Besides these, we saw a rattlesnake, a gopher snake, lots of cows, and squirrels. When I saw the rattler, I froze with my finger on the shutter release. Only after it had gone down a hole did I realize I was more or less waiting for it to pose. My son came running over just in time to hear it still buzzing from deep in its hole at the base of a little cliff. The newts were busy cruising, sometimes in pairs, but we didn't manage to catch any mating. Did catch some for photography though. Some folks worry a lot about salmonella, but I've never got it. The young blue belly, Sceloperus, barely had any blue on its belly. A little later in the season some will have bright blue bellies along with yellow accents on the inner thighs. The various bugs we saw in cow poop brought back memories of when one of my high school students did a study of the ecology of cattle dung, specifically, the pre4dicatable sequence of bugs that invade as it dries out, some coming to parasitize the early arrivals. The big black beetle is known for poking its butt into the air and emitting a cyanide odor, but it was probably still a little too cold to bother. More Table Mountain photos tonight or tomorrow. Also, watch for the Plumas County Visitors Bureau's "Bloom Blog" which should start up for the season in a day or two.
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