West Texas Wildlife On The Golf Course... A Chaparral AKA The Roadrunner

Since our son is visiting for a few days, we decided to play golf at one of the local public courses this morning, since our course is closed on Mondays. We were also lucky enough to have one of Mr. Snoots' geriatric golf buddies play with us. I think he's up around 75 or 80 years old, but he can still kick all of our butts at golf and he's really funny. Also, I had the pleasure of riding with him in the cart so that Mr. Snoots could ride with our son.

Only moments after we teed off on the first hole, I was thrilled to see a West Texas Chaparral (or as we call them, a roadrunner) just walking around looking for bugs to eat. We never see these on our home course. I couldn't really get close enough to him for a truly decent shot with my crummy Olympus Stylus, but I think if you click on the pictures. you'll be able to see him much better. I thought surely he'd run off as we neared him, but apparently, he is very accustomed to being around golfers, sticking around long enough for me to get a couple of shots. He has bright orange & white stripes on either side of his head and I thought he was a rather pretty fellow. He eventually ran off and we never saw any more wildlife for remainder of the 18 holes.

This public golf course is far more difficult than our club because the rough at this course is REALLY rough, as you can see. I haven't played this course for at least two years and had forgotten how it defeated me the last time. Oddly enough, I stayed in the fairways and never lost even one ball, which was a true shocker for me. Normally, if I slice or hook one into the "rough", I refuse to hunt for it unless it happens to be in clear sight. You see, rattlesnakes love to hang out in the mesquite bush, wildflowers, and tall grass.

Anyway, this course also has a different kind of grass on their greens, which always makes for a rocky transition, for me at least. Oddly enough, I was able to shoot a 108 on a course that is much harder and much longer than ours. So, I'm a happy camper today. I also took a picture of our city skyline so that you could understand how really flat it is out here in the West Texas desert. Of course, the mesquite bush and the Prickly Pear Cactus are taking over once you leave town, but I did notice today that the mesquite is budding, which is the signal spring has sprung. In all the 33 years I've lived here, Mother Nature has only fooled the mesquite once. So, I'm off to my favorite nursery to start buying plants and seeds for my vegetable garden.