A Small (and Cute!) Visitor
—and an Exciting Larger Visitor!
This was originally going to be a small post about a small visitor; I’d planned to keep the post short because those of you who live in the U.S. or are U.S. citizens may have some taxing 😐 issues to deal with this week—but then we had an exciting medium-sized visitor in our yard, so the post is now medium-sized instead. 😁 According to Substack, it’s still only a 3-minute read!
First of all, here’s our small visitor, documented in my Perpetual Journal.
Bailey’s Pocket Mice are native to the Sonoran Desert, though we’re not sure why this one was on our patio. Maybe it was hiding from a predator or knew that the patio belongs to humans who are wildlife-friendly?
In any case, I thought it was a cutie! Note its tufted tail which not all pocket mice have.
🧐 A Fun Fact about Bailey’s Pocket Mice
Bailey’s Pocket Mice can eat Jojoba seeds, which are poisonous to most mammals.
As you see on this Perpetual Journal page, in 2024 I reported that our Tufted Evening Primrose started blooming in early March. In 2025, however, our Tufted Evening Primrose started blooming a month later—possibly because it’s been so dry here since last Fall.
And unlike my PJ entry for 2023, we have not had any snow in 2025 (thank goodness! says this warm weather gal!).
More Yard Excitement!
We had an exciting medium-sized visitor in our yard yesterday! As I was sitting at my desk, I heard a Gambel’s Quail calling right outside my window. When I went to the window to say hello, I saw half a dozen Quail clustered together on the ground, making a lot of noise and almost running into each other (here’s a good recording of Gambel’s Quail). Then I saw why they seemed so excited!
A Gila Monster 😍 —just a few feet away from my window—was making its way towards the Quail! I think the Quail may have been doing a mobbing call, trying to scare away the Gila Monster, which was only about 2 feet from the Quail!
Here are my photos of the Quail appearing to chase away the Gila Monster.
Whoa Nelly—look at how close that Quail was to the Gila Monster! And here’s the Quail, joined by more Quail, to continue the chase!
The Gila Monster disappeared into the brush and I didn’t see it any more, at least yesterday! I always love seeing Gila Monsters—they are so beautiful (fact, not opinion!!). 🥰 You can learn more about Gila Monsters on the National Park Service site and you can see my art of a Gila Monster in a previous post!
Sometimes I think about the small things I do to add positivity to the world (like publish this blog/email newsletter) and the things Hubby & I jointly do to add positivity to the world (like having solar panels on our house and rainwater harvesting tanks; planting native plants in our yard; eating a vegetarian diet; supporting environmental organizations; and contacting our elected officials regarding environmental issues)—and I wonder how much difference our individual efforts make. Then I think about the following quote and feel better about our small actions!
“If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.”
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Thank you for bringing joy!!
Wow, what a lovely way to live, draw and write. I feel inspired! Small can be very, very large. 🌈💕