Spring is arriving with moisture (always the big news here!). A half inch of rain in the past day, and more snow on the peaks around us, mean we’ve already had more moisture this year than in the first six months of last year.
The cottonwoods are shedding their bud covers, and I’ve even seen a few green leaves. Our first broad-tailed hummingbird came earlier this week, and it seems like many hundreds of pine siskins are gobbling the niger seed.
Our first coatimundi of the year appeared for a couple of days this week. It looks like a young male recently expelled from the big family group. His fur was unmarked by any scars, but he’s missing about a third of his tail. Like elephants, the coatis are matriarchal. The mothers, daughters, and young males form troupes that can number up to sixty. When they’re two years old, the boys get the word that they are no longer welcome, and are solitary after that. Here are a couple of pictures:
