3rd Drawstring Bag

Here's another drawstring bag I made for daughter # 3 for her birthday. This one's linen with a cotton lining. It has become her custom to ask us to donate to one of her favorite organizations for birthday and Christmas gifts. This year it was the Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation . I put a little card inside the bag to let her know we had made the donation. It was a great 26th birthday for our baby!

This week, I got my Ravelry invite. My user name is mostlybears. I haven't added much of anything to my profile, but it's been fun to look around and see everyone else's projects. There are like 20 other Tucson knitters on there with blogs that I want to read. Ravelry is amazing and I couldn't help but make a little donation to the cause while I was on there. It felt like money well spent.

Still Crafting

Here's another drawstring bag I finished this week. I stashed H.P. 5 inside and sent to daughter #2. She is reading the series & I'm sending her one at a time from my collection.




Here's a cool crafter's blog that has loads of links to other craft blogs:


It's been great fun to look around. I really like Thimble's vintage buttons.

OK Here's An Interesting Sight

A couple of days ago, I heard some commotion outside the garage. When I came out to look, the Waste Management garbage truck was parked in front of the driveway and a couple of very nice but non-english speaking W.M. workers were talking excitedly and pointing at my garage.

I stepped out and saw a wonderful specimen there, just behind the car. A Gila Monster in all his colorful glory...throwback to the time of dinosaurs...and he was checkin' out the digs there.

I (of course, wouldn't you?) stepped back inside the house rather hurredly and got the big knitter to come on out. Well, the big knitter tried to gently persuade him along with a broom, but then he hunkered down between the gate and wall.

After much gesturing and quasi-conversation amongst the men, it was decided to leave him alone to his own devices. Then we went back into the house (and I closed the garage door to discourage his reentry!).

Later, we ventured out again just to check status and found he had moved on a bit further into the yard and then he was gone on his way. Apparently, if you leave them alone, they really don't give a dang about you and will leave you alone too.

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So...Here's everything you'd ever need to know about Gila Monster, which, by the way, are a protected species!! From the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum :

Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum)
Order: SquamataFamily: Helodermatidae (venomous beaded lizards)Spanish name: escorpión

Distinguishing Features
The Gila monster is a large, heavy- bodied lizard reaching a little over 1¼ feet in length. The head is large, with small, beady eyes; the tail is short and fat. The family name Helodermatidae means “warty skin,” referring to the beaded look of the dorsal scales, due to the presence of osteoderms (small bones) under the scales. The lizard is bright pink and black, usually in a reticulated pattern, but in a banded pattern in some populations.

Range
The bulk of this lizard’s range is in western and southern Arizona, continuing to southern Sonora, Mexico, but it can also be found in extreme southeastern California, southern Nevada, extreme southwestern Utah, and southwestern New Mexico.
Habitat
The Gila monster is most commonly found in mountain foothills dominated by saguaros and palo verde trees. It also uses washes that extend down into valleys. It may use burrows dug by other animals, or construct burrows of its own.

Life History
Gila monsters prey on newborn rodents, rabbits, and hares, though ground nesting birds and lizards, as well as eggs from birds, lizards, snakes and tortoises are also eaten. Young Gila monsters may consume as much as 50 percent of their body weight in one feeding, while adults are capable of consuming 35 percent of their body weight in a single feeding. They are active mainly during the day from March through November, and may be seen basking at the entrances to their shelters in winter and early spring. Hibernation takes place from the end of November through February. Some sources estimate they spend up to 98 percent of their time in their subterranean shelters. Generally an animal occupies two burrows over the course of a year, one from autumn through early spring and another during the warmer spring and summer months. The latter burrow is usually in or near a bajada, while a higher elevation, foothill burrow is used when cooler temperatures arrive. Little is known about reproduction in the wild. An average of 5 eggs, but as many as 12, may be laid in late summer. In southern Arizona, Gila monsters breed in May and June, with eggs laid in late June through mid August. The eggs incubate and develop from fall to early spring; young appear the following April through June. There is no other known egg-laying lizard in N.America where eggs over-winter and hatch the following year.

Comments

(i.e. most important stuff to know)
Gila monsters are one of only two venomous lizards known to occur in the world. The other, the beaded lizard (Heloderma horridum), is found in southern Sonora and further south in thornscrub and tropical deciduous forest.
Venom is produced in glands in the lower jaw and expressed along grooved teeth as the animal bites. Once the lizard bites, it generally holds on and chews more of the venom into its victim. Though the bite is rarely life-threatening to humans, it may cause pain, edema, bleeding, nausea and vomiting. A Gila monster’s venom is believed to be a defensive weapon. The animal probably does not need venom to subdue its defenseless prey and the intense pain caused by the venom readily causes a predator to change its mind. Before biting, the lizard will hiss, gape, and back away from its would-be attacker. If these efforts fail, it will bite with amazing speed. Gila monsters should not be handled!

Aah, Desert Life!