One of our favorite things about this town and this area is the wildlife: there are lots of animals around, sometimes closer than expected. At night the sound of coyotes is common, deer are often seen walking down the side streets, and cows frequently hang out on the side of the road just thinking their cow thoughts. Here are a few pictures of the wildlife we have seen:

A deer eating dinner in our back yard (sorry for the lighting):

A horned lizard in our back yard (if you’d like more information on New Mexico lizards you can start here):

Another lizard that enjoys sunning itself on our wall:

This little guy is called a pack rat. They look a bit like gerbils, and will construct their nests out of just about anything they find. People here often leave their car hoods open to discourage pack rats from building nests inside the engine compartment. They are cute, but can be destructive (chewing on car wire sheathing is common):

This baby rabbit was brought into the house undamaged by our cat one night:

Turkey vultures. Our favorite summertime activity is sitting on the front porch just before dusk watching them coast in and settle into the trees for the night:

A small scorpion of some sort crawling on our living room baseboard:

Another small lizard who somehow ended up in our kitchen sink:

And the recent Bat Incident of 2019:

Oh, and we can’t forget the salamanders we found in an old septic tank:

And, of course, there are always critters of a more domesticated variety occupying our couch and chairs:

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