09-09-09

09-09-09

Watch your step!

In southern Arizona, we have pack rats that eat the wiring in cars, and snakes that eat the pack rats. We have bobcats that jump onto roofs, and bees that make hives in the eaves. We have javelinas that uproot gardens, and leaf cutter ants that destroy garden plants.

We have rabbits that eat anything leafy, and coyotes that eat everything resembling a rabbit. We have giant roaches that hang around in water meters, and geckos that eat the roaches when they come outside for some fresh air.

We have scorpions that slip into slippers at night, and crickets that keep you awake. We have crazy drivers who leave road kill on the streets, and enormous vultures who dine on the remains.

We have kangaroo rats in our swimming pool when the weather is hot and dry, and monsoon termites that fall into the pool on sunny days after heavy storms. We have black widow spiders that live under garden furniture, and tarantulas that collapse and slip into holes at twilight.

Occasionally, every five or ten years, we’ll see an adult tarantula out in the open. I just did, and it is the most exciting thing that happened today.