2020......It's been 7 years since my last post.  Here is a recent video of our desert garden. https://youtu.be/nzuzW0vtDDQ

Baby Huey and Louise Grow Up

Baby Huey and his sister, baby Louise, are rapidly taking over "A Small Tucson Desert Garden".  They enjoy swooping through the mesquite trees and hanging out around the fountain.  Still too young to hunt for themselves, the mother hawk keeps them fed with mice and small birds.  Normally this time of year our garden is full of small desert reptiles, birds and multiple families of quail - not so since the baby hawks arrived.  Humming birds are plentiful, since they can out maneuver hawks, and we have a family of Arizona Crested Fly Catchers, but our usual visitors have found another sanctuary. I wish the pigs (Javelina) would stay away, but no, they come through every 2-3 weeks and eat anything that holds moisture.  Our gopher snake that visited last year has come back, eyes cloudy and ready to shed his skin again.  He is well over 6 feet and hibernates in our flowerbed next to the hose faucets.  Last year at this time his mate joined him, but I haven't seen her yet.  Frankly, I have a phobia about snakes, any snake, and wish them well and far away from me.

Back to Huey, here is a recent video and photo of Huey's smaller sister on the patio:

This weekend it is suppose to reach 112 degrees - a tad hot for any living creature.  It will be interesting to see which of our usual visitors has the courage to seek refuge in our garden.

More Baby Hawks Visit A Small Tucson Desert Garden

Life has taken a twist for Baby Huey and his parents  since he dropped out of his nest a couple of weeks ago.  Now we think there were 3 baby Cooper Hawks, not one, in the nest, with the original Baby Huey having met his demise.  Last week we went a couple of days without seeing Huey and then happened upon a dead immature hawk not far from our house on one of our morning walks.  You would have thought we had lost a beloved pet. But, God is good, and we were greeted the same day with Huey's larger brother and eventually, a smaller sister.

We now have a pic of the mother (right).  She is small, compared to the father, and from what we can tell does most of the parenting which includes  dive bombing us when we come near one of her babies.  We now wear protective head gear when picking up the mail knowing the path runs near the nest.  So far no injuries, except Susan did bang up her knee trying to dodge an attack and ran into our heavy wrought iron door.  The larger father hangs out across the street in Carl and Barb's pine tree.  He is quite impressive sitting on his big pine branch and surveys our house it seems 24/7.  To our knowledge, that's pretty much all he does.  When the mother isn't observing her chicks from the Eucalyptus tree in our yard, she is out hunting.  As you will see, she does a good job at this as the 2 remaining immature hawks are now as big, if not bigger, than she is!

To the left is one of the babies relaxing on top of the fort I built for our granddaughters (see a previous chapter of my blog if you are interested in building one).  Both of the babies have become used to seeing us and unlike their parents tolerate us watching them at close range.  This drives the mother nuts of course and when she has dinner she drops it (usually a desert mouse) in front of the baby without bothering to land if we are watching.

I have stitched together another video of the two immature hawks and as you will see they are not camera shy.

We didn't see the young hawks today, which is unusual, but did see the dad hanging out on the pine tree.  Till next time!

Baby Hawk Visits A Small Tucson Desert Garden

Although I haven't posted in a while I assure you "A Small Tucson Desert Garden" is alive and thriving in Tucson, Arizona.  In a later post I will have some photos of what the garden looks like now.  BUT, today, I just had to share a very special visit by a baby hawk and have added some photos and video.  We believe this particular hawk is a "Cooper's Hawk", although we generally have had Harris Hawks living here.

We have had hawks living in our Eucalyptus trees for years.  As a side note, Eucalyptus trees are big, beautiful and thrive in our desert, BUT I do not recommend you plant them near your garden or home.  They are messy, the leaves and roots are mildly toxic to plants growing near them, and the branches are brittle and can break during a monsoon storm.

Our hawks are majestic predator birds that are thrilling to watch and help keep our garden mice and other rodent population to a minimum. Their nests are large - and now we know why, their young are huge.  "Baby Huey", as we affectionately call him, is almost as big as the mother - and he still can't fly!

I had wanted to get photos of Baby Huey and his mother together, but she appears only to visit him at feeding time. This consists of swooping down, dropping a desert mouse in front of him, and then shooting back to a pine tree across the street - no time for a shot.  Eventually, she flies back to our Eucalyptus tree and perches on her "look-out" branch to watch Huey waddle around our yard.  The mother will squawk at us if we get close to Huey, but, being used to seeing us in the garden, she will allow us to get within photo distance before warning us off.  

The following is a link to a musical video I posted on YouTube  of a song I wrote about likening the relationship between God and man to a mother bird and her chicks. I posted this song a couple of months before Baby Huey's visit.

                                                         http://youtu.be/3u_tuy61gcI

A Frozen Tucson Garden and a Friendly Garden Fort

Tucson was hit with freezing temperatures in late February, 2011, the likes of which this and the previous generation of Tucson gardeners have never experienced. In the Tucson Mountains, where our desert garden dwells, the temp dropped to 16 degrees - unbelievable. The potted flowering cactus to your left froze to the ground, as did many others in my garden and our region. Fortunately, the Sonoran Desert surrounding the Tucson area abounds with cactus of all types that did make it and we will survive. Generally you will find many articles in the paper this time of year by master gardeners instructing you on how to prune and rejuvenate plants that were damaged by frost. Not so this year. The most popular recommendations have been to replace your damaged plants with new ones and not bother with the severe pruning (and unsightliness) of trying to bring back a struggling survivor. I'll be replacing most of my potted plants (goodbye hibiscus) as well as several varieties of desert plants in my garden beds. My Turks Cap, which have been going great guns for several years now, DID survive, while other more hearty plants bit the dust (rhuelia, cassia, acacia and tacoma stans). No worries though, and I am looking forward to meeting the new plants I will be bringing into my garden this spring.

My granddaughters in front of their "fort" that I put together to entertain them last summer. It is made from inexpensive materials and was based on the vine trellis structures for my backyard raised bed vegetable garden (see my raised bed gardening posts in the index) Basically all you need is re bar, 1/2"metal electric conduit and pole connectors, reed fencing, plastic vine ties, clamps and shade cloth. I added some garden posts in the front to give it that rustic island look. The re bar is pounded into the ground and the hollow conduit is slipped over it to provide the frame - just like the shade structure of a raised bed garden. Reed fencing is then attached via the plastic vine ties to the frame and shade cloth draped over the top and attached with the same clamps used to keep the shade cloth in place over your raised bed. We poured sand on the floor which my youngest granddaughter uses as a sandbox. All of these materials you can get at Home Depot. The nice thing about this fort is it blends in with your garden. The fencing behind the fort is made from the branches of the ocotillo cactus and will be a topic for a later post. Saguaro later and Tanque Verde much!

Saguaro Tales

Ah, what a spring! Record breaking rains since November have changed the look and feel of the Sonora Desert in Southern Arizona. Saguaros and prickly pear are plump, weeds abound and everything looks good. So good, in fact, the Arizona Daily Star warned in this morning's paper to brace ourselves for a big wildfire season. My desert and oasis garden plots are happy and quite oblivious of the approaching summer heat.

I have included two photos of Aunt Judith (saguaro cactus) and me for comparison purposes to illustrate how fast Saguaros grow. The first photo was taken about 5 years ago and the second 5 days ago. As you can see, a saguaro is a slow grower, but can reach a height of 40 to 60 feet in the Tucson Mountains where I live. Saguaros can live to be 150 years old and its growth rate is dependent on rainfall.

Strawberries in my 3 fiberglass whisky barrels are producing faster than I can eat them. I now have completely protected them with chicken wire to keep the birds and other critters from gnawing on them. I must admit that strawberries are so cheap right now (99 cents a basket at Sunflower Market) I sometimes question my sanity. The store bought strawberries, however, are not as sweet as mine and perish quickly in the refrigerator.

I have elected not to plant a spring vegetable garden in my two raised beds this year. One, I am busier now during the week, but most of all I am not up to the challenge of fighting the oncoming heat wave that blasts Tucson in June. I find the late summer monsoon and fall growing season is much more satisfying and less frenetic than fighting to squeeze a spring garden in.

Hot air balloons greet us in the cooler spring months and the one below has become a pleasant reminder of the beautiful weather we are enjoying now. The photo below captured my wife and 5 year old grand daughter Alison wrapped in a blanket and listening to the "whoosh whoosh" sounds coming from the gas burner in frantic attempts for the pilot to keep it aloft.

In closing I have added a photo of my Mother's "Tombstone Rose" for my brothers to see. This incredible plant was planted by my Father several decades ago and continues to amaze us when it forms hundreds of blossoms in the spring. The world's longest rose bush is just down the road in Tombstone, Arizona and has a trunk 12 feet in diameter and covers over 8,000 square feet. Each spring it produces over 1 million tiny white blossoms. They say it grew from a root of a White Lady Banksia rose brought over from Scotland in 1885.

Raised Vegetable Bed Protection Update

The wire cages I manufactured to protect my vegetable garden have worked out great!  They are very light and easy to lift off my raised beds.  I can now report with confidence that they are also effective in preventing chipmunks and gophers from ravaging your harvest.  The pvc handles on top are a must for easy removal and replacement.  See my September 2009 posts for more information on these cages and their purpose.

I added a third irrigation tube in the center of the bed to better distribute the water.  Prior to that I was hand watering my new vegetable seedlings to get complete coverage.  All of my raised beds and fiberglass barrels are now on timed irrigation and it has been working beautifully.  We have been enjoying radishes, romaine lettuce and spinach for the past two weeks. I have been picking off the larger leafs for our evening salads which seems to promote speedy growth of the remaining smaller leaves.  I did this last fall and was able to keep ourselves in salad fixings for months.    

Tomatoes are just now starting to ripen. I had 5 plants before the chipmunk invasion but am now down to one.  Still, there are plenty growing and they will liven up our salads for several more weeks.

This is my third attempt to grow snap peas in the desert.  So far, so good, but I am bracing myself for the worst.  I am hoping that consistent watering provided by my make-shift irrigation system (see prior blog posts for construction and layout) will make a difference this time.  My wife loves snap peas so I have to get this right!

Mexican Sunflower - a love-hate relationship

Mexican Sunflower (tithonia fruticosa) is one of my favorite desert plants.  It has a commanding presence in the summer garden with its tall leggy stems, large green leaves and bright yellow sunflowers.  A profuse bloomer when watered, it attracts hummingbirds, butterflies and bees.  Birds also love to eat the spent dry flowers, so be sure to dead head them and leave on the ground.   But, in winter, Mexican Sunflower is not a pleasant sight to behold.  It no longer flowers and the large leaves turn wrinkled and brown. If it is a featured plant, like my two were, it becomes a blight on your winter garden.

 

So, last winter, I dug up one of them, divided the clump, and planted two pieces in an area that would become a back drop to my oasis garden.  I didn't have the heart to dig up the other one, so I severly pruned it back and waited for new, fresher growth in the summer.  Well, even after much attention the clumps never produced.  So I began calling the various nurserys in town only to learn Desert Survivors was the only one who carried the tithonia fruticosa variety.  Unfortunately their plants were still in the greenhouse and wouldn't be ready until fall.   I had to wait.

Then, one morning when watering I noticed a very small plant growing among a patch of salvia leucantha that looked like Mexican Sunflower.  A seed must have been carried by a bird or blown over and dropped there.  I gently dug it out and planted it in the hole that previously housed the clump and surrounded it with chicken wire.  It grew!  A miracle according to some who told me you can't transplant Mexican Sunflower.  I will be diligent in my efforts to keep it healthy until next summer when I am hoping it will shoot upwards and blossom.

The 1/2 inch wire mesh cages I described in my last post have worked well in protecting one of my raised vegetable beds from small critters.  The handles work great, making them easy to lift off the bed while I water and putz about.                               

So right now life is good.  I'll keep you posted. 

Critter Protection

In my prior post I discussed the challenges of protecting a vegetable garden in the Tucson region.  I have chain link around the garden area, but small critters such as chipmunks, ground squirrels, rabbits, mice, birds etc. can easily come in and set up shop.  Mel Bartholomew, author of Square Foot Gardening (see link on side bar) recommends constructing a cage out of chicken wire that is easy to lift and place over a raised bed garden.  Materials used are chicken wire and 1"X2" select pine boards.  Mel uses less expensive chicken wire with larger 1" or 2" openings, but it won't keep smaller pests such as chipmunks from squeezing in and gobbling up your tender plantings .  I purchased a heavier wire with smaller 1/2" openings which takes more time bending to shape but is still light enough to easily lift off your bed when tending/watering the garden.

I built two 4'X4' cages to fit on top of one of my 4' X 8' beds.  I found I could cut a piece of  4' wide wire 7' long and bend, with the help of a straight edge (see photo to the right), 2 even creases 18" from each end to form 2 of the 4 sides.  That left only two 18" by 48" pieces to cut for the remaining two sides.  The base of the wire was then stapled to the 4'X4' frames and the two single sides attached with those nifty plastic awning lock ties you can get at Home Depot.  To easily lift off and replace the cages on top of the beds I created a 12" long plastic handles out of left over pvc pipe and wire and attached one to the top of each cage in the very center.  For step-by-step directions for building these cages see Mel Bartholomew's New Square Foot Gardening book.  Having completed the cages, I planted seed of lettece, bunching onions, radish, spinach and snap peas with hopes that the resulting harvest will now be protected.

For my remaining raised bed and fiberglass barrels I have removed the bird netting (effective, but awful stuff to work around and a lizard strangler).  Since these plantings are mature (tomatoes, strawberries and herbs) I am taking my chances they will survive most attacks.  If not, I plan to set out a small Havahart critter trap that will be used to humanely capture the rodents and remove them far from my property.  I've heard peanut butter works well.  Before replanting the remaining bed, I will build two more 4'X4' cages to protect it as well.  I will share the results of these endeavors to protect my garden in future posts.  

Just a side note for Amber Rose, our 9 year old grand daughter.  Your strawberries planted in the gray sink had babies!  Tendrils from your plant crawled over to the sink next to it and rooted. I'ved transplanted several of your baby plants to another barrel so there will be more strawberries to pick when you visit.

Summer Garden "Issues"

The photo above was taken on our Pacific coastal vacation towards summers end after our grand daughters returned to Missouri. But more of that later. This post is to explain my absence this summer and what has been happening in the vegetable garden. My spring vegetable garden efforts were thwarted at every turn this year. No sooner had a seed sprouted or transplant put in they were gone within a few days. As you can see in my earlier photos I use raised beds and large containers to grow vegetables. My early conclusion was a wily rabbit who had figured out a way to get by my chain link fence. This proved to be true to a certain extent. One morning I witnessed a small one that was able to wiggle underneath the fence. But it would take one great hopper to jump into my fiberglass barrels. Thinking I had solved the mystery I covered everything with chicken wire and re-planted. And waited.

A week went by with incident and then it happened again. Everything stripped to the ground. At this point I was considering cutter bees, but nothing of the plant was left over. Surly if it had been bees there would have been large pieces left. I increased my observation efforts throughout the day. Then, finally, I observed two very small ground squirrels frolicking among my beds and pots. We had noticed in increase in ground squirrels in the neighborhood, but had thought nothing of it. Ground squirrels have no problem fitting through the openings of a chain link fence.

So, I begin covering everything in bird netting and re-planted. A real pain. But it did the trick for about 48 hours. But then it happened again - everything except a few mature plants were gone. At this point it was funny and I pretty much gave up. This was hard as my two grand daughters would be staying with us for a couple of months this summer and they expected to help me in the garden. Only a few days before they arrived I witnessed the same 2 ground squirrels I had seen earlier inside the bird netting. When they saw me they quickly escaped through what I later discovered to be tiny folds of loose netting that hadn't been secured down. At this point I was left with 3 tomato plants, some squash and a couple of barrels on strawberries. I turned my attention towards other goings on at this point.

As it turned out, our grand daughters kept us running this summer and there was little time to garden. After they returned to Missouri Chu and I headed for the coast and slowly moved north to keep cool. Incredible scenery and, compared to desert fauna, all plants are on steroids. Our favorite spots were the small towns of Elk (20 minutes south of Mendocino, CA) and Yachats, OR. You can see photos and videos of the trip on my Facebook. Both were fabulous coastal areas surrounded by beautiful national forests.

So, now I turn my attention to the fall garden. And better ways of protecting my vegetables from desert creatures.

Strawberries in the Desert

When Amber Rose, my granddaughter, asked me if we could grow strawberries last Fall I reluctantly purchased some small sad looking plants from a local nursery. Growing strawberries in the desert just didn't sound like a good idea to me. I planted them in a large fiberglass whisky barrel (Home Depot), which I've learned lasts much longer than one made of wood in Tucson's hot and dry climate.

So here we are in March enjoying delicious strawberries. What a kick! To protect the fruit from birds it is necessary to lay a piece of rabbit wire over the top of the barrel. I now have 5 barrels and two thick porcelin sinks in addition to my two 4' X 8' raised beds and find them excellent containers for growing beans, cucumbers, peas and tomatoes.
It has been a very mild winter and spring is already poised to turn to summer. This season I have put in snap peas, yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers, egg plant and two varieties of cherry tomatoes (large beefsteak tomatoes are tough to grow in Tucson). When my niece from Sweden, Sarah, visited in January she introduced us to a wonderful concoction called ratatouille, which uses copious amounts of zucchini, eggplant and tomato. It can be eaten cold, hot, in spaghetti sauce, on toast - the list is endless. It also lasts well in the fridge and can be frozen. My hope is we can successfully grow enough of these vegetables to keep an ongoing supply of ratatouille in our fridge throughout the summer.

December Bounty in the Desert

December brought mild weather in the Tucson region in 2008. A nice surprise for gardeners who normally turn their thoughts to other pursuits during the colder weather. We continued to enjoy tomatoes, pole beans, lettuce, spinach, carrots, peppers and the beginnings of the strawberry crop into the new year. My peas, however, never took off. I will try a different variety this Spring.

I pretty much stopped gardening activities in January, enjoying my smaller water bills and having extra time on my hands. And that is when it happened. One morning I took a peek to see how my strawberry plants were doing. They were fine, but one of my raised beds had been totally stripped of all vegetation - except the green onions. Since I have critter proofed the garden area I am suspecting it is a ground squirrel (or pack rat) that has made its home in this area for years. It took it this long to figure out how to climb into the bed. I will be constructing "cages" made from chicken wire and wood before Spring comes.
On a completely different note my grand daughters moved to Missouri a couple of weeks ago. They are living in a rural area not far from Springfield. So, this blog will also be geared towards them so they don't miss anything. It's likely, however, that they will want a garden in Missouri and be able to share their experiences of planting in fertile soil. Wouldn't that be cool.

Man VS Bird VS Tomato

Unbelievable. This morning I watched as an unidentifiable bird hopped down UNDER by bird netting and then hopped up INTO my tomatoes. His two friends watched with great interest as he committed this despicable act while waiting for their turn. I spent the next 15 minutes shoring up my netting to provide maximum protection without endangering the lizards that patrol my garden for insects.

We having been picking tomatoes for a week now. Last weekend the girls helped with the harvest, which quickly turned into an Easter egg hunt-like activity. Fortunately they don't taste like chocolate eggs and plenty were left over to eat and give to family. Amber finished painting her garden bench (a "custom" green purchased at ACE) and created a trap for critters using chicken wire, tomato hoops, rope, sand, and tomato bait. Quite a contraption but no success to date. Allie spent most of the morning "water" painting a step stool. All went well until Allie unintentionally sprayed water on Amber's freshly painted bench (and me) which resulted in emotional dialogue between the two and a heartfelt "I'll never do it again" apology from Allie.

This past week I've planted more radishes, lettuce and spinach and have added broccoli and chives. Heidi's cuttings of lemon sage (great tea leaves) and chives are doing well and her cuttings of hearts and flowers (a succulent ground cover) have taken root. Chu planted hearts and flowers in our unprotected desert garden off the patio, but a troop of javelina came through a couple of nights ago and devoured ALL of them.

The weather is getting cooler and the shade covers have come off the strawberrys and peas. It is supposed to get up into the nineties again by the end of this week, but I suspect that won't last long. Absolutely gorgeous weather for gardening and hiking!

Yellow Tomato Leaves, Another Rattler and Peter's 65th

Since posting a week ago my cherry tomato crop is looking to be 300 plus if I can manage to control the various pests and diseases that challenge these plants. Butterflies are laying eggs, leaves are turning yellow and birds are getting interested. Knowing these are common problems with solutions keep me from throwing in the towel. I marvel when I think about our colonial ancestors who had to solve these problems to survive. Albertsons was not an option.

Since both Chu and I love snow peas, I have planted two whisky barrels in addition to 4 squares in one of my raised beds to reduce the risk of losing some. In my excitement I planted the first crop too early (mid-August) and they have struggled. They may still make it, but look ragged from fighting the consistent 100 degree heat we have been having. The ones planted in the barrels (and shaded) look much happier. My greater concern are the yellow leaves on four of my six tomato plants planted in the raised bed. The fruit looks healthy, but the yellow is excessive. The depth of my two raised beds average 8-10 inches. These 4 plants were planted in an area with only 6 inches of Mel's' mix and 12 inches apart. According to Mel, the depth and spacing should be OK but I'm suspecting due to our desert heat they would do better in at least 10 inches. The two tomato plants planted in the deeper whisky barrel hardly have any yellow leaves at all. Next year I will rotate my peas to the 6 inch area since they are more shallow rooted. Click on these photos to see the tomatoes AND the yellow leaves.

My pole beans are amazing climbers. Without any help from me their tendrils easily grasped the nylon trellis with a death-like grip. Does Jack and the Bean Stalk come to mind?
We are now starting to harvest spinach, radishes and banana peppers. The bell peppers are beginning to take shape and hopefully we can have a crop of these before it gets too cool.

For family members, I've included a photo taken at Peter's (my brother-in-law) 65th birthday brunch. Peter is VERY happy since he now qualifies for Medicare. Peter's wife, Kay, put on a great spread for this occasion and invited all related persons living in Tucson. Even at 65, only the naive will take him on in ping pong (Amber Rose). Chu and I also hiked a trail near Gates Pass this past week. The hike was great and made even more exciting by running into ANOTHER large diamond back rattle snake. I thank God he put rattles on these guys as I would have surly stepped on it had I not been warned!

First Fruits and a Visit to Glenn Cottage

Yesterday Chu and I visited our friend Heidi who defied Tucson's desert environment by planting a "back east" garden. It is beautiful. You won't see salvias, ruellas or daleas in her garden, but you will see hearts and flowers ground cover, holly hocks and morning glory. She waters by hand and her water bill averages around $60 month during the summer. That's less than half of what I pay for my desert landscape on drip irrigation. Much of it is grown in the shade of pine trees. Pam, her next door neighbor, is also an avid gardener. Check out the grape vine that shades her garden in her small patio. Pam grows many
vegetables and has a large watermelon patch that threatens to take over a lot she bought across the street that she is planning to build her house on. Both the grapes and watermelon were delicious.

Heidi has just completed building a chicken coop in her back yard. Unfortunately I became immersed in its construction and forgot to get a photo, but you can see several of her website photos by clicking on http://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=8389. Besides providing her with eggs, the two chickens she has just ordered from one of our feed stores will keep her garden free of unwanted insects and other pests that attack her plants and vegetables. I continue to learn about the seemingly endless possibilities that exist for Tucson gardeners. Be sure to click on the above photos to see the planting details.

We harvested our first yellow banana peppers this week from one of our 6 new pepper plants. Peppers are a summer growing vegetable, but our warm fall weather extends their growing season here. My tomato plants are also doing well and if the two Harris hawks that live in our Eucalyptus tree keep the birds away we are looking at a large harvest soon.

Hobbits in the Garden

Last weekend was a sleep over for our grand daughters. Amber Rose, age 8, and Alison, age 3, love to "garden" and knowing this I had prepared for their industry. We tend to sometimes overwhelm anyone who will listen to us warble on about our grand daughters, so abandon this post now if you grow faint on this subject.

Amber has gardened with me since she could walk and has become quite handy to have around. Alison, on the other hand, can be like a Sherman tank mowing down a crowded village.

Chu suggested I provide a diversion, like a sand box, for Alison to play with out in our new vegetable garden area. So, after purchasing marigolds and a strawberry plant for Amber's raised garden corner, I also picked up a small inexpensive plastic swimming pool and filled it with sand. It was a hit and kept Alison busy for hours and hours.

After planting carrots, strawberries, marigolds, spinach, lettuce, bush beans and rosemary Amber decided my make shift garden work bench was too high and wanted to make her own. Like her mother, Margaret, she LOVES tools. She has also made it quite clear she would like me to look into getting her a small wheelbarrow if she is to be effective in helping me. I told her I didn't think they came in kid sizes but she was quick to point I could find one at Target in the toy section.

The girls found a small Gecko lizard in the garage to play with. While showing them how safe it was to handle it Chu spotted a large diamond back rattle snake slithering along just outside our chain link fence. An education for all and a wake up call for me to make sure it doesn't decide to take up residence in our nice cool garden spot. Click on the above photo to enlarge for a closer view.