Nikki's Photography

Klamath River Bridge, Redwood National Park, CA

Pronghorn Antelope herd, Cheyenne, Wyoming

All the  recent rain in Lewisville (Texas) has washed out a few reptiles into our neighborhood from the nearby canal…a Painted Turtle showed up by a neighbor’s garage and was the center of attention for a few hours until it was brought back to the canal area. The same neighbor found a snake in their garage earlier last week. Judging from their description it may have been a non-venomous Rough Green Snake.

3-toed Sloth at the Dallas World Aquarium

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The Giant River Otters at the Dallas World Aquarium are rarely out, and when they are, there’s such a crowd gathered around it’s difficult to move forward or even try to get past them to go onto the next exhibit. I was lucky to take this photo from the third floor.

Rattlesnake Roundup, Sweetwater, Texas March 13 – 15, 2009

From a cultural standpoint, I was quite curious about the Texan Rattlesnake Roundup. Attending, the view was to try to be unbiased and open-minded without any preset opinions. Still, as an animal rights ally I was interested to know whether the four event-filled days were about rattlesnake-appreciation or rattlesnake-loathing. I remain mystified, because it seems to be a mishmash of both.
Driving the three and half hours it takes to get back to Dallas, I marveled how what is acceptable for some, is taboo and unconscionable for others. Since many customs the world over, and across time, are basically borne of societal needs to collectively overcome threats and various natural causes, did this event begin in a similar way?…only here the rituals include a number of large people walking around eating disgusting, deep-fried rattlesnake that was more bone and grease than meat, and corn on the cob? Were the original celebrations of rounding up rattlesnakes actually efforts toward creating a communal mindset of safety, and have they evolved to dominate, even abuse, a predator that was perhaps more of a concern to the earliest settlers than it is now?
For Sweetwater locals, the occasion is an important part of their heritage and present lifestyle that brings the community together, draws in tourists and boosts their economy annually. Scheduled each year are: a parade, carnival grounds, a Miss Rattlesnake Roundup pageant, a Gun, Knife and Coin Show (because coins are obviously in the same category as knives and guns!), a snake-hunting competition, rattlesnake meat-eating contest, and vendors who earn a living selling various rattlesnake parts, products, and bizarre crafts. Unfortunately for raccoons and turtles it was an opportunity to sell their parts as well.
The demise of the rattlesnakes is undeniably sad and seemingly senseless, but the truth of every matter has many dimensions. It is easy to get caught up in the intrigue, and fall under the spell of groups in a festive state, to the point where I did try the deep-fried snake…but after one nip, threw it in the garbage, on top of others’ waste who had done the exact same thing.
I absolutely love reptiles, but admit to have considered buying one of the open-mouthed, fang-baring, stuffed intact, coiled-up snake souvenirs (not the ones sporting tiny cowboy hats and raccoon tails though). Although, upon guilty reflection, is one by-product any less vulgar than the other? I actually thought the coiled up rattlers ready to strike were really pretty, and only wanted one because I’m not likely to see a living one so up close and personal, hopefully.
Whether we agree or disagree, people earn a living doing things we can’t imagine. Practices and beliefs are incorporated over periods of time and passed down through generations. What was once relevant may have lost all sense currently, or in the future. Our consciousness evolves regardless though, and I wonder if in a distorted sort of way, most people leave the fairgrounds of cotton candy and snake pits every year with a deeper appreciation for the uniqueness of all creatures? I certainly did.
Only a human could come up with something so preposterous as little cowboy hats glued to rattler heads. Only a human would buy them! Generally what every pro/anti-whatever-activist-religious-righteous group is seeking is respect. It’s really about respecting all creatures, including humans, who do strange and unpredictable things.

Camels near Childress, TX

Wildorado Wind Ranch
Creating fields of renewable energy themselves, a herd of cattle leisurely does what cows do best on a warm summer day, twenty five miles west of Amarillo, just outside Adrian, Texas at the Wildorado Wind Ranch where there are 70 wind turbine generators spanning the horizon. Each turbine measures 450 ft. from ground to the tip of one of three blades. Wind will generate power to parts of eight southern States: Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.

Here is our sweet Truly, sadly no longer with us, as she was a few years into her rehabilitation after being bitten through the pituitary gland by a large dog when she was only 5 weeks old. She was never quite a normal dog, always looked like a perpetual puppy, and she was quirky but she was Truly Sweet for nine years longer than others might have allowed her to live. In this 1999 photo she and George Xarchos, who is now about 13 years old, are checking each other out with the same curious postures.