Southern Nevada's Desert "Critters and Stuff"
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Desert Critters
| The Northern Goshawk pictured below was the highlight of this hike. In the 3rd photo from the left, you can see what looks like a bird in its talons. When I got too close, he tried to fly with his prey but dropped it somewhere in the heavy brush before he landed in the tree about 50' from where he started. |
| In July of 2011 while researching a new site, we spotted this little guy below as he was crossing one of the back country byways in Gold Butte, Nevada (my glove for comparison is 9" long). |
Notice the critter in his talons
I found this guy after I was already inside the cave.
and Stuff
Bone Collector Plant
| The first six photos below of a Teddybear Cholla are a little bit out of the norm. We have all seen or "experienced" cholla cactus while in the desert, but this particular one seems to have a bad habit of collecting small critters. I know that certain birds in the southwest will nest in cactus for protection of their young and every once in a while a bird or bat will fly into a cactus and become ensnared by it, but this one is a bit hungry. Impaled on this single cactus are two small birds and one white-tailed antelope squirrel. I have never seen this phenomenon first hand, but from now on I will be on the lookout when I am in a "cholla forest". The Bone Collector Plant photos are courtesy of John Strachan. |
more plants
These ranged in size from about 3" to the one next to my glove which is about 8.5"
Tracks
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