The Beast has Awakened

Greetings, Earthlings. 

Don't worry. I'm a vegan.

The moment we moved into our Cave Creek, Arizona, rental home, our [outdoor] cat took up residence in the tortoise pen. Sleeping in the cool grass. Perhaps he heard the rumblings, of a long hibernating beast, waking up, beneath the sand...

Desert Tortoise are endangered species. It's illegal to even touch them!   Much less try to kill them as my naive kitty cat was plotting to do. Right up until Mr. Tortoise popped his gnarly head out the sand. :)

On this fine morning... 
I heard terrified barks from my cowardly puppy. Then, I witnessed the blur of the big, black cat ~ hightailing it ~ into the house, and under the bed.

Mr. Tortoise has awakened! 

After a long winter's sleep. 

(They don't come out of hibernation until the temperature reaches 80+ degrees.)

Heading back down there to wake up his buddy. Two tortoise live in this garden.

I thought I would leave you with one last, intriguing, look at desert life. The big, kinda scary, tortoise who lives in the backyard of this rental property.*

Travel time is over. Off we go ~ away from the warm sun and back into a mountain winter that has just begun. [March and April are the snowiest months in our high mountain world.]

Thanks for tagging along on this super fun adventure!

~ kate

*Tortoise vs. Turtle: 

• Turtles swim; tortoise will drown if placed in water. 
• The pen is simply for his protection during hibernation. This old geezer, and his buddy, (they're guessing 70 years old) has the run of the backyard, dining on cactus flowers and shrubs in their new home. 
• He's a rescue from a Sonoran Desert wildfire.

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