Jennifer's Wildlife Challenge: Oman day 1

A few weeks back David posted this little picture of shells on his FB page.

Which led to this exchange:

Our niece Jennifer wants to see more wildlife pictures. I argued there isn't much wildlife here in the Arabian Desert. Since then I have been paying attention and noticing more and more wildlife.  Turns out there is a lot of wildlife here. Not much big showy animals like the elephants, giraffes and hippos we saw in Africa, just the occasional camel or donkey.  But there are lots of lizards, birds, crabs, and bugs. Little creatures you have to pay attention to notice, like those shells. The crab shell is about 3/4 of an inch across.  So tiny but look at the patterns on it. Pretty cool.

I rarely post pictures on FB.  I don't know why, I just don't. In fact I rarely post much of anything on FB. Mostly I just read what other people post and occasionally comment on something.  I do miss blogging though.  So Jennifer, here ya go, a brand new blog column inspired by you.

Day one. Flamingos! Spotted by Colin (of course) near the America's Cup Races last weekend.  Pictures by your Uncle David.

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Wordless Wednesday: Bugging Around

Wordless Wednesday - I'm Gonna Miss This

Wordless Wednesday - I think I'll stay in the car.

Wordless Wednesday - Kingfisher

Wordless Wednesday -- Snail Attack

Only In Africa

The gardener just knocked on the door. There is a snake in the water tank. A big big snake. He thinks it is a mamba. This is the water tank that holds all of our water for cleaning, laundry, and bathing. I took a shower this morning, in snake water. BLECH! I feel a sudden need to take a bath but there is snake in the water. The gardener wants me to come look at the snake. Uhhh...NOOO!

I don't do snakes especially if there is the remotest chance that the snake is a mamba. And it is a very remote chance indeed, so far they have identified brown house snakes, herald snakes, and sand snakes as mambas. All of these snakes are small, less than a yard in length and not dangerous to man. Mambas are freaking huge, around 10 feet long. I really wish there was a zoo I could take them to and show them a live mamba so at least they would't have a total heart attack every time they saw a snake.

They do have good cause to be afraid of snakes around here. This is mamba country. It's also cobra and boomslang and adder country. Antivenin is generally not available at hospitals so a bite is almost always lethal. However even here the vast majority of snakes are not dangerous and do eat an awful lot of rodents. Rodents that otherwise would be eating their crops. A little education could go a long way. Still I am NOT going out there to look at a big big snake in swimming around in the water I took a shower in this morning. ICKY.

Update: Called David. Snakes, like cockroaches, are clearly the husband's problem. He took a coffee break and dashed home, we live less than 10 minutes from the embassy, and checked out the situation. It is not a mamba, nor is it a big big snake. Big big snakes are more than 10 feet long in my book, big snakes would be around 5 feet. This guy was only about 2 feet. It was another herald snake. One of the biggest we have seen yet, but still a herald. Not lethal, in fact a bite from this guy is no worse than a wasp sting resulting in a headache and some mild swelling. They are very mild mannered and will slither away if given any chance to escape.

Dave fished it out with a piece of bamboo, for which the snake thanked him by squirting musk all over his work pants. EWWW NASTY! He turned it loose by our pond well away from our water tank, and told the gardeners and the guard not to kill it. None of them are very happy with Dave right now. I noticed that the gardeners are now working on the other side of the house well away from the release site and the guard is staying far away from the pond as he goes on his rounds.

Wordless Wednesday - Dude! Who ate the last piece of pizza?

Wordless Wednesday - Here There Be Lions

Backyard Safari

There is no doubt that one of the biggest bonuses of serving at a post in Africa is the animals. Going on safari was a childhood dream. Blame Marlin Perkins.

How many of you are now humming "Mutual of Omaha is people you can count on when the going's hard?"

I can hardly believe that I actually have been on safari, in Africa. Pinch me. What's not to love about seeing things like this,


and this,

and this?


Sadly the area of Malawi where we live does't offer much in the way of wildlife viewing opportunities so our Safaris are few and far between. It doesn't seem to bother my kids much, they go on safari in our back yard every day. While they may not be spotting the big five (thank heavens) they do find plenty of critters to keep them happy and to keep me living in a state of terror.

Wordless Wednesday - I Think I Know Where the Boys Get It

Wordless Wednesday -- Where'd You Go?

Wordless Wednesday - Wood Hoopoes

Wordless Wednesday - The Camera Shy Turaco

Oh Baby Baby, It's A Wild World

It's Saturday night. The weekend is only half over. So far this weekend has seen a pied crow with an apparently broken wing, the return (yet again) of Squirtle the Bell's Hingeback Tortoise, several lizards, a white tree frog with orange feet, two millipedes, a brownish tree frog with red feet, assorted bugs, a blue headed agama, and last but not least, the African pygmy hedgehog currently eating a cricket in my kitchen. Thankfully there have been no spiders or snakes, yet.


I am not sure why my kids spend so much time watching Animal Planet or NatGeo Wild. They are far more entertaining, and often more terrifying than anything I've yet seen on either channel. Currently the boys are watching Austin Stevens chase hyenas around Africa. I have no idea why, and it seems like a spectacularly bad idea to me, but the boys seem to be into it.


Colin wants to have an animal TV show when he an adult. Considering what my daily life looks like I am betting he could just make that happen. He has a plan. He will go to the Coast Guard academy getting his degree in biological-environmental sciences. This part of the plan may or may not be heavily influenced by Dad. Then after he serves his time as an officer he will return to college to get his masters in herpetology, then he figures he should be ready for his own television show.


Update on assorted animals: The pied crow did not have a broken wing. We think possibly one of the guards had thrown a rock at him, and he was stunned, but not really hurt. Dave was able to walk right up to the bird and pick him up. We took him to the wildlife center but when David opened the basket it simply flew away. David was pretty surprised. Most of the lizards, both frogs, and the millipedes were released unharmed. A couple of lizards did become snake food because snakes need to eat too. The hedgehog will be released before bedtime even if I have to do it myself. Squirtle has yet again taken up residence in the large konde, oh yay. Sarcasm intended. I am sure that tomorrow will bring more animals. At least my life is rarely boring.


I spoke too soon. While I was editing pictures for this post the cry went up "SNAKE!!" and now all the boys, including David, are outside with the guard looking for a snake, in the garden, in the dark, in Malawi. This seems like an even worse idea than chasing hyenas around Africa but there you have it, a future Animal Planet star in the making. I really hope they DON'T find it. Nope, my life is rarely boring.

Wordless Wednesday - Carmine Bee Eaters

Wordless Wednesday - Elephant Crossing

Wordless Wednesday - Tree Frog

Wordless Wenesday -- Hippo Attitude

Wordless Wednesday - EEEEEKKK!