Nature Friday ~ February 27, 2026

Welcome to the last Friday of February where we’re joining those kids from Adventures of the LLB Gang. While the eastern part of the country has been repeatedly pounded with snow, bone dry conditions continue in our area. And the temperatures have been all over the map but mostly the days are unseasonably warm. As in 20-24 degrees warmer than normal. And yet, the canal along the Ralston Creek Trail earlier in the week had ice along the banks. Talk about whiplash! Wind has been the dominant weather feature this week; we’ve been under High Wind Alerts all week. There have been a couple grassland fires in the metro area as well, and in particular, in the northern suburb of Thornton, a portion of I-25 was closed. Mine you, this is the major north/south highway through the metro area. Evacuations of homes, businesses and a high school were ordered. For photos of some of the damage to various business including the destruction of 148 vehicles, visit this link.

Wilson here. I know Mum whines a lot about the lack of moisture (for which I apologize about that) but seriously, have you ever seen 148 vehicles melted from a vegetation fire before? It’s quite alarming when the sky is black with smoke. But we soldier on…it’s all we can do…and pray Mother Nature takes pity on the West and stops dumping mounds of snow repeatedly on the East coast. We heard there is another system set to hit again this weekend.

The Mum: Hiya, House Pony. While snow is falling everywhere but here, the weather marches on with very spring like conditions. And spring bulbs are beginning to emerge. We love seeing spots of color in the brown landscape but we’d welcome moisture of any kind at this point. Two days ago, about 23 drops of rain fell but it had barely landed before it evaporated, only leaving spots on windshields.

Wilson: Check out this pitiful hyacinth that probably has seen better days in years past. Emerging early and having dry edges upon emerging underscores the seriousness of our drought. It makes my Mum sad. She loves spring bulbs but they aren’t soothing her soul like they normally would do with these kinds of conditions.

 The Mum: It’s kind of depressing, although I was delighted to see a few bulbs emerging around the neighborhood that we walk through every day. This small clump of  crocuses caught my eye from quite a distance away since the landscape is so very brown. I felt like I needed to water the newly installed landscaping because things looked extremely parched and have notice others along our regular walking route also resorting to supplemental watering. I just grateful the development we moved into has not installed any turf–only trees, shrubs and drought tolerant perennials. I’m making a list of the kinds of plants I hope to install (and bulbs for next spring) once the risk of frost has passed. Still it’s hard to conceive spring is just three weeks away.

Wilson: On the plus side Mum, we’re enjoying longer amounts of sun each day. In fact, when we walked through the golf course the other morning, we were rewarded with a coyote sighting. He was probably over a 100 feet away but we could make out his shape. Mum had to chuckle as he was laying on the green sunning himself and when Mum noticed him he spotted her and began to walk away. Sorry about the dismally lousy photo, Mum only had her cell phone but in the good news department, she actually found her large DSLR camera yesterday and will start carrying it periodically. She was thrilled since she’s been wondering where it was since she moved in back in early December.

The Mum: I know when we walk past the wildlife habitat that borders the golf course you always are on high alert and think you know there’s some sort of critter there so after seeing that guy, I won’t doubt you in the future.

Wilson: I’ve been trying to tell you there’s ‘something’ there but you just think I’m seeing things. Truth of the matter is, I’m smelling things, Mum. So you’d be well served by paying attention to my highly tuned snooter.

The Mum: You’re right, Floof. I’ll definitely respect your sniffing abilities henceforth.

Wilson:  Glad to see you’ve come to your senses. I noticed right after we saw that coyote you were keeping your eyes out for other signs of critters. Look at this little guy, scurrying around in the grass. What is that little thing, Mum? He sure tried hard to run away from my inquisitive nose.

The Mum: That’s a ladybug, buddy. We must do everything we can to protect them. They are one of the good bugs (actually they are considered a beetle but let’s not get too technical here) in any garden. Whenever you see one scuttling about just know they are considered good luck since they are known for eating aphids and other pests. Being so tiny, they implement a particularly fascinating defense mechanism where they secrete a noxious liquid from their joints to ward off predators. Referred to as “reflex bleeding,” that liquid emits a disgusting odor, so it makes sense to not crush ladybugs. That’s why I always make sure you don’t inadvertently squash him with one of your gigantic paws.

Wilson: Well that explains why you dragged me away from him. I only wanted to sniff him and wouldn’t do any harm. Well, not on purpose anyway.

The Mum:  I know you don’t mean to injure bugs or little critters like that. But that inquisitive nose seems to come just before the big paws land.

Wilson: Lastly this week, we wanted to give you a progress report on Figaro. He looks pretty doggone good since he seems to have looked outside and noticed the spring like temps. Just look how much he’s grown since he woke up. I think it’s safe to say he likes the new neighborhood too. We’re looking forward to putting him outside soon for a good dose of Vitamin D.

The Mum: Well, that’s it from us. We hope you have a wonderful weekend and if bad weather sets in where are live, we hope it passes quickly. Let us know if there are any signs of spring in your area or if it’s still (or yet again) buried under white stuff. Feel free to send it to us. We’ll accept COD deliveries at this point.

Live, love bark! 🐾