I was merely trying out the used Nikon macro lens I'd recently purchased. Taking close ups of things around the yard, like the Oleander flowers. It wasn't until I was taking the second shot of this particular bloom that I noticed this Green Lynx Spider patiently waiting for me to move on so it could get back to doing whatever it was it was doing. Things got a little dicier last night when, while walking around the porch to retrieve a dropped burger bun, I nearly stepped on this young Diamondback.
As he showed no inclination to leave the yard, I was forced to end his (young) life with one of the garden implements we have strategically placed around the yard for just this purpose. Dogs and poisonous snakes don't mix.
When we moved in we fully expected snakes all Summer long. In fact, this is the first rattler we've seen (emphasis on "seen") in the yard, and with the Gopher snake cruising up the eaves for dove eggs a couple of months ago, only the second snake of any kind inside the fence. OK with us!
