpose of dove hunting which starts Sept. 1-15. Hopefully I will have some good stories from hunting during that time.

San Diego

7/24/2010

It has been too long since my last post but I now have more stories to write about. At the end of last month my family went on vacation to San Deigo. We went snorkeling in La Jolla cove and kayaking near by as well.

On a side note, before this trip I had an old digital camera and a new SLR, Nikon D40. The camera is great but it is too large for hiking trips and such where you have to lug it around. So I looked into buying a new small camera and got the Canon PowerShot SD780 IS. The camera has 12MP and 720p HD video. Along with this I got a $20 underwater camera case from amazon.com (Underwater Camera Case). With this I was able to take some cool shots while snorkeling.The image and the video are of the California Garibaldi fish. They were quite abundant and fun to watch. Groups of them would swim together and if you snapped your fingers they would come to you. We asked the kayaking guides why and they said it was because the Garibaldi fish make a clicking noise to communicate with each other.

7/26/2010

A couple days later we went to Sea World. In order to see all of the park in one day--one long day--you have to be diligent and wise in your planning. You have to plan to be able to see all the shows, break for lunch and snacks, and have time for the rides in between. It can get quite hectic but we managed. I've always loved Sea World because of all the animals and it was fun getting to see them all again. I haven't been there in ten years.  

7/27/2010

The next day, and our last one in San Diego, my brothers and I went on a deep sea fishing adventure. We headed down the coast down into the seas of Mexico because that's where they had been catching fish pretty regularly. On the way out we saw several pods of dolphins swimming around and sea lions all around the boats when they stopped. We ended the day with 9 sand bass and 1 barracuda between the three of us. When the sand bass would hit, they would hit in schools and many people on the boat would reel them in. Unfortunately for the small boat with many people on board, it was common to get lines tangled and hard to determine whose fish belonged to whom. But it was an exciting trip. The first picture is of a couple sand bass and the second of the barracuda. Unfortunately we didn't put in for the jackpot because my fish was the largest on the boat. Oh well. We ate some sand bass when we got home and boy oh boy was it good!