Greetings and salutations, everyone. Happy Friday. Wilson here…and as always, I’m joining those lovable pups from the Adventures of the LLB Gang. Well hallelujah…we finally received some rain last night. Arvada officially received somewhere between 0.40″ and 1.41″ of rain, with the heaviest moisture occurring in the western foothills. In our neighborhood I think we received somewhere in the middle. It. was. beautiful. And comes at a good time since our temperatures are slated to be in the low to mid-90’sF next week. But like my Mum always says, we’ll take that moisture.
Wilson: Besides the news about receiving rain, Mum has a new critter obsession now. We’ve know about this critter appearing in our area because we’ve seen evidence of him but had never actually seen one in person. Well that’s history now. Meet our newest critter in the ‘Hood. He is unnamed as of now so I’m asking for your help in suggesting a name for him since Mum can’t decide. Let me just say she is over the moon giddy about running into him a couple of mornings since last week. She couldn’t capture any good photos since she didn’t have her big camera with her and whenever she did, we didn’t see him but she’s been researching about beavers nonstop. Can you imagine being replaced as the love of her life by…{gasp}…a…rodent??
The Mum: You are not being replaced, let me reassure you. It’s just I’ve never seen a beaver before in real life and I certainly never expected to see one in the city. This is monumental so I’ve been trying to find out about this fella. Did you know that beavers are the second largest rodent (behind capybaras) in the world and weigh up to 110 lb (50 kg)? With their stout bodies, large heads and those famous chisel-like incisors, beavers have brown or gray fur, with hand-like front feet, webbed back feet. Their tails that are flat and scaly and are used as a rudder as well as a alarm system when they slap it on the surface of water. Beavers can be found in a number of freshwater habitats and typically eat tree bark, aquatic plants, grasses and sedges. They are considered a keystone species because their damn and lodge building activities create wetlands that are used by many other species.
Wilson: {with his paw against his forehead} I can’t believe I’m being replaced by a rodent. This is just humiliating…
The Mum: {interrupting} Let me assure you that you are not being replaced. But seeing one of these guys is pretty monumental. They’re nocturnal you know.
Wilson: Well we do practically take our morning walks in the dark so I guess that makes sense…
The Mum: Oh for heaven’s sake…stop being so hyperbolic. We walk early to avoid the heat…seeing that beaver was a bonus-just like that day we ran into the coyote pup. Did you know their eyes, ears and nostrils are arranged so that they can remain above water while the rest of the body is submerged and their nostrils and ears have valves that close underwater? They also have a translucent third eye membrane that covers their eyes when they are submerged. Isn’t that cool?
Wilson: {harumph} Big deal. They can’t cuddle with you like I do.
The Mum: No, you’re right about that…for which I’m grateful. You’re still my favorite pet, so don’t worry. But I will always want to better capture that guy in a photo. You’re still my bestest floof.
Wilson: Well I guess I feel better about that declaration. Thank you for that. Now that you’ve pledged your undying love for a rodent, how about I share some other slices of nature we encountered this week?
The Mum: I did not pledge undying love for a rodent but I’d love to see what else you have today.
Wilson: Just to prove we do walk in the middle of the night at dawn, here’s a beautiful sunrise we encountered a couple of days ago.
The Mum: That was a pretty spectacular sunrise through the coyote habitat.
Wilson: Umm, meh…I’d have been happy sleeping in but whatever.
The Mum: Oh come on…you love the cool mornings as much as I do. What else do you have?
Wilson: You’re right, I do like the cool mornings because I know it’ll be hotter later. The wildflowers are lovely. With the blanket flower (Gaillardia) a kind of chamomile is blooming with them.
The Mum: To show how hot and dry it’s been, look at this rye grass. Crispy-crunchy.
Wilson: I’ve noticed gladiolus are starting to bloom and there are some real beauties in the neighborhood adjacent to the golf course. Just look at these babies.
The Mum: They really are pretty. I’ve always thought those “sword lilies” are quite showy and this house has a gorgeous selection. They do tend to flop over so I’ve never planted any in favor of other plants that stay upright without support like these gorgeous lilies.
Wilson: Well that’s all I have this week. We hope you have a terrific weekend and don’t fry in the heat that is set to return. Mum is helping the rescue out tomorrow at the annual Denver Dog Fair. This is one of the best public events for dog rescues. They find homes for so many dogs and there are vendors selling everything you can imagine associated with owning a dog. I’ll be happily snoozing on the sofa (don’t tell Mum) while she’ll be dealing with crowds, parking and all the things I wouldn’t enjoy. What are your plans? What ever you do, we hope you can find some time to get out and enjoy what Nature shares with us. And don’t forget to suggest a name for the rodent. I was thinking of Theodore like that Leave It To Beaver kid or Norbert, a famous beaver who lived at the Detroit Zoo. What do you think? I have no doubt that if Mum has anything to do with it, she’ll be sharing more photos of he who is to be named. Sigh. Have a wonderful weekend!
Live, love, bark! 🐾
Greetings mates. Wilson here and I’d like to welcome everyone to this week’s edition of Nature Friday where as always, we’re joining our friends at 
Happy Friday, folks. Wilson here. We have been busy this week. Mum is getting ready for our annual sheepdog picnic/fundraiser and sadly, I’m had to spend a lot of time entertaining myself after my walks. But apprently I’m not happy about being left to my own devices while Mum is working on getting the gift baskets ready for the picnic. I don’t know, it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. But I was contrite when Mum saw it. My head went down quicker than a bad day on the stock market. Mum knows I had no idea what I was doing, us dogs don’t feel guilt like our humans think we do. Still I know I disappointed her and for that, I’m sorry. Ok, maybe not all that so sorry, but here we are. Anyway, we’re joing our pals from the 
The Mum: Wish us lots of luck at the picnic! It’s always interesting herding all those Floofs.
Welcome to this week’s edition of Nature Friday where we join our pals at The Adventures of the LLB Gang. Clicking on the link will take you to see what others have shared this week. This week’s post is mostly about one topic-cottonwood trees. Ok…let’s get started.
Today is Memorial Day in the U.S. where we remember and honor all those who gave the ultimate sacrifice serving their country. Now a national holiday, it was originally known as Decoration Day back in the years following the Civil War and only became known as Memorial Day in 1968 and Congress added it as a three-day weekend for federal employees in 1971.