The boys and I went for a hike this evening. Of course, the first person we ran into on the trail (right after stopping to look at some deer) asked us if we had seen any Mountain Lions, which is the one animal I try not to mention around the boys because they're a bit scared of them. The man was actually out there with his little binoculars hoping to spot one. He went on to say that a friend of his had seen one in the gully next to the trail we were on. I had visions of the boys simultaneously wetting their pants. To their credit, they didn't, and we continued on, with the man's parting words, "look out for Rattlesnakes!", ringing in our ears. I love finding Rattlesnakes, but I once went on a hike with Lexy during which he whined the whole time about the possibility of running into one. Again, perhaps because both boys were there together, they managed to hold it together. Further up the trail, a couple walking their dog were staring into the brush while the man made loud noises, as if trying to scare something off. I asked them what they were looking at, and the woman sheepishly replied that they thought it might have been a Mountain Lion. As they left, I peered into the bushes and witnessed a family of Quail hightailing it downhill. People are a bit jumpy, aren't they?
It started getting dark well before we got back, and we saw a large bird that I couldn't identify in the gloom. It had a habit of flying a short distance every time I got close, so I never did figure out what it was. I looked young, though. Afterwards, we saw an owl (flying into the distance), and some bats. Another owl hooted from somewhere out in the dark.
We also saw these:
It was so dark at this point that I couldn't see what I was taking a picture of. We didn't clearly see the toads until we looked at the pictures. The boys had a lot of fun. The toads peed on me.
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