I’m standing by the keypad to open the garage from the outside. I hear a slight rustling next to my left foot. And this little dude hops out and tries to go hide by the lemon tree. Had they just stayed still, I would have never known they were there, hidden in the mint. They did blend in far better once they moved under the bush
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Not necessarily about animals, but a whole eucalyptus ecosystem.
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After Jimmy’s story went viral, animal rescuer Mark Quadrozzi of Remarkable Rescues stepped up with a solution that would work for humans and duck alike. This week, Quadrozzi managed to catch Jimmy and relocate him to his animal sanctuary more than 200 miles away in Ocala, where the bird can join a flock of other Muscovy ducks.
Quadrozzi believes that Jimmy, who is about 3 to 4 months old, was probably raised by people and abandoned. He also said the duck’s age and sex explain a lot about his behavior.
“This is a young male,” Quadrozzi told Fox 4. “Yes, and that’s why he’s being such a punk.”
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It’s not just the ducks.
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There was a chonky rattlesnake across the trail last weekend. Rare sighting out here. For as much as I do outside, I see them less than once every 2 years.
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you must have been hiking on the eastside.
i was always under the (perhaps mistaken) impression there were no venomous snakes west of the Cascades.
happy to be corrected, but i did spend many years hiking and biking in western Washington. perhaps i should have been more careful?
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I found a couple of maps
Maine and Rhode Island are safe. My husband is now planning to retire in Maine. 
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There are rattle snakes in Minnesota!?!?!
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@subextraordinaire’s maps are right. There are rattlesnakes west of the Cascades, but rarely seen. I don’t even think it’s a population density thing. There are probably just as many west of the mountains, or more, but the lack of vegetation east of the mountains just makes them easier to spot. I’ve seen them in the high desert, but also near the coast in southern Oregon (which is drier than further north) and even on the San Juans.
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I almost stepped on one while running on a pavement path about a mile inland just north of Dana Point
My husband shrieked a bit. Then we saw one here while walking in PV Peninsula
The color drained from his face and he said, “Nope.” My husband turned around and headed back to the car. He has a definite 
problem.
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Probably some of the same Missisauga rattlesnakes that are in Michigan along with prairie rattlers in the southern and western parts of the state.
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Look at the first map, not the second. There are rattlesnakes in the bottom SE corner of the state. Most of the state is safe!
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The Michigan map is very, very wrong. There are rattlesnakes distributed throughout the state (and up into Ontario, where the namesake town is), including the UP. They are small and timid, but nonetheless present.
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It looks like it’s a map of Crotalus species, which are the main group of rattlesnakes. The ones in Michigan are from the smaller genus Sistrurus, called massasaugas or pygmy rattlesnakes. They still have the rattle so I would count them, but that’s common names for you.
iNaturalist has nice maps of where people have submitted pictures, which may not always tell you the full range but gives you a decent idea of where you’re likely to see them.
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