Introducing my neighbors

I would like to introduce you to some of my neighbors. They are pretty good neighbors-no loud parties at all hours, no cars racing around the neighborhood. Some of them even help us keep the yard in shape by keeping the grass trimmed and they don't let the pears spoil on the ground when they fall. They also help with mosquito control.
Without further ado....
This neighbor has recently moved. I had to evict her when I decided to reclaim the front porch swing. She's a gold silk spider. They are called that because the webbing they have is a wonderful gold color. It's incredibly strong, too. I once read an article that said slaves used to weaqve baskets from the webs. It was something in National Geographic, so I'm pretty sure that it's true. I can believe it. They catch so many mosquitoes in their webs, don't bite and never try and come in the house. I like having them around.

Next is George V. He is decended from one of the first gopher tortise we met when we moved in. My son named him after my dad. We have a bunch of these on the property-probably at least 8 out front and several in the power line pass through. I love having them around, too. They are an endangered species and I am very protective of them. Just ask the electric guys who came out a couple of years ago to trim the trees away from the power lines. They almost ran over a turtle hole and I gave them hell about it, too.

Next we have Spot and his mom, Goofy. Goofy is a doe-we figure about 15 years old. We named her Goofy several years ago because her left ear doesn't stand up right and she looks goofy. She can do semaphore with that ear. However goofy she looks, she is pretty much the matriarch of the does in the area. I think most of them are are daughters, anyhow. Spot is a huge fawn now which is why we think he is a he.  This picture was taken about a month ago. He was still kind of small then. I haven't been able to catch a new one of him. He's grown a lot, but for some strange reason, still has spots. None of the other fawns do. I hope he loses them one day, or he will make an easy target for the hunters.  Look to the left of the shot-you can see him in the grass while Goofy munches pears.

Last, but not least is one of the few fox that reamin in the area-at least around our house. There were so many of them that between the fox and the coyotes, they wiped out the rabbit population in about three years and pretty much everything else that lives on the ground including quail and whip-or-wills. Then, there were so many fox, they ran the coyotes off. This guy is old and limps, so I feel kind of sorry for him. He's right in the center of the shot-posing nicely for me. You might have to look hard to see him.

I hope you enjoyed meeting my neighbors.