Sonora Desert Museum...with prairie dogs!

Saguaro National Park

On Saturday, we met Buddy at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum on the outskirts of Tucson. We drove through Gates Pass, a particularly hilly and scenic area covered with saguaro cacti.

Prairie Dog

Though we arrived a bit early, the heat had already set in at about 100 degrees. Yikes. We chatted briefly with a volunteer about the Harris's hawk on his arm near the entrance until Buddy arrived. With tickets in hand, we walked around the grounds a little until the tour began. Our tour guide, Dave, was very informative and entertaining. He began with the geology of the area (half volcanic soil, half seismic soil), and then spent a great deal of time telling us about the plants and the climate of the Sonoran Desert. We learned about the saguaro cactus, barrel cactus, ocotillo, agave, prickly pear cactus, various types of cholla, organ pipe cactus, palo verde trees, and lots of others, as well as what each of them were used for by Native Americans.

Prairie Dog

Barrel cacti, column cacti, cholla, and an armless saguaro

As he led us through the park, he told us about the animals of the desert as well. The museum, like the desert, is home to a huge variety of plants, animals, insects, and reptiles. The animals were particularly silly and fun to watch. We saw a ground squirrel running around under the brush and between our feet. Later we found a colony of very animated prairie dogs running all over their habitat, diving in and out of their burrows.

Mountain Lion...rub my belly!

We saw a mountain lion up close and personal, some mule deer living with a couple of wild turkeys, a cinnamon-colored black bear, hummingbirds, a couple of Mexican wolves, some bobcats and a bunch of snakes. The most interesting desert creature (in my opinion) is the javelina, a spike-haired cartoonish looking pig/dog with huge teeth and a bad attitude. These things were clearly designed by someone with a sense of humor. We watched five of them laying like giant dogs in the shade under a walking bridge. They were HUGE but very cute!

Javelina snoozing under a bridge

Mule Deer

We continued walking through the park after a quick lunch at the museum's cafe, but the heat kept baking our brains. We ducked into the reptile/insect house to cool off and stare at creepy crawlers. None of them were nearly as funny looking as the javelinas, nor as entertaining as the prairie dogs, but still interesting.

Prairie Dog pup

We parted company with Buddy and headed back through the western side of the Saguaro National Park, an area with an amazing number of these silly-looking cacti waving at us as we drove by.

We lounged by the pool for a while then spent the rest of the evening chatting with Karen, as well as with Dennis, his sister, Bev, and their father, Andy. What a great day!