Desert Dwellers

Meet Dos, the desert tortoise. You can read about him here. I am so excited to see him eating. We planted sod, we also planted seed, which hasn't started to come up yet. SO happy he is eating!!!!!

We cover our hay for our horses with a tarp, maybe one day we will have a big hay-shed. It's monsoon season, and looked like it might rain the other afternoon. I went out to make sure the hay was covered. Nope, the tarp had blown off. So I flipped it back over the hay, and found a little furry friend! Meet a tarantula! He was gigantic, bigger than my hand. :)

Forecast

7 Day Forecast. June in the Sonoran Desert. And this is mild! I can *almost* (no, not really), deal with this kind of hot. It's when it gets up to 105 and above that it is totally intolerable. It's like a furnace. and yes, it's really dry. I think the humidity is about 7%. My eyes, nose, throat, skin - dry. Beyond dry. Pedicures are a medical necessity, because something happens to the skin on the bottom of your feet when you live in the desert. It gets like leather, and then cracks. Which hurts like crazy.
There are fire alerts everywhere. No fireworks for the 4th of July, 2nd year in a row.
So I limit my outside time to early morning and after dinner. Because the heat makes me not feel good. I don't know if it's my auto-immune disease, or what. But I'm sapped of energy.

Did I tell you how much I love my air-conditioning? We had to buy an entire new central AC unit; we did it in December. It works great. Glorious. My husband and I have little mini-wars about what to set it on. He likes 75. I think that's a little extreme.

What's it like where you live??

Water Obstacles

I've kept it up for a week now. I'm hoping that I don't have to confess, in a month or so, that I've stopped going.

Walking, that is. Or, more like, hiking. Lots of steep climbs.

This is the Sonoran Desert. It is dry here. Lots of dry washes and old riverbeds. I've read that the Ho-Ho'kam Native Americans that lived here, had access to more water here than we do.

So it is my joy to come across water. The other day I hiked the Canyon Loop Trail in Catalina State Park. I had to cross 4 water obstacles. They are too wide to jump, too deep to dry to step through. Other hikers, or the park rangers, have placed rocks. I use them to get across. It's slippery, and I try not to imagine slipping and breaking an ankle and having to be helicopter rescued.

The water is from the snow melt in the Catalina mountains. I'm sure it's good enough to drink.

I love it!!

(hmm, pictures are sort of 'washed out', no pun intended. It was a really sunny morning!)

Just had to share

This is my kid, taken by a friend while out hiking in the foothills of the Tortolita mountains. Isn't this a great shot??

Sometimes the beauty of this land takes my breath away.

New friend needs a name!

We live in Arizona. Land of lots of different wild animals, and one of my favorites - the Sonoran Desert Tortoise. There are adoption programs, and I've always wanted to adopt one. But you have to build them a habitat - there are specific guidelines online. My hubby was never motivated enough to do it with me. I was never motivated enough to do it alone.

And then Saturday came along. And hubby was driving down a busy road. And what was trying to cross the busy road?? If he had not stopped, the next car would have driven over the tortoise.

So, guess what hubby brought home to me??


We were worried that if we put him back where we found him, that he would be killed. We debated releasing him back into the wild - maybe a state park nearby. We're still debating. To be honest. It doesn't seem right to capture him. But can you relocate them? I couldn't find anything online that told me. If this guy goes back to the wild, then at least I will have a habitat ready for the official adoption process.

So.....

After an entire weekend of moving rocks, gravel, railroad ties, slate, more rocks...after an entire weekend of babysitting Mr or Mrs Tortoise who was very insistent that he could climb over said railroad ties and rocks and then time after time ended up flailing on his back...my muscles are sore. We're tired. And we seem to have adopted a desert tortoise.

He/she is very busy. He can move much faster than you might think! He lets me pet him. He likes to sniff me. He stops and looks at me when I talk to him. He goes to bed at night in the shelter we made for him. He ate some of his food today. He pooped this weekend, very exciting.

You're allowed one tortoise per household. They live 100+ years. My guess is that this guy is maybe about 5-10 years old. After I get over my exhaustion, I'll look it up online to figure out gender and age.

He-she needs a name! I need suggestions! Myrtle the Turtle was
suggested and declined.

Help!

His habitat is not quite finished. We need to plant the rest of the desert grasses we bought for him. His winter (hibernation) habitat is not finished yet.....next weekend!

So please leave your name suggestions! Thanks!!

Who is this guy???

In my lemon tree? He's very cute!

Snake Season

My hubby caught a snake last night. And brought it inside to show us. It's snake season - September is when you have to be very careful.

I pulled in the driveway today, and saw a snake slither his way into the garage, not sure how he did that. I saw his tail - not a rattlesnake.

This guy is a king snake. We like them. They eat rats and rattlesnakes. This one was really little, and super angry that he was all of a sudden in a glass container. Don't worry, we put him back outside right away.

Kinda cool, Kinda creepy.

Which one do you think - cool or creepy???

What was slithering

in my yard? About 16-18" long...without it's head or tail....and was it a tail that rattled??












Yikes.

Can you tell what kind of snake it is by the skin???

PS hubby came home and looked at it with me. hard to tell from the picture, but there's a smaller piece of skin. It's from the tail. It was a rattlesnake. Hubby says they are travelers, they don't stay in one place. But I also know that they have territories, and never stray outside of approximately that mile. So he's around here somewhere, although I checked our entire property, and did not see him.

I Love The Rain

Just a quick one - I heard the thunder for a little while, and saw that out of the northeast windows of the house there were black clouds, but outside of the south side of the house, there was blue sky.

Typical monsoon clouds.

All of a sudden - the giant clap of thunder and a downpour. I go running outside with the dogs. I do happy rain dances.

It's all over in about 10 minutes.

More more more, I want more....

Do you like Turtles?

I love turtles. Sea turtles, snapping turtles, desert tortoises. When my youngest son was very small, we were walking on the NJ beach early one morning, and found a hatchling sea turtle. We put in our bucket for awhile, then good sense prevailed (we didn't have an ocean at home...) and we returned it to the sea.

Out here in the desert, you can adopt desert tortoises from the Sonoran Desert Museum (one of our fav places to take visitors). They live for a long time. Longer than you will live. So you then have to leave them to someone in your will. I've been bugging my hubby for years to help me build a turtle habitat, and get one. He's resisted.

I'm going to keep persisting.

Funny story: we came across one in the wild a long time ago; he was crossing a parking lot at Catalina State park. My hubby picked him up to move him to a safe spot, and the turtle peed all over hubby. :)

Anyway, I love turtles.

From Little Elfs Toyshop




From Dads Wooden Toys.

And you might see a Woolies turtle peeking out at you from the window.

So, how can I convince my hubby that we need desert tortoises?

Who came to visit??

We had a pool problem. Those of you that wish you had a pool, nah - don't do it! Join a community pool instead! Our motor on the pump went. NOT cheap to buy a new one. So, while the pump was not on, the water got a bit low. Luckily, nothing turned green.
But somebody came to visit the pool while nobody was looking.

A King Snake. We like them, they eat rattlesnakes. We saved him; hope he is ok. When I went back to look under the bushes where we put him, safelty away from dogs etc, he was gone. I got to pet him.

:)

Road Runner Conversation

Yep. They're sitting on a nest - we've seen both Mama and Papa. Yesterday evening, one of them had a very large lizard dangling from his mouth. I chased the black cat away. I have a feeling I'm going to do a lot of cat chasing. Anybody have any good ideas to keep him away, without scaring the road runners? Should I spray around the tree with amonia/vinegar? Put out moth balls?

This morning I went outside and had a quiet discussion with whichever parent-bird was sitting on the nest. He listened to me, cocking his head to the side, trying to understand this strange language.

They are fast, and difficult to get a good picture! I snapped this one from inside my little office - Mrs RoadRunner had come to visit in the little courtyard. Picture is taken from the other side of the screen - sorry!

I'm excited for baby road runners!

It's a wild country with lots of predators, so I'm going to keep fingers and toes crossed.

Something ELSE in the Tree!

(photo courtesy wikipedia)

I remember the first time I ever saw a roadrunner, and not the one that tortures Wily E Coyote. (did I spell that right??)

Although they can fly, they spend most of their time on the ground. We've seen them catch lizards. Sometimes they are very curious, and don't run away.

I've heard that they can get very used to humans.

This morning, I saw one hop in the big mesquite tree in our front 'yard' (not really a yard, no grass...).

I wandered outside to see what he was doing.

He/She has built a nest.

See his/her head? Right in the middle of the picture, through all the leafy foliage.
So, I guess I'm going to have to try to keep the maurading cat away, and hope for the best.
Right after I snapped this picture, she ran out of the tree, and then I could see her nest.

We had a birds nest on our side porch for the past couple of weeks, I was enjoying watching Mama feed her babies. The other day, I realized that I had not heard them all day. I climbed up to see - gone. There are fresh claw marks on the post nearby. Owl? Bobcat? :(

I'll keep my fingers crossed for the possible road runner babies.

Growing

Spring comes early to the desert. We planted a small veggie garden - in pots - in our little courtyard. The courtyard gets lots of shade, which is really important when the heat climbs to 110 degrees. This weekend, it is supposed to be in the 90's.

Then, as I do every year, I buried a pumpkin in the ground. Last year, it was growing beautifully in a very sunny spot. Then - one sad day - it was burning hot out and that was the end. The vine just died. So, trying again, in a different, shady, spot.

But, hopefully! the best treat yet - LEMON TREE! We've left it in the pot for now. Want it to grow nice and strong before we stick it in this dirt. The flowers smell delicious! Here's hoping!

What are you growing this year?

Mister Grumbles

Dozer is our quarterhorse. He talks to me. Back before he lived on our property - and I used to board him at a stable - he would recognize my car and whinny to me almost as soon as I pulled up.

Smart, yes?

His stall is a little distance away from the house - not too far. He can see everything that goes on. If I take the dogs outside, he starts to talk to me. He grumbles. It's a wonderful horse-talk deep in his throat.

So, I've renamed him.

Mister Grumbles.

Of course, he's asking to be fed. So, most often, I comply with his wishes.

I love that horse.

Amazing new jewelry design

Created from natural Cholla - a cactus that grows in the wild of the Sonoran Desert - is this magnificent piece of jewelry.

You sure don't want to touch Cholla when it is alive, but when it dies, the wood is filled with natural nooks and crannies. No more thorns, just beautiful natural wood.

My husband, Eric, has gotten creative. He used natural turquoise and filled some of those crannies. The result is a wonderful treasure - one of a kind - never to be exactly repeated again. As, even if he decides to make more, each piece of Cholla is unique. Each chunk of turquoise is different.

This piece of jewelry carries some of the desert with it - you can faintly hear traces of Native Americans who walked where we live.

Available at Buster and boo.

Winter in Tucson

Frost.

Belle wanted to sniff the camera. Hey, if anybody wants to come ride, let me know! My horses need some exercise!!
Their water trough had ice over the top, they hadn't broken through yet this morning. :)

Wild Life in the Desert

One of the things I do love about where we live is the wildlife.

I love the tarantulas. See my latest pics HERE. So Cute!!

I love seeing the coyotes and bobcats - no pictures to share as they are too quick for me.

The rattlesnakes scare me to death - no pictures, I'm too busy screaming. Although here are some pics of another snake HERE

I adore all the wild bunnies - see HERE

But one of most majestic of the desert wildlife are the hawks. A couple days ago, I was sitting in my little office, which looks out onto the front of our house. We have a few very big old mesquite trees. And a wonderful visitor came to hang out for a while. I took a LOT of pictures, hope you enjoy them. He (she?) never took his eyes off of me. I think he was trying to decide if I was too big to eat. I talked softly to him the whole time, and he just sat there. I walked away before he flew away.

He's probably about 2 feet tall.

I think he is a Harris Hawk, perhaps a juvenile (due to his spotted breast).

Amazing.

Yes, it's still Summer

Ya gotta love the desert (NOT)..
Currently it is 100 degrees, feels like 103 due to humidity. It is thundering, and I've seen maybe 1-2 drops (SERIOUSLY, JUST DROPS) of rain.
But, when I went to check the forecast, I nearly fell over.
It SEEMS as if it may be under 90 degrees at some point this week!

From Weather.com:

10-Day Forecast for Tucson, AZ
TonightAug 24
Scattered T-Storms
N/A75°
40%

High not valid after 2pm
WedAug 25
Isolated T-Storms
97°73°
30%

97°F
ThuAug 26
Isolated T-Storms
97°72°
30%

97°F
FriAug 27
Isolated T-Storms
95°74°
30%

95°F
SatAug 28
Isolated T-Storms
88°71°
30%

88°F
SunAug 29
Partly Cloudy
89°71°
20%

89°F
MonAug 30
Isolated T-Storms
88°70°
30%

88°F
TueAug 31
Isolated T-Storms
90°70°
30%

90°F
WedSep 1
Sunny
94°71°
0%

94°F
ThuSep 2
Mostly Sunny
95°73°
10%

95°F



Don't worry, it will still be 100 degrees plus - it's only AUGUST!

oh, where is FALL? Crunchy leaves??

Rainbow

It's been a difficult summer. Lots of challenges. Is this a sign that there is something better on the horizon?

Or are more storms on the way?

The clouds cleared a bit, for now.