Gopher!

A friend of mine and I were taking a hike to get some photos out at the reserve in the late afternoon. We had a few shots, flowers, White-breasted Nuthatch, opossum bones, more flowers, ...and then I notice a bit of movement next to the trail and voila, up pops this gopher.

Fun to watch as it was working on getting some green grass far outside its' burrow. This one had a scar across the back and around the neck. It had survived a previous attack from some other critter - most likely a coyote or a large raptor. Anyway, here it is, note the teeth. His burrow hole is directly behind him.

Peace & Love