"Monsoon rains bring new blooms to the Desert"

During this past week, Tucson has had a spattering of Monsoon rains. While the rain has been less than normal, the effect of these rains is dramatic on desert plants. Note the flowering cacti, the new green leafs on the Octotilo, the swelling of the Saguaro and the reddening of the Tuna fruit on the Prickly Pear cacti.

"The many goodies of the Arizona Mesquite Tree"

You can harvest Mesquite beans for many uses, but you have to know when and how to do it. When they are harvested at the right time, the beans are very sweet and add great flavor to food and drinks. They are also really easy to harvest because you do not have to actually "pick" them.

The beans that are harvested in late Spring and early summer are still green. They are not quite as sweet at that time. The greener pods can be used in summer drinks and they can be boiled to make molasses or syrup.

Harvest them in the late Summer or in the Fall. They are sweeter at that time and can be used for many more things, such as making meal or flour. The peas inside the pods are so sweet that they can also be boiled and rolled up into a ball and used as candy.

Mesquite beans ready for harvest when they are turning yellow or brown in color. When they are ready, you will also be able to shake the pod and hear the peas inside rattle.
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"Gila monster found on front patio this evening"

This evening, while I was finishing up some landscape work, I spotted a juvenile gila monster on my front patio.

At a length of up to two feet (0.6 meters) and a maximum weight exceeding five pounds (2.3 kilograms), the venomous Gila monster (pronounced HEE-luh) is the largest lizard native to the United States.

Easily identified by their black bodies marked with dramatic patterns of pink, orange, or yellow, Gilas are found in the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan deserts of the southwestern U.S. and northwestern Mexico. They take their name from Arizona's Gila River basin, where they were first discovered.

The Gila monster is one of only a handful of venomous lizards in the world. Others include the similar-looking Mexican beaded lizards, as well as iguanas and monitor lizards. Its venom is a fairly mild neurotoxin. And though a Gila bite is extremely painful, none has resulted in a reported human death. Unlike snakes, which inject venom, Gilas latch onto victims and chew to allow neurotoxins to move through grooves in their teeth and into the open wound.

Gilas are lethargic creatures that feed primarily on eggs raided from nests and newborn mammals. They may spend more than 95 percent of their lives in underground burrows, emerging only to feed and occasionally to bask in the desert sun. They can store fat in their oversized tails and are able to go months between meals.

Gila populations are shrinking due primarily to human encroachment, and they are considered a threatened species.

"Melacoryphus lateralis, a true bug, and a real nuisance"

If you live in the Southern portion of Arizona south, you will know about the experiences with this little bug critter for the past week or so. We are having an infestation of these little bugs, commonly called a seed bug. According to my ranger friends, they have not seen anything like it during the last 30 years. Three nights ago, I had hundreds that had gotten into the house and my screens were totally covered, as these little critters are drawn to the light. Hopefully, once the monsoons come along, these little fellas will move right along. When I think the worst, it is certainly better than having those Minnesota birds, commonly called the mosquito. That goes for gnats and flies as well!

"Early morning run is rewarded by seeing Javelinas with their young"

This morning, while on my run through the Saquaro National Park, I was rewarded by the site of several Javelinas nursing their young. The babies are only a few days old in the picture, and the gestation period for javelinas is four months. The javelinas are not pigs but are collared peccaries. While pig like, they are not, nor are they ferral hog or wild boar. While true pigs originated in the Eastern Hemisphere, the collared peccary is native to the Western Hemisphere and ranges from Argentina to the southern and western parts of the United States. The peccary, is by genus an even toed Ungulate and if we go way back is a distant relative of the hippo.


Peccaries in many ways are like having wild pigs in the desert, they travel in herds of 10-20 and are very interesting. Their main source of food is the prickly pear cactus and the roots of other plants, plus grubs. As a group they mark their territory by way of their sweat glands.

"A Young Juvenile Coyote was spotted at my water fountain this morning!"

This morning, I was lucky enough to catch a photo of a young juvenile coyote taking a drink at my water fountain on the back patio. While the photo is not the best, there was a need for discretion and so I took the photo through my patio window.

The coyote is a member of the dog family. In size and shape the coyote is like a medium-sized Collie dog, but its tail is round and bushy and is carried straight out below the level of its back.

Coyotes are found in low deserts and valleys here in Arizona and weigh about 20 pounds, less than half of their mountain kin, who can weigh up to 50 pounds. Desert Coyotes are light gray or tan with a black tip on the tail.

Coyotes of high elevations have fur that is darker, thicker and longer; the under parts are nearly white, with some specimens having a white tip on the tail. In winter the coats of mountain coyotes become long and silky, and trappers hunt them for their fur.

Today, the coyote is found throughout North America from eastern Alaska to New England and south through Mexico to Panama. It originally ranged primarily in the northwest corner of the US, but it has adapted readily to the changes caused by human occupation and, in the past 200 years, has been steadily extending its range. Sightings now commonly occur in Florida, New England and eastern Canada.

The coyote is one of the few wild animals whose vocalizations are commonly heard. At night coyotes both howl (a high quavering cry) and emit a series of short, high-pitched yips. Howls are used to keep in touch with other coyotes in the area. Sometimes, when it is first heard, the listener may experience a tingling fear of primitive danger, but to the seasoned outdoorsman, the howl of the coyote is truly a song of the West.

"Purerto Penasco or "Rocky Point" was almost part of the Gadsden Purchase"

The Gadsden Purchase (known as Venta de La Mesilla, or "Sale of La Mesilla", in Mexico[2]) is a 29,670-square-mile (76,800 km2) region of present-day southern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico that was purchased by the United States in a treaty signed by President Franklin Pierce on June 24, 1853, and ratified by the U.S. Senate on April 25, 1854. The purchase was the last major territorial acquisition in the contiguous United States.

It is named for James Gadsden, the American ambassador to Mexico at the time. The purchase included lands south of the Gila River and west of the Rio Grande. The Gadsden Purchase was for the purpose of the US's construction of a transcontinental railroad along a deep southern route. It was also related to reconciliation of outstanding border issues following the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican-American War of 1846–48.

What many people do not realize is that the Gadsden Purchase was negotiated a total of five times and when it originally went to our Congress, it included 45,535 square miles rather than the above stated 29,670. At the last minute changes were made to provide a land bridge from mainland Mexico to the Baja. What this meant was that the United States missed the opportunity to have a seaport on the very tip of the Gulf of California and to have access to the Gulf of Cortez and that is where the town of Puerto Penasco is located today.

Today, Puerto Penasco or "Rocky Point" as we call it here in Arizona is only a 3 hour drive from Tucson, but lies only 60 miles from the US/Mexico International Border. Today many tourists go Puerto Penasco for the sun,sand,sea,fishing and relaxation.

Now without the signing of the Gadsden purchase, much of Southern New Mexico and Arizona would today be a part of Mexico. In fact, I would be writing this blog from Mexico rather than the United States.