A green anole defends its territory in a hedge from an encroaching photographer. A typical display involves a lot of head bobbing and extending of the anole’s dewlap. If the intruder is another anole, the defender might rush the other one, though in my experience, they rarely end up fighting.
When I’m the intruder, the anoles usually have a similar expression to this one, a sort of benign resignation.
A few weeks ago, I noticed a number of blue buckets had appeared in the local cattle pastures. At the time, the pastures were exceedingly dry and I thought the buckets contained feed. Then I noticed the cows weren’t eating out of the buckets but were licking the contents, so I figured they must be salt licks. Except these days, salt licks are too old-school. These are, according to the company’s website, ‘quality low moisture cooked molasses supplement tubs made from the best all-natural ingredients.’ They make a variety of tubs for different animals and different purposes.
I’d been intending to take a photo of the buckets, but they were either not being used or conditions were poor. Then one afternoon, a few days ago, I saw the two cows in the top photo amicably sharing. I stopped to take a photo. A few moments later, the black cow jogged over to join in. One cow didn’t seem too bothered, but the other was having none of it. She pushed her dining partner out of the way and got in the face of the black cow. A couple of head-butts later the black cow backed off. The upset cow returned to the bucket as her dining partner wandered off, while the black cow got in line, waiting for her turn.
I wondered about hitting the Vitalix company up for sponsorship, for prominently featuring their product and company name in this post. But I figured that if they responded, at best I’d be the recipient of one of their products, and the list doesn’t include a red wine and dark chocolate bucket.
This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Weathered.’ See more responses here.
In the top photo, a dead tree on the lower slopes on Mauna Kea, stretches weathered branches toward the sky.
Second photo: Petroglyphs in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park have been weathered by years of sun and rain, but are still clearly visible.
Third photo: A cattle ranch alongside old Saddle Road includes this old structure bordering a stockyard.
Bottom photo: Butterflies have a short lifespan, but in that time they can go from looking boldly marked and colored to very faded, with some looking like it’s a miracle they can fly at all.
For more information about Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, go to nps.gov/havo/.
A walkway in front of an old building was thick with Hawaiian garden spiders. I liked how the bright jewel-like colors of the spider contrasted with the faded green paint of the building.
This dung beetle was clearly getting a workout pushing its ball of dung up and over the grass and other obstacles. It occurred to me that this could be the next big workout craze. Just make yourself a nice big ball of 100% organic, 100% recyclable dung and push it up and over the sofa, around the living room, through the kitchen. Great exercise and environmentally friendly. What do you think?
Posted in response to Becky’s October Squares challenge theme of ‘Kind.’ See more responses here.
An irrigation machine sprays water into the air like a series of passing rain showers.
Posted in response to Becky’s October Squares challenge theme of ‘Kind.’ See more responses here.
These are the same kind of trees surrounded by the same kind of ground cover and occupied by two of the same kind of horses. But, taken together, they make a one of a kind image that many people on the island would very quickly recognize as Waipi’o Valley.
Posted in response to Becky’s October Squares challenge theme of ‘Kind.’ See more responses here.
These two may both be gold dust day geckos, but the large gecko on the outside of the window was definitely thinking unkind thoughts about the youngster inside. It kept striking at it, and banging its head against the glass. Truth is, it’s a gecko eat gecko world and the adult was trying to make a meal of the little one.
I don’t know whether the youngster learned anything from this experience. They always look baffled by everything going on. Still, plenty of them are obviously surviving the challenges. It doesn’t look like we’ll be running out of geckos any time soon.
Posted in response to Becky’s October Squares challenge theme of ‘Kind.’ See more responses here.
Graham's Island 