Continued...............(April, 2011.

Speaking of animals, I have took a wonderful picture of a Gila Monster, that is what I was told it was.  I have yet to look that up.  Later I will look it up and report back.  The only gila monsters I have seen are pinkish with big dark spots and their body is about the same size as their tail.  This one was green and a green tail that looked like a turtle tail and the body was round like a turtle without a shell.  Reptiles love the climate here.,  They crawl from under the rocks and lay on top of the rocks to sun themselves.  One afternoon I was outside painting and put my canvass away to dry.  I decided to sit at the same table to read a book.  I was relaxed with my legs stretched out read a little, felt the need to move my legs since they get stiff if I sit in one position for a while.  Something (my guardian angel) made me look down before I moved. what I saw was a rattlesnake crawling or should I say slithering under my legs. It was a pinkish color with grey markings. The locals said it was a mojave. which are a little more venomous than the others and the Green Mojaves have no anti-venom serum. So you live or die if they bite you.  I didn't move, I figured if it hadn't already bitten me, I wasn't going to give it reason by moving.  Plus I probably didn't smell like a mouse or rat or other food they eat.  I jusst waited and waited ............ finally I saw the rattle go past. It was sticking up and had black bands around it. About 4 or 5 of them each about a half inch wide. It was not rattling as yet.  Then I immediately grabbed my walking stick(which I now call my snake stick)and pulled myself up and away.  The snake immediately started rattling and hissing in strike position.  It just wanted to get away from me.  I poked at it with my stick and picked it up on my stick then let it go.  It crawled under a nearby bush.  I noticed it wound around one of the bush stems and hung down so it could catch a rat that might be crawling underneath.  More snake story following...........