'it is not he who gives abuse that affronts us,..."

                                           PACIFIC GIANT SALAMANDER
                                         
I was walking along the road and
spotted this beautiful amphibian
and decided to document it
a few days later I read that these
animals sometimes growl and bite
this one did not do that
they are a lot like a water balloon
very soft and mushy
I figured they must have a way to
protect themselves
as I looked there was a clear liquid
which was coming out of the pores
I figure if you got on your hands
and then into your mouth or eyes
you might go blind or get real sick
that is the reason they are not eaten
by other animals

I see a lot of nice wildlife while I am
out in the woods
a few days ago I decided I needed\
to catch the mouse that was running
across my head at night
so I set the trap and the next day it was caught
it was a nice fat mouse
and since I did not need it to eat
I set it out by the road for perhaps
a skunk or a hawk to eat
so there it lay
on it's brown back with it's white
belly and four legs sticking up
later as I sat reading I heard the
swoosh of wings and I figured
it was the crows that come around and
ask for crackers
I look over and what do I see
a couple of turkey vultures
the ones with the red heads
I felt so bad about two big vultures
only having a little mouse
it was a fat mouse but it was still
just a mouse
anyhow I gathered up the chicken bones
and the skin I took off the baked chicken
and sat it out by the road and sure enough
the ate that also
the vultures have been protected by law
for 300 years in this country
because the always clean up the dead animals
I saw a dead vulture in the ditch a few days ago
probably someone shot it
too bad
the thing that I wonder about is do the
vultures find their food by smell
or by sight
the mouse was fresh and did not stink
and it was very small
I still wonder
about that
I named the salamander
patsy sue after my sister
patsy sue salamander

"It is not he who give abuse that affronts us,
but the view that we take of it as insulting;
so that when one provokes you,
it is your own opinion which is provoking."  Epictetus

got to go
caytano