Gophers, tumbleweed, crickets and bats.

So, I live about 20 feet away from a giant open field.

 This one, to be more specific 

    Given this, combined with the fact that I was already at home, this weeks assignment was fairly simple. I was eager to see if there were any particularly interesting biotic (living) and/or abiotic (non-living) things getting into some sort of shenanigans. As far as results go though, I was slightly disappointed.

   I remember Dr. Huff mentioning that going out at night would yield significantly different results than going out during the day would. With this information in hand, I figured the most effective way of going about this assignment would be to go out around 5:30-5:45 or just before it starts to get dark out. That way, I would be more likely to, in a sense, get the best of both worlds. My initial thought was to make sure I considered not just what I could see, but also what I could hear. The hearing part ended up bearing some fruit, as the first thing I heard when I walked out into the field was I loud thump underneath my feet. I responded the way most people would and I looked. What I saw were about fifteen to twenty gopher holes (or what I imagine were gopher holes). Sadly it didn't occur to me until about ten minutes later that I should probably take some pictures. So... flash...




   Although I would never seriously consider eating a gopher (unless I was about to die otherwise), it seems logical that the gopher would view me as a predator considering the fact that the local coyotes do prey on gophers and myself and the other folks out by where I live are really the only other creatures even remotely close in size to coyotes (from the gophers perspective anyway).
 

  Something else interesting (and also biotic) that I encountered were these plants.
Once I got home I tried to do a little bit of half-assed internet research in order to determine what it was. The closest thing I could find was Salsola Tragus. I don't know for sure if this is Salsola Tragus, however it is what best fit the description. Tumbleweed is very common out where I live, and according to this website: http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242100193 Salsola Tragus often break off from their stems to form tumbleweeds. Something I found kind of interesting  that the site mentioned about the Salsola Tragus is that it is not native to the United States and is believed to have originally been introduced in the United States in the 1870's after contaminating a shipment of flaxseed sent to South Dakota from Russia. It seems probable that there were some population issues just after its introduction that might account for why the stuff is all over the place.

I also saw this

Na, I am just kidding. That's actually Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland on Christmas Eve.


  Aside from the gopher holes, what was likely Salsola Tragus, and what I think might have been a bat that was flying over my head on my way back home, I didn't SEE anything of particular interest. Once it started to get dark though, I did start to hear a lot of crickets (probably about five or six). However, once it started getting dark a lot more cars started driving by and that made it a little more difficult to hear.

  The only abiotic material that I noticed in the immediate area was the soil and a fairly moderate concentration of rocks, all of which I assume provides some fairly cozy shelter for the local gophers.