Oh my, look at the ears on that bunny! When I was a youngun, Larry, my mother used to stop on the road to pick up anything and everything that looked like it might be injured, etc. We picked up a baby jackrabbit one time, that's mother had been killed on the road, and I remember we fed it milk with a baby bottle. I'm surprised it lived, because who knew whether it could take cow's milk or not. But it thrived, and once it was feeling better, we were going to return it to the wild. Well, you should of seen us trying to catch that little jackrabbit in the house. Boy, can they jump! It was utter chaos trying to get him.

We get the Mourning Doves here in OKC, and I just love to see them. They are lovely birds.

Thanks for sharing your photos, too. The callistemon (or bottlebrush) is beautiful. I don't think they are hardy here in Oklahoma City, but I would love to grow one someday. For now, I do have another bottlebrush - buckeye, (aesculus parvifolia) that is. It is only 18" tall and is sporting its first bloom.

Susan

Larry, your beautiful pictures don't do justice to your diverse little corner of the world. I couldn't believe the great plants and birds in southern Nevada!

The number of rabbits in Boulder City amazed me...how did anyone have anything left in their yards and gardens with all those hungry little mouths. And the quail were everywhere...those little antennae on the top of their heads?..too cute.

I was impressed with the beauty of your roses...With the minus 4 dewpoints and low humidity I guess you don't have too much trouble with powdery mildew and blackspot.

In contrast..since I've returned home we've had at least 4 full days of rain and cold.

Maryann in CT

Cute! :) Thank you for sharing. We haven't seen many of your pictures.

Which Yucca is that?? It's way different than any I've ever met--gorgeous!

The Gambel's quail I love...good old Peep-Sight, still remember that book.

You sure that's not a young jackbunny rather than a cottontail? The CT's I've seen usually have a bit more 'round' and a lot less ear in proportion to the body. He's still dratted adorable, though.

Oooh! I know what he is!! He's a first-year Jackalope! No horns yet, that's why he looks funny. :)

Susan
Bottlebrush here grows to 8Â or more in short order, so they become a fairly prominent plant. Since xeriscaping is the dominate landscaping here they are often used standing alone as a focal plant, but also as an informal hedge along fence lines.

Maryann Â
I feed all the critters who share my property with me, and that helps keep them from getting too rambunctious with the plantings. The cottontails do however raise Cain with my automatic drip irrigation systems by nibbling on the drip lines if they are not kept buried well. I find geysers fairly often I have to get repaired by my landscapers.

This picture might look familiar after your visit. Took it when I was out collecting three species of wild Hemileucinae larva for a friend in Japan 3-4 years ago to show him the habitat they came from.

{{gwi:475394}}

onafixedincome Â
You sure you know the difference between all the species of rabbits and hares (Lagomorpha)? Or which ones are true rabbits and which are hares? LOL Desert Cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii) are a different species of true rabbit than the cottontails you have in CT (S. transitionalis, S. floridanus), and are known for their long ears. We do have Blacktailed Jackrabbits (Lepus californicus) here too, but they are hares, more scarce and about twice the size of our cottontails. Mine are Desert Cottontails.

Since they are just landscaping and a nectar source from my wild friends, I never bothered to determine the species of my yucca. IÂd have to dig all my books out of storage to run them through the keys. Will put it on the list of things to do though and might get around to it.

tdogmom Â
Sorry about that. For over 30 years most of my 35mm pictures were taken as slides with them being a better medium to project at the seminars I did for the public and Lepidopterists. I have literally tens of thousands of them. Did take snapshots with a second 35mm in most of my world travels too though, and after I stopped doing the seminars for all pictures I took. But the ex ended up with all of the snapshots and I only have the slides (and slides just donÂt scan as well as snapshots do). I didnÂt buy my first digital camera until the last years I was still able to actively do lepidoptera, and unfortunately most of those pictures were lost in several upgrades to new computers where I forgot to transfer the files. Mostly all I could do digital pictures of now would be my synoptic collection

But hereÂs a few digital images of local habitatÂ

View from where I live and one zoomed in on the Las Veags Strip...
{{gwi:475396}}
{{gwi:475397}}

One of my neighborsÂ
{{gwi:475398}}

Some examples of the dry natural Lepidopteran habitat hereÂ
{{gwi:475399}}
{{gwi:475400}}

And for those who didnÂt think we also have riparian habitat on a true desert one of the springs that surfaces and disappears here and there in an otherwise dry arroyoÂ
{{gwi:475401}}
{{gwi:475402}}

Thanks for the beautiful pictures. The beautiful view of Lake Mead is the highlight of Boulder City.

That is some wild and jagged terrain you have there. I could hardly imagine, when I was there, how native Americans and early settlers and explorers traversed such scary and desolate terrain.

I must be a tenderfooted New Englander but I'll admit that the desert scared me a little.

That wide expanse of "empty" landscape bordered by rugged rocky moutains and canyons...as far as the eye could see....

Maryann

Maryann -

All habitats have both their inherent beauty and inherent dangers, and that holds true around the world. But since so few have lived on a true desert, it might seem more ominous to visitors than other habitats do. No doubt the desert can be very dangerous to the uninformed and unprepared, and it claims many lives. It's the survival of the smartest on the desert where everything tries to poke you, sting you or bite you even if exposure or a fall doesn't get to you first. I have the uncanny ability to get into trouble out there often even though I am very well versed in its ways and in surviving on it. Have been stranded out there a few times, from a couple to several days at a time. But I don't venture onto the desert unprepared for emergencies, so they turned into nature walks (or crawls). I obviously made it back, but a little wiser. Have taken many bad falls in loose lava and rattlesnakes must think I am their buddy (been bitten once and hit dozens of times). If I make it back without a hiking injury or a run-in with poisonous plants, sharp jagged rocks, thorns, cactus, snakes, scorpions, spiders or other things that bite, I probably didn't get out of the truck much. But like with anywhere else, once you do learn the ways of the desert you only see its beauty and richness, and the things that go bump in the night don't bother you much.

I'm glad you enjoyed your visit to the area. With family here who knows something about the desert ecosystem and its inhabitants, hopefully they showed you some of what makes a desert special.

Larry

I'm so glad we have individuals like you to do all that hiking and discovering - like the Lewis & Clark lepidopterists (or are you an entomologist?), so we can all sit back on our porches and look at the fruits of your labor.

I for one, would not survive desert trekking - I know that, my kids know that, all God's chillen know that! So to fill that gap, we have you, Larry! I could barely get up today and pretty much took the day off. My knees are in such bad shape, I just have a feelin' that the doc is going to say something' I don't want to hear! LOL!

Susan

I don't often mess with cottontails, the only ones I've seen are those blasted little landscape bunnnies you get in So Cal. Just too high a likelihood of bringing disease (myxomatosis) into my domestic herd. :( 'Twas just a passing comment, no worries. Thanks for the clarification--that's STILL one funny looking cottontail in my book. :)

....

You SURE they don't get horns later??? :) :)

Susan -
I was only one of the hordes of very serious bug chasers I have known and collected with in my life I assure you. My main field collecting pard had legs that met me about half way up my chest, so more often than not I was at near a dead run just to keep up with him when hiking anywhere from out on the desert to up some very steep and very high mountains. I got even with him by having better life history knowledge and eyes when it came to making new discoveries though. Used to really gripe him when I was driving and would still see larvae on a plant at 70MPH alongside the road he couldn't find even after I circled back and parked right next to them. (OK Steve, two more steps forward. Stop. Turn slightly right. Stop. Reach down. Now move your hand about a foot in front of you.) LOL But if an adult going down wind had to be ran down on broken ground, he was your man. Too many chases and too many crashes later just walking out to check the mail is about the limit of my walking now days.

onafixedincome -
Best place to find those with horns is in all the shops in Jackson Hole, WY. Just about every retail business there either sells them to tourists, or has them hanging on their walls on display. Seen about the same years ago in places like TX, NM and AZ too. Around here you have to watch out for the Ratatails, but that's another story. ;-)

onafixedincome -

"...that's STILL one funny looking cottontail in my book."

Found this short video of both a Desert Cottontail and a Black-tailed Jackrabbit together that may help. Pretty hard not to see the many differences between them. Keep in mind the picture I posted is of a baby Desert Cottontail who hasn't grown into its ears yet.

Bunny Video

Spectacular views, there!

My stepdad also used nothing but a 35mm and took everything on slides, Larry. He is now 90-years old and retired about five years ago. He decided to categorize his slides (oh, several tens of thousands, no exaggeration!) of his trips over the past 70+ years and was doing it the old-fashioned way and I thought this was just awful. I suggested the computer and the use of a slide-reader. Well, he learned to use a computer AND slide reader (at 85-years of age, no less!) and has now only got about 5000 slides to go... :)

I am now the proud owner of his older Leicahe gave his other Leica to a gal in Korea (the new Leica). Although I no longer take 35mm film shots either (he has since gone to digital) I thought that the camera was a relic that was of great history. DH thought I was crazy ("What do you need with another camera? And a film one, to boot?") but hey...it's a legacy! :)

Hey, thanks, Ladobe!! Appreciate the better look. The jackbunnies around here are near-identical to the cottontails until about 4-6 weeks of age, at which point the jackbuns GROW..hoo boy, do they ever! Ears, legs every which way....Look ridiculous while they're in the screaming uglies but they manage to come together later on and look quite graceful.

Larry, my niece and her new husband are jsut great at sharing their love for the desert ecosystem. The day after her wedding...she had a BBQ at their house which is just at the edge of town..you know right where civilization ends and the desert begins. She said, "Aunt Maryann, grab your glass of wine and I'll take you around the neighborhood."

We walked a short ways on one of the many trails that leads up into the mountains and looped back to her street. As if on cue, at twilight nonetheless, a white butterfly (Perhaps a western white?) flew right in front of us and settled down for the night.

My 81 year old mom was funny too...after she heard us discussing rattlesnakes she always kept looking sides ways..even in the parking lot at CVS and Starbucks. "Do you think one could come down that hill and bite me? Naw Mom, they won't bother you unless you bother them.."

I hope she didn't hear us dicussing the black widow they'd found in the living room or the tarantula they'd found in the back yard.

Maryann in CT

tdogmom,

They are only just acceptable to me. Too many years of using top end film cameras I guess.

Good for your stepdad who wants to spend the time and effort to convert them. If only that old camera could talk after seeing nearly the entire life of your stepdad. No doubt a family heirloom.

Years ago I upgraded to the top of the line HP scanner and slide reader at the time. Did a great job on snapshots, but was very unimpressive with slides. A couple of years later I tried out several of the top slide scanner only products on the market. Also not very impressive. Maybe the technology has advanced now to where they do a good job.

Decades of my slides are in slide trays and catalogued. But I have a huge box of the later years still in the processing boxes I never got around to buying trays for. If I wasn't near the end of the trail, I might be interested in the newest slide scanners and saving everything on disk. But I really have no use for one unless to post old pictures I took on-line.

I'm sure your other photos taken with a top of the line camera were better, Larry. But, digitals and scanners are improving at a very fast rate, so hang in there until there is one that fits the bill.

Having never had a camera like yours, we don't have a comparison to use, except our old cheapo 35 mm. You have reminded me that I need to save my images to disk, tho. I deleted them from my card and now need something to back-up in case the computer goes "ga ga" again.

Your pictures are wild and crazy. I just try to stop and think what it must have been like for explorers crossing that untamed land eons ago.

I've been lost before, and don't want it to ever happen again. Of course, I was very young, and the boys were.....well, idiots. We were on a hayrack ride on a very dark night (no moon), and they decided it would be "funny" to kick me off the hayrack and leave me in the middle of nowhere land.....in my bare feet on a gravel road. Geez. I could not see the road at all (do your eyes adjust to complete darkness? NO!). I could only go by the feel of the gravel to make sure I was still on the road. Did I get rescued? Finally - when I made it to the highway, and after what seemed like miles of walking the gravel road. The things kids do!

Susan

Maryann -

I understand what your mother was feeling, but please tell her it is a very natural feeling. For many years every time I first went to a new country to do the butterflies I had a little nervousness about the new species of dangerous critters I might encounter while there. But once I ran into my first on a trip and it all ended well, they were pretty much forgotten the rest of the trip. I soon got over being nervous when going someplace new.

A little story on myself... I well remember my first trip to another country specifically to do butterflies many, many years ago. I was nervous after hearing all the stories about the numerous species of poisonous snakes, spiders, scorpions, tree frogs and plants in Costa Rica. Having a friend who was also lep smitten that was born and lived there would help a lot though. First day out I went hiking in a rainforest alone as Olaf couldn't get away from his finca until the next day. I was tip-toeing around looking for a specific bug in very thick cover that I just knew the countries entire population of Terciopelo (Fer-de-lance) probably lived in, and that they were all just waiting there for me to get close enough. I had plodded along for hours not finding the bug I was after, and luckily also no "Ticos". Then I finally caught a glimpse of what I was looking for flying along the ground in a small glade, Cithaerias menander. I know of no common name other than to lump it in with the Clearwings. They are on the small size of medium and don't fly fast, but the are very difficult to see in the dark dappled light of a rain forest due to their all clear wings except for a splash of red on the hind wings and flying close to the ground darting around plants. They seem to appear and disappear with every wing beat and are very easily lost sight of. I stalked at first trying to intercept this jewel, and then ended up running full out when that failed and I spooked it to finally net my first example of this bug. I had run in leaps and bounds for a long way and had completely forgotten about the Ticos. After realizing that I never worried about them again. I had plenty of encounters with them later on that trip (and other nasty things), but with the insight of Olaf I learned and kept out of trouble. BTW, a later trip down there with Olaf to do some specific backlighting was always referred to after it by us as The Night of the Jaguar (and later always saw a blank stare in Olaf's eyes when we talk about it). But that's another story. LOL

L.

Larry, I'm sure you are going to eventually donate all of your invaluable lep materials to a university or some such institution. Our guy, John Fisher, I believe, intends to donate his to the Florida Butterfly Museum. Says there is no university in Oklahoma that would a) appreciate them, or b) take good care of them.

I've often wondered that if anything happens to me, I would want my butterfly friends in Oklahoma to come and dig the plants they want (some are invariably hard to find if not impossible) before the house is sold to someone who has absolutely no concept of native plants and butterflies/moths.

Susan

Susan,

My entire life work in Lepidoptera... the journals and notes, rearing data, papers I've written, photographic records, library and synoptic collection were earmarked to go to one of three places that are directed by old friends - the Florida Museum of Natural History at UF (where the Florida Butterfly Museum is, and it houses the worlds largest lepidopteran research center BTW), the University of Alaska Fairbanks and/or to the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum at BYU. But my son has a very strong interest in taking them when I'm gone, and I feel he has first choice. Since I seriously doubt he will ever have children of his own, it's in my will and he knows where they are to go when he dies or if he looses interest in maintaining them before then. So my work won't be just lost, but rather only delayed in getting to a place where it would do the most good for the most people.

Larry

I believe the gentleman I speak of is donating his collections and research to the Florida butterfly museum, too. It would be a shame to leave all that valuable data to a university that doesn't really foster an interest in lepidoptera.

So, is your son going on many of the journies you've already paved the way for him?

Susan

Susan,

Well, where you actually leave something depends on how badly they want it or not. Synoptic collections and written data can be a lot of work to curate and not worth their time or effort to them unless it adds to their base. So small quantities of common material or data may not get much attention from a big natural history museum or university that already has a good start on both. But having a large and definitive world collection and previously unpublish data turns heads. On the other hand a small museum or university may not have much material or data, and would be very interested in whatever you have to offer if they do at least have a natural sciences department.

My son actually became more involved with plant determinations and collecting when he started college. To the point of setting up and writing the entire plant data base program to be used for future students there. But not as a horticulturist per se... all he wants to do is discover, determine and catalogue. He still pursues Lepidoptera occasionally when he can make time away from his business, but without the old man to trek and travel the world with anymore I doubt he will ever get heavy into that field again. He's probably still interested mainly because he was there for much of it, and enjoys looking at the bugs and slides or sitting and remembering all the trips taken to new lands while he was growing up.

Larry

Beautiful pictures!
Sherry