Yesterday we decided to hike up toward Deep Lake and back. It is a tough hike at the best of times but yesterday was a real challenge. About 5 years ago there was a significant forest fire in the area that left almost all the pine trees burned and standing. The consistently strong winds of this past winter managed to bring many of those trees down and what was just a challenging hike has turned into a full out obstacle course!
Add that to two difficult stream crossings and weather that alternated between heavy rain showers and blistering heat and it made for quite an adventure!
We did discover that our "Year of the Snake" is continuing. We are now up to 3 rattlers, 5 bull snakes and 2 green rubber boas. Until yesterday I did not even realize we had boas in Wyoming.
The first fellow we came across yesterday was this bull snake of approximately 5 feet. That is not really big for these types of snakes but since they are easily confused with rattlers at first glance, it is still quite a thrill to see one.
He wasn't really happy about being picked up but Ken released him as soon as he posed for a picture and he slithered off into the grass.
Just a short time later we saw our first of two green rubber boas of the day. I have seen these guys in this area before and always thought they were green snakes. This time I did a little research when I got home and discovered I was mistaken in their identity. They get their name from the fact that they look like they are made of rubber - and I have to agree it is so! Their backs are more of a khaki green and their bellies are much yellower. Like other boas, they are constrictors and eat small rodents and birds or reptiles.
As we neared the car on our return journey, we heard a beautiful bird voice coming from a tree nearby. Looking up, we saw this Lazuli Bunting performing for us. What a treat!
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