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| A small male black and yellow garden spider,left, courts a much larger female in her web along a dirt road near Elkton in southwestern Oregon on Wednesday, July 30, 2014. The larger female will often feed on smaller male spiders of her own species before, during, or after mating. |
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Dangerous liaison
Monday, July 21, 2014
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Bugging out
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| The eyes of a damselfly look out as it clings to a reed growing in a small pond on a hillside on our ranch in southwestern Oregon on Sunday, July 20, 2014. Damselflies feed on mosquitos, flies and other small insects. |
Friday, July 11, 2014
Rattle and hiss
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| A large western rattlesnake makes her up an embankment along a dirt road near our home in southwestern Oregon on Friday, July 11, 2014. |
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| One of my dogs noticed the snake before I did. Nothing focuses my attention quite like a big rattlesnake. I counted twelve segments in its rattle. |
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| The snake was especially green. |
Monday, July 7, 2014
Belly warmer
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| A western alligator lizard warms itself on a blacktop road in the early evening after a hot day in southwestern Oregon near Roseburg on Monday, July 7, 2014. Western alligator lizards are carnivores and will feed on anything small enough to swallow, including insects, snails, frog tadpoles, spiders, scorpions, grasshoppers and western skinks. |
Eye to eyes
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| A jumping spider clings to a reed growing in a small pond on a farm near Elkton in southwestern Oregon on Sunday, July 6, 2014. Jumping spiders have four pairs of eyes; three secondary pairs and a principal pair that are movable. |
