Christine's "Little Voice"

We are back to The Azure Gate and some wildlife stories. Night before last Christine had this little voice saying that our master bedroom courtyard did not have enough light and that it wouldn't be a good idea to step on a rattlesnake. I'm thinking, "well, at least for now the rattlesnakes are probably underground and we won't see one until Spring, if then."  We don't really see a lot of rattlesnakes on our property anyway; maybe once or twice a year. But, her premonitions are sometimes scary. Sure enough we look outside in the courtyard and there is a baby western diamondback rattlesnake. So there is discussion, not the least important of which is "what to do with this rattlesnake in our courtyard?" I wasn't eager to pick him up and move him out to the desert. Nor, did I want to call 911. Ultimately, we decided to let him be and that if we saw him again in the courtyard we would call the Tucson Animal Rescue and have them take him away. The photo above is another story from two years ago. Christine opened one of our gates to go out to the mail box to get mail. She stopped dead in her tracks because she saw a couple of quail and a curved bill thrasher nervously standing about right in her way. This is unusual. Typically, quail will run away when they get that close to people. So, Christine is subconsciously thinking something is wrong. Sure enough seconds later the above rattlesnake comes across the path right where Christine would have been walking had she not stopped. Over the years I've learned to pay attention to her "little voice."