I've seen a few interesting things in my fig tree cage over the last couple of days.

Fig-related:
The Black Mission NL is starting to ripen a few figs, and they are much bigger than last year (which was the first year it ripened any fruit). The larger size may be due to a recent rain, but I'm not sure. I don't know if this one will make it. because the eye is pretty open and looks like it may split.

The LSU Gold shows no sign of slowing down its crazy growth. It went into the ground this spring as a small one-gallon, sticking up about 6" out of the mulch, and it's now seven and a half feet tall with new leaves coming. I should have pinched it, but now I'm curious to see how far it can go in a season.

Off-topic:
I received several pawpaw seeds (from 'Mango' variety) this year and after germinating them in the house, planted them outdoors in the ground and in containers. Now I have 17 seedlings of various sizes. This one is growing under an apricot tree to provide some shade; the plastic container is just a sleeve to protect the stem.

Some volunteer zinnias are feeding lots of butterflies inside the cage, particularly queen butterflies which are locally very common. I don't know how they get into the cage, but once in, they don't seem to be able to get back out again. It may be that the caterpillars crawl in through the mesh when they're ready to pupate, and then hatch out as adults. The cage is big enough (130' x 28') that they don't seem overly distressed to be inside, so I just leave them alone. I noticed the big sphinx moth this morning; I had seen a sphinx caterpillar feeding on a tomatillo plant several weeks ago, so this moth is likely the result. It was looking pretty beat up from trying to fly through the mesh so I caught it and escorted it outside.

Warning--snake alert, for the sqeamish:
Yesterday when I opened the cage door there was a good-sized kingsnake stretched across the doorway. My arrival startled it, so it zipped away under a squash vine (parts of the snake are visible in the photo). As I turned to watch it, I realized what it had been doing--there was a baby cottontail sitting very still, that the snake had undoubtedly been stalking. I had removed the bunny from the cage a few days ago, thinking it had come in through the open door and gotten trapped, but after I let it go outside it came right back in. Evidently it's small enough to squeeze through the wire mesh around the bottom. Cute as the rabbit was, I'm sorry to have interrupted the snake's hunt. We already have an overabundance of cottontails in the neighborhood, and I like having the snakes around to help keep the pack rats in check. Maybe it will have better luck today!

Very cool, Ken. Are these the first Mission figs for this season from this tree?

Yes.

Is it in-ground? My potted one ripened main crop figs in early June. Formed a few and then stopped. I need to get my LSU Gold in-ground too ASAP.

Yes, I planted it in the ground last spring. It got some cold damage over the winter but seems to be doing okay. It isn't growing as fast this year as last--I think it needs a better basin around it so it gets more water.

Ken,

I was digging through my tool box earlier looking for a better ratchet than the one I was using.  I saw an animal print headband bunched up in the bottom of my tool box.  It looked just like a larger one I had thrown away from one of the cars I bought last week.  I was thinking "what is this doing in here" while reaching for it to throw it away when I noticed this one had a head.  then it moved... and I moved faster. 

A buddy of mine was trying to tell me it's a baby rattler.  I didn't see anything on its tail to indicate that it is (as I am typing this, it i still in the tool box hiding amongst the tools).  To me it looks like the garden snake that attacked me on the tractor a few months ago.

I suppose at some point I should get him out of my tool box

~james

I'm sure he would like to be on his snakey way. If you can get a clear photo of at least part of him (preferably the head), I can probably tell you what he is, or at least what he isn't.

Ken, for what it is worth, I have never see Black Mission NL split here in San Diego. Not that your conditions aren't different, and so forth, but is has never seemed prone to splitting, which should be in your favor.

Thanks Jon, that's encouraging. I had mentioned recently in another post that I didn't think I'd have any problems with splitting in Tucson, and then we got some more rain and my Exel and Tena figs started splitting wide open--so I got worried. As I look again at the BMNL, I guess it's just superficial skin cracking at the eye rather than splitting, so if the bugs stay out I should be in good shape.

Ken,
Nice Sphinx moth. That chain King snake is the best reptile you can have on your property as they prefer to eat other snakes and cut down accidental snake bites by the hot guys with venom by quite a bit. It will 
eat that bunny if it has to but that's not what they are hard wired for.
Thx 4 posting pic.s.
mgg

James,
Please be very careful. Baby venomous snakes have stronger venom then their parents and have no practice delivering the different amounts of venom like their parents - meaning they many times inject all their venom. If it is a baby rattlesnake it will not have a rattle. It will have a button but even if it tried to warn you you probably couldn't hear it. 
Be very very careful. Underestimating baby snakes is a common mistake. Loosing a hand to get a photo is not a good deal . . . - but if you can get a photo I'd love to see it.
mgg

I enjoy reading about the care you take with the wildlife in your area. I am always excited to see the alligator lizards that crawl out when I water in my yard.