Flora and Fauna Photography

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These are all cell phone photos clumsily cropped to better show the intended subjects.

Up first: a garter snake I would not have noticed had it not made itself apparent by feigning a strike toward my foot. Since it was non-venomous, only a foot long, and acting tough from a good 3 feet away, it presented no danger whatsoever. I went ahead and approached closer for a better photo. Unlike papapepper@papapepper's probable course of action, I elected to leave this danger noodle alone. A better shot would have been cool, but the snake isn't an unusual specimen or a rare species, and to be honest, I didn't want to bend over that far due to back pain

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Morning glories. A most cheerful weed.

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I took this picture a few nights ago. This is not a luna moth. It has a similar green coloration, but the wings are completely different. I would say this wingspan is in the neighborhood of 1-1.5" tip to tip. It might be this species, though.

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Bees buzz among these white flowers from what may be a member of the mint family.

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Meet the Spotted Knapweed. It is an invasive weed that likes poor soil, and I live on a glacial till gravel pit. It is also said to spread toxins through its roots to inhibit the growth of any competing plants. It is in the aster family, and it seems to trigger an allergic reaction in some people. What a jerk of a plant. It just started blooming perhaps a week ago.

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I also saw a doe and her fawn, but they did not want to let me approach within camera phone range. They sure are uppity for a bunch of lazy garden raiders.