We originally bought this bishop’s cap cactus in a three-inch pot here in Arizona back in about 1998. It lived in California and did well there during the years before we retired and brought it back to Arizona. It seemed to like California since it grew into the six-inch pot seen in the image. However, now that it’s here in Arizona, it produces flowers all year long. I took this image today in our courtyard. Click on the image to enlarge.
Nice Bishop’s Cap (Astrophytum myriostigma).
Say, how’s that Fishhook Pincushion you had a year or so ago doing?
The fishhook is doing really good, still hanging in there. No flowers yet. I will post when they come. Thanks for asking.
Seen my first snake of the season.
YIPPEE!!!! A fine Sonoran Gopher Snake! (Pituophis catenifer affinis)
Don’t kill these guys. They are non-venomous, so a bite from these snakes is nothing. They eat rodents, and a lesser known fact is that they, too, kill and eat rattlers, as King Snakes do.
They have a certain vibrato in their hiss that sounds very similar to a rattler’s warning. They look similar in pattern, but if you have seen both, you can tell them from rattlers. They have an uncanny ability to mimic rattlesnakes in behavior and appearance that drives off most predators. It’s a trick that works well–until the snake faces Man. Too often, we go into “I’m gonna KILL that damn snake!” mode, and the Gopher Snake’s trick backfires, and gets him killed.
Nope, We gave him plenty of room to run by! The puppies were courious.