Arizona Part 2

by Stan Tekiela
© NatureSmart
August 19, 2007

After a week of roaming the high mountains and canyons of northern and eastern Arizona in search of unusual trees, wildflowers and condors, this week finds me in the far southeastern corner of the state, about 12 miles from the Mexican board. I am at a privately owned research ranch. This is a 7000 acre ranch that plays host to researchers from across the country that come here to study a wide range of plants, birds and animals. I am here for all of it.

I am greeted by the ranch manager and assistant manager who show me around and make me feel right at home. I toss my stuff in the bunk house and head for the lab, both of which are situated in the middle of the rolling hills of the desert grassland. What few trees that are here dot the landscape. As usual at this time of year the temperatures are running in the low 100’s but there is a breeze making it comfortable.

My first evening is spent helping to prepare hundreds of small metal live traps that the researcher will use to capture as many small animals as we can. As it does most afternoons the intense heat builds up clouds that produce locally heavy thunderstorms. Just before sunset I head out with the researcher to set our traps. Lightning dances across the evening sky but no rain falls. Thunder rolls across the hills and valleys. Meadowlarks and the very uncommon Boteri’s Sparrows sing in the heat of the evening air. Common Nighthawks are flying overhead giving their courtship calls. What a spectacular place!

After laying down the traps we head out into the night to drive the roads of the ranch to see what we can find. Just as you would expect, in this part of the country we find the first of many Mohave Rattle Snakes. It is a large bodied snake that quickly coils up and begins to rattle its tail to warn us not to mess with him. Using a large flash attachment on my camera I capture the beauty of this deadly snake in the darkness of the desert night.

Down the road in our headlights I can see Black-tailed Jackrabbits running ahead of us in a zigzag, predator avoiding pattern, before jumping off into the desert night. Kangaroo Rats and other small mammals dash across in front of us proving that the desert does come to life at night. During the day you never see these critters.

Continuing down the road we come across several large Tarantulas that are looking for an evening meal. The spiders don’t seem disturbed by our flashlight. Again I capture a great image of these incredible creatures. Several more snakes and spiders later we stop by one of the few large trees in the area. In the main trunk of the tree, about nine feet up, is a small hole made by a woodpecker many years ago. Peering out of the hole is two of the cutest faces you can imagine. These are the babies of the smallest owl species in the world, the Elf Owl. The young are no larger than three inches tall with the parents not much taller.

The young owls are giving a raspy call that intensifies when one of the parents approaches the nest cavity with a large June Bug in its beak. The adults hesitate only momentarily before flying to the cavity entrance to feed one of the young. It’s dark and still very warm and again lightning flashes across the sky but still no rain. We stay here at the Elf Owl nest for the next hour or so until we are ready to go to bed. What a great day.

We wake before dawn. As usual the days start out clear and warm. We head out to gather our traps. The sun is just poking over the horizon when we arrive at the trapping line. We gather up the traps that contain the rodents the researcher is looking for and head back for the lab. It’s like Christmas morning as we open each trap to reveal the critter inside. Each animal is alive and doing well.

The rest of the day is spent walking around the ranch in search of birds such as the Montezuma’s Quail and Cassin’s Kingbird to photograph. In the afternoon I get word that a very large Western Diamond-backed Rattle Snake is sitting beneath a large shrub next to one of the buildings. I head over there and find a huge five foot long rattler trying to keep cool in the shade of a shrub. Everyone is concerned for their dogs so we gather up the snake and move it down the road away from any human contact. It’s a good reminder that this is a wild place with several major dangers to keep in mind.

The second morning I wake before dawn to the sounds of Montezuma’s Quail calling in the distance. Javelins can be seen running up the side of the hill across the valley returning from a night of foraging. Again we head out to explore the desert before it gets too hot. Until next time...

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