When I went to fill the girls’ water trough yesterday, this cute little thing flushed out of the hose! It was undoubtedly after the crickets and spiders that also whooshed out of the hose. The hose had lain dormant all winter, and the unsuspecting critters were alarmed to discover their home was also a water park.

It’s a skink, and technically I don’t think they’re supposed to live in this area at this elevation, but what do scientists know? We’ve been seeing them ever since we moved to this house, but this is the first time I’ve ever been able to catch one. I think it was a bit dazed from its unexpected water slide, but the second I put it down near the rocks where we usually see these things, it vanished out of sight in the blink of an eye.