Living at 1000 feet in the Oregon forest provides a big sky view with rainbows and an array of birds and wildlife. The rufous hummingbirds arrived in April. The black headed grosbeaks are singing their warbly songs all day. The violet-green swallows dip and dive at me and the dogs. The northern alligator lizzards zip in and out of the gardens and rocks. (so cute) The robins haul large worms out of the turf. You can almost hear them grunting! (One robin is the size of a small chicken! )


Yesterday I found a balled-up pile of shiny rope on the gravel drive in the sun. It didn't move. Its head and tail were indistinguishable. Sort of creepy. So I took a couple pictures and got into research mode. Sure enough I compared my photos to those on line: a Rubber Boa (Charina bottae) native of the Northwest. Burrows underground. Eats rodents and raids their nests.Viviparous. Moves slowly. Is nocturnal. So what was he doing in the drive at 2 PM? Getting warm? As long as he leaves the baby birds and northern alligator lizards alone, he's welcome.