At the end of last summer, I noticed that an animal was eating some of my potted flowers.  I thought it was a chipmunk so decided to plant only deck-rail planters this year.  All was going well and the plants were doing terrifically until last week.  Almost overnight a couple of pots were decimated!  Thankfully, we have some trail cameras and so we decided to set up a stake-out.  We didn't have to wait long to find the culprit.  A bushy-tailed woodrat!  They are sometimes called "pack rats"  because they are known to steal items to put in their dens.  This one just likes my flowers, though.  Now we bring in the flowers at night and hopefully she'll find something else to eat.

Long-tailed weasels are some of my favorite animals, but it has been almost 2 years since I've seen one.  They are fun to photograph because they are curious and stick around while I fumble with the camera.   It was getting dark last night when we walked around the neighborhood with Tiva, but I saw a juvenile mountain cottontail rabbit and we stopped for a second.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw this cute juvenile long-tailed weasel playing (or hunting) in the wood pile.  He/she was so much fun to watch. Enjoy!

American Dippers are unique birds -- they can "swim" in a strong current and have unique blood vessels in their legs so can stand in cold waters.  They live in the High Country year-round and catch insects in and near fast-moving streams.  On this day, Andy and I saw this parent with lots of insects for the 3 babies that were scattered about near the stream.  While the lighting was tricky, it was amazing how quickly the parent could catch food and how patiently the juveniles waited for their meal.