6-29-15

Crotaphytus collaris . Colorado National Monument, Colorado. Specimens raised in captivity are popular as pets, but evidently the wild ones bite!

Sylvilagus audobonii . Cottontail species ( Sylvilagus ) are probably the most abundant lagomorphs in North America. They look very similar to the European rabbit and also bear young that are helpless at birth, hence requiring a period of parental care. Unlike the European rabbit, tho, they don't build underground warrens--they typically nest in brush, altho they may use a burrow dug by some other animal. Colorado National Monument, Colorado.

And Blue Castle Butte. Looking downstream, north of the town of Green River. Utah, USA. The river is not especially "green" today because of runoff from the monsoon rains! The Green is a major tributary of the Colorado which rises in Wyoming and flows pretty much due south. It joins the Colorado in Canyonlands National Park in central Utah. In fact, this confluence used to be considered the start of the Colorado! Upstream the Colorado used to be called the Grand River, but it was renamed in the 1920s IIRC.

Just beyond the trailhead at the end of the road upcanyon from the town of the same name, looking upstream. Utah, USA.