Enjoying all of these posts...thanks so much for sharing them with us!! I feed a number of squirrels and have a bird feeding table and suet hangers,etc. I have one very fat squirrel who fusses at me when the seed gets low or gone. One morning I was about to step through the garden gate when for some reason I stopped. Not 6 inches from my face on the gate post was this squirrel...not moving a muscle...I stared in to his face and as luck would have it I had my camera. Now..I'll have to go and find out how to post the picture. I admit I was scared...one never knows what these fellas will do. He just sat there and then suddenly jumped down and ran to the tree where the feeders are. It was a little close for comfort..but..he's here all of the time and a lot of mornings he's on the fence outside the back door...just waiting for me. He will come on the patio and get seed but I don't try it often...it's best if he continues on in his own world...too close to mine might make him a little too tame. He actually let me move my hand up and snap a photo...glad to have it of him..he's really a part of the garden and back yard...now I can remember him! :)))))

OHmygosh! And here I am whining about the squirrels - already chewing on one of the houseplants I set out on the deck and trying to get into the attic. We do have an owl that I hope is getting some of the squirrels - and I thought that was pretty wild, too. Of course I live in the middle of town, so I still think the owl and raccoons and everything else that shows up in my yard is pretty unusual. I had one lovely iris bloom greeting me when I walked out the side door to take out the trash this morning. They have spread and have buds all over them, unlike last year, when I got only one bloom. I was all set to move them because I thought they weren't getting enough sun, but I guess they like it there after all. My cannas have not come up yet, and I'm afraid I may have planted them too early. Reassurances, anyone, or do I need to replant? I spent the weekend rebuilding and painting a rotting trellis that was about to crumble under the honeysuckle and trumpet vine previous owners planted together there. Much more work than I expected, but my sweet son came home yesterday afternoon and said "Wow, That looks really good!" I don't know about that, but at least I've stopped the rotting for the moment, I hope. Correopsis finally showed its shy self. Gaillardia is getting TALL. And I think the caladium that was growing in the shade bed last year is coming back. Not positive yet, because it looks a little like the hosta that is also planted there, but just a little different. It was pretty well protected, and the winter wasn't real cold, so I thought it might try to come back. Boy, nothing grows better in that spot than caladium - so far, anyway.

Very cool! I gather that your basilisks are your favourite, since most of the pics were of them. =) That turtle is so cute!!!! And I really love how you've made that tiered riverbed. What kind of lighting do you have on there for your aquatic plants to do so well? Why no pics of the WTF or geckos or newts? And isn't that salamander a tiger salamander, native to North America? If so, won't it require a cool dormancy? Pretty good fish choices. The turtle may eventually eat the zebra danios, but maybe not. The 'Silver sharks' are also known as Bala sharks, and will get WAY too big for your tank. Try a foot or more in length. They would eat your newts and frogs (except that the frogs would taste bad) when large enough. You'll have to get rid of them sooner or later. Plecos require driftwood to munch on, BTW, so you might want to put some in the water for it. That little bit of that one branch won't be enough, and you probably don't want that part getting thinner over time anyways. Though again, depending on the species of pleco, it may also rapidly outgrow your tank. I'm also pretty sure that clown loaches need to be kept in schools. And all of the fish would really do better in the deeper water part. Or can they get from one area to another, and always end up in the bottom part? Gary found that his fish were very nervous if the water depth was 6" or less. Oh yeah, and I bet you could put more plants in there. You seem to have stuck to those that can survive in the lowest of light levels, and yet your aquatic plants are doing well, which suggests that you could venture into more light-demanding terrestrial (or epiphytic) plants as well. Of course you'd have to choose sturdy ones, with all those animals climbing on them. Try pothos (a vine) or Ficus pumila (also a vine, but with smaller leaves). Bromeliads would also do well, as long as they don't have sharp spines on the leaves.

They stay orange for two or three years. Actually, they begin life as an aquatic tadpole, then turn into the orange (or "red eft") stage, and then eventually change again into a greenish brown color and becoming acquatic. The page linked below has interesting information on them. My daughter Jill was especially fond of them, and we always loved to see them appear in the spring. Thanks, everyone! Here is a link that might be useful: Newts