For, lo! the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.
The Song of Solomon II. 11, 12.

This is a young fawn and its' mother. We used to have large herds of deer here. But the last couple of years the numbers have gone down considerably. This is probably due to the mountain lion living here.
Lions need about 75 deer a year to live. This deer stays quite near the house, as she knows the lion does not come to our house too often. She feels safer and more secure near the house. This has tamed her down considerably. She sleeps in the bushes near the house, and will nurse the baby in our sight.

another image of a young fawn nibbling on cactus blossoms with his mother.
This image shows the spots of the fawn quite well. These deer are a tan color that blends well with the dry grasses and dropped oak leaves. This tawny color of the landscape is prevalent much of the year and fits the color of the deer quite well permitting them excellent camouflage. The plants in the photos are Trichocereus pachanoi on the far left. On the right top is Yucca elephantipes, and Trichocereus spachianus. The red-flowered plants are Aloe nobilis. Near the top of the steps are some Opuntia robusta cuttings that snapped off during a windstorm.

an orb spider, working the web in the Nopalea Grande cactus.
Here we have an orb spider working the web in the Nopalea Grande cactus. Spring brings the spiders out very heavily here, we do not spray for them, and they live in great numbers on the plants and all around here. We let the spiders live here, they certainly reduce the insect population considerably, while providing little danger to us. The spiders that are dangerous here are the Black Widow, and the Brown Recluse spider.

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