A young black snake (probably a racer because it is so round), a couple of feet long but still with barely visible hints of its baby pattern, leaving after coming in to the mud puddle for a drink. I only knew it was there in the first place because I had heard a frog's panicked splash as it approached. (The frogs seem to know Snap isn't a threat; a snake is another matter entirely.) I knew that by not taking the camera out in the heat I would risk missing a photo op…
This wee tiny frog, only about an inch long, was smart enough to wait until dark to come out (temps were still somewhere around 90° but at least the sun was down). I happened to glance up while picking up bowls from the cats' dinner and noticed a brown splotch on a plant just outside the window. I don't like using a flash, especially not when I'll be setting it off in some poor little critter's face, but because the sun had set I had no choice. It did, however, bring out the frog's pattern; it's a bit broken, but it sure looks like a Spring Peeper's "X" to me. Or should that be Summer Peeper?
I'm quite sorry that I didn't get a photo of the Gray Catbird who let me spray it with the hose so it could take a bath... Like I said, it was hot today.
