Also known as a Blue-belly, this lizard can really run.

Look at her head. It looks like she's molting, with the new darker skin on her head and the older skin from the neck down.

We like having her around. She keeps the farm healthy by eating all manner of bugs that the farm doesn't like, such as aphids and caterpillars.

There are five types of fence lizards. My guess is that she is a Coast Range Fence Lizard, Sceloporus occidentalis bocourtii.

They really croak in the evening, and sound much larger than they actually are.

They can live at sea level, where we are, or up to 10,000 ft high in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Interesting side note: The Pacific Chorus Frog was broken up into three species in 2006. This little guy is now known as a Central Pacific Chorus Frog.

They sing and sing and love sitting on the fence-line.

They are vegetarians, eating mainly seeds, They feed their chicks seeds as well, which is unusual for songbirds.

These guys live in the pump-house. I'm not 100% sure it's a Bald-Faced Hornet nest, but I think so. I need a telephoto lens because I'm not getting any closer.

If these are Bald Faced Hornets, yikes!  They eat bees, and we like bees. They may have to go.

But what a spectacular nest!

Amazing fact: Bald-Faced Hornets have excellent facial recognition and can tell humans apart. They will go after a particular person that has threatened their nest, flying past unfamiliar faces!

Here we see an Anatolian Sheep Dog protecting a vulnerable Lagotto.

These sheep dogs are ferocious, and will protect their flock from mountain lions, coyotes, bobcats, and any other predator that stalk and prey on helpless Lagottos.

Interesting side note: Anatolians are from Turkey, where they were originally bred to protect flocks of sheep, not Lagottos.

These aren't mosquitoes; they're larvae! Mosquitoes lay eggs in standing water, which hatch into larvae that eventually become the flying pests we all despise.

I found these in the dog water drum and got rid of them by emptying the drum into the garden and refilling it. 

I can't identify the species until I catch an adult.

Fun fact: Mosquito larvae breathe through a snorkel. A little olive or vegetable oil in the water can block their snorkels and kill them. The county also provides "mosquito fish" that eat larvae in standing water.

This Brush Rabbit is a type of cottontail rabbit. They are found all over the farm, enjoying wild and domesticated crops alike.

We were surprised to catch a rare Hunting Lagotto in the act, allowing us a good photo of the Brush Rabbit. We thought the Hunting Lagotto was extinct - we were dead wrong.

Interesting: The home-range of a female Brush Rabbit is about 1/2 acre, but the males will roam about twice that distance -- 1 acre.

There are a number of wasps and hornets out there, and identifying them is tricky for the neophyte.  This guy is a Western Yellowjacket (he says with confidence, but not 100% sure).

I'm not sure what she's after, sitting on this pluot leaf. I don't even know where she lives. Could it be that nest in the pump-house, above? Or does she live in the ground?  More investigation is needed.

Dog ticks are common in San Mateo county. They like white clothes, and take a long time before they attach.

We have caught six of these so far and are no longer afraid of them. Well, at least one of us is no longer afraid of them.

Fun fact: Come to find out the laundry cycle does not kill them, but the dryer does.

"They scare me", says Sarah Bradley of Walnut Creek, CA

My good friend and world-renown herpetologist Dr. Dale Denardo says this is not the Ordinary Garter Snake but rather the Common Western Coast Garter Snake. 

I was hoping it was a super-rare San Francisco Garter Snake, but no, it wasn't.

Well, it is really called the Coast Mole or the Pacific Mole. They are cute, with a very fine coat. They eat insects and earthworms.

Fun fact (unless you are an earthworm): Pacific Moles have an appetite for earthworms, which they often store alive for later snacking. They keep the worms fresh by biting the worms' heads off or paralyzing them so they can't escape.

When I asked what a flock of 26 Turkey Vultures flying over the croft meant, Neil said "something big has died". Naturally.

They can sniff dead animals over a mile away. And if you bug them and they feel threatened, they will throw up rotting flesh onto you - a home-made stink-bomb. Smart!

Well, it isn't a Yellow Jacket, but rather a Paper Wasp. I could be wrong - this guy has black antenae, and I think the European Paper Wasp's antanea are orange. Hmmm.

There are five species of Paper Wasps in San Mateo County. I now strongly suspect this is the guy responsible for that amazing football-shaped nest in the pump-house (see above, third row).

These guys are pretty docile, but they can sting.

We finally saw a bobcat.  We caught her with the new Game Camera I received as a Christmas gift!

The size of one of those common Lagottos, this bobcat was strolling south from the levee towards the mare barn.

I was collecting rotten logs for our hügelkultur flower beds, when this guy slimed by. He's the official mascot of UC Santa Cruz.

How cool is he? Or she? Trick question!  He is both male and female, allowing him the great fortune of being able to mate with himself. How wonderful is that?!

Strange but true: When they mate with other slugs, which takes hours, their penises sometimes get stuck in the other slug, so they have to chew them off. Really. This is called apophallation, of course.

We see lots of American robins on the croft. They like this sprinkler head because it leaks, so they get a quick drink. You can hear them more than you see them. Click hear or on the image and you'll hear what I recorded by the creek. 

It will come as no surprise that this is the #1 bird in North America, beating out the Red Winged Blackbird.

For you budding zoologists, there are seven subspecies of robins. This one is most likely Turdus migratorius propinquus.

Did you know? Though famous for worm-hunting on lawns, robins in coastal California happily shift to wild berries, madrone fruit, and even poison oak berries when available.  Well, like it or now, now you know!

She's like an employee here - she eats all the mosquitos and flies. Her web looks ike a mess (read below) - a pile of filaments in a corner of my window - but the body count below her web is impressive.  She's a keeper!

You'll want to know: She's not venomous and can't really bite. The devil is in the details here for sure! And unlike other spiders, her web is dynamic - she adjusts the tension of the web depending on what is caught in it.  So while it looks random, it is actually quite sophisticated feat of engineering.