Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum

Today was a rest day. Jim was a tad weary after his 20 miles on the mountain bike Saturday, and then the Sunday climbing ride, so we slept in and went to the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum. It's a lovely facility. Look at the picture below, in the upper left quadrant there is a lighter area just below the mountains. That's part of the Central Arizona Project; they bring water down in canals from the Colorado River.


The exhibits are designed to mimic the animals' natural environments. Sometimes you can't see them, but they're happy. This is a fox having a nappy on his ledge.


The absolutely best thing about the museum is the raptor free fly. Raptors are defined as birds of prey with tearing beaks and talons. Today they were flying Harris Hawks. The Harris is named after Mr. Harris who was a friend of Mr. Audubon. Mr. Harris paid for a lot of Audubon's travel expenses, so in exchange he got a hawk named after him. Their eyes are so big that they can't move in their heads. Extra vertebrae in the necks allow them to turn their heads so they can have a wide range of vision. The birds have an unusual survival strategy, they hunt in family groups. There is an alpha female who is pack leader, and 2 or 3 males. Generally the female will only mate with the alpha male. Occasionally there will be two sisters, but not frequently. They hunt cooperatively which helps them eat more, especially during summer when they can only fly very early and at dusk. The coming of ranchers was a boon for the Harris because they brought water for cows, Harris Hawks are not desert adapted and can only thrive with a constant water supply. That's a raptor kit below.


Alpha female and a male.


The significance of this photo is the hawk is standing on a saguaro. It's a learned skill for them to land on the cactus without getting their feet punctured.


This is a juvenile female. She'll be booted out of the family in a few months. Mom won't allow her to stay. The Museum will hook her up with a couple of age appropriate males, and she'll get to be alpha bird of her own family.


This was funny. First, look at what the handler is wearing. Jim and I are out there in shorts and a T shirt, and she's wearing a fleece vest. I think she's a local. Anyway, she's got a pouch full of little meat bits and the hawk wants some. The bird circled her a couple of times demanding food.


At the end of the free fly the handler posed with a hawk. I asked her if they ever get to kill anything, and they do. Sometimes during the show they'll catch something and shred it. One of the things they do is bounce the prey up and down to break the bones of whatever they're eating so it'll go down easier. I suggested providing hamsters, but apparently some of the audience members find the shredding disturbing.


A coyote.

A Mexican Wolf. There are only 50 left in the wild. As a species, they're toast.


A white tailed deer.


Mountain lion. Aren't the enclosures cool? The museum was an early adopter of this type of habitat and the building of huge fake rocks.


See the red rocks? That is petrified mud. The desert was a swamp at one point a long time ago.


This is a Harris Antelope squirrel. This is one of the few desert critters that is active during the heat of a summer day. He spends all of his time looking for food. His internal temperature can reach 107 degrees. When he gets too hot, he'll run into the shade, do a belly flop, and bleed off heat into the cool dirt in the shade. This is the guy with the really cute sproinging gate. The last picture will have graphic depiction of squirrel gonads so if you think you'll be offended, read no further.


Look at the package on this guy!

So, that was the Desert Museum.