M
ountain City shut the prized recycling trailer behind a gate, signaling the end of the city’s recycling service. Before the city added the trailer (thanks, Kevin Johnson, for making it happen), green folks went to The Green Guy in San Marcos.
Now, the city could not find anyone to empty the trailer, and most available trash services offer recycling.
In Monday’s council meeting, the city will award an “exclusive” trash service agreement to a single provider, and recycling service will either be included or available to individual homeowners as an option. The exclusive agreement will begin January 2017.
•••
Butterfly weed, which many Mountain Cityians plant for Monarchs, is not exclusively for Monarchs. Queen butterflies are thick nowadays on butterfly weed and thicker still on purple mist flower.
The Queen looks something like a Monarch with wings closed. Open wings reveal a somewhat solid orange color with no striking black veins.
•••
Bill and Bette Wilsmann on Pecan were struck by the presence of a large black snake on their front step in late August. Bill tells it this way,
“A Racer, I believe, no markings of any kind, solid glossy black from end-to-end for about 6 feet, heavy in the middle at about 6 inches around, thinning down to a very pointed tail end. Never got a good look at the underside, but appeared to be black or dark.
It apparently started to leave when it heard or sensed the door opening and took off immediately or I would have stepped right in the middle of it coiled against the stoop. No time to get a picture as it was in the grass and then the bushes quickly. In spite of giving a person a chill, it was still a beautiful animal.
During the 22 years we have lived here this is only our third encounter with snakes. The first was a coral snake about 10 years ago that I almost stepped on tending to bird feeders in the back yard.
The next was about 6 years ago while a tree trimming crew was here and I opened the small shed in the rear of the house to turn on a water valve so the workers could get some water. I was greeted by a trio of rattlers three to four feet in length. The tree trimmers immediately responded with machetes but the culprits had disappeared in a large bed of ivy.
Not a particular fan of snakes, but we love all the other wildlife in our yard. Our backyard is against the highway and when we moved in all we heard were coyotes and cattle from the ranch; unfortunately now it’s mostly traffic. We do still have hundreds of birds of many varieties every day including many humming birds, mocking birds, blue jays, an apparent resident pair of road runners, and lots of nocturnal critters which we love in spite of some of their destructive habits.
Thanks, Bill!
I’m a particular fan of tidbits. Please send. ptom5678@gmail.com (subject: tidbit) or 512 268 5678. Thanks! Love, Pauline
