Beautifully Seductive Always Dangerous Sometimes Deadly
August 12, 2007
Post Tags: barrel-cactus , tucson-cactus , Tucson-Desert
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Beautiful, seductive, always dangerous and sometimes deadly, No I’m not talking about living with a beautiful woman, I’m talking about living in the desert. There is no doubt the desert surrounding Tucson are beautiful. There is always something to catch your eye. It might be a cactus in bloom, a desert wildflower which looks so delicate in the surrounding harshness. It could be a shiny stone, there are a lot of shiny stones around Tucson.
The wildlife is always a draw around here. The small lizards that scamper out of sight as you try and focus your camera acting more like a shy lady than a lizard. There are javelina and yes the rattlesnakes trying to stay out of our way but we seem to find them anyway.
They send a friendly warning that sounds like a sprinkler in the desert. If you hear a lawn sprinkler when in the desert stop, look for where it is and back away slowly. : )
Don’t try and find out what is making that sound.
I’ve seen falcons sitting on a backyard wall. Bobcats while out for a morning walk, pygmy owls sitting in a carport and great horned owls sunning themselves in a tree in the middle of the day.
Once while driving a back road of nothing but sand I saw a mountain lion about 100 yards ahead. He was there then gone, no camera that day, darn.
It seems everything that grows here in the desert has thorns. I’ve seen cactus with so many small thorns they look like velvet. I’ve stopped few people as they reached out to feel how soft, some I didn’t get to in time. Get the peanut butter and Elmer,s glue.
Jumping cactus are named appropriately, get to close and you will be wearing part of it. And there is no way to easily pick off a jumping cactus. I’ve found myself doing my best to dislodge those painful thorns because I was distracted taking a picture of a landscape or cactus flower when they struck.
It is possible to get into very real trouble quickly. Take a short hike, no big deal, Nah, I don’t need a bottle of water. I won’t be gone that long. There might not be much humidity so you don’t notice the amount of water your body is giving up. The heat is deceptive especially if you are used to a climate with lots of humidity.
There is a small cottontail and you follow it to get a better look, then a butterfly goes by and lands on a cactus flower. It is delicate and beautiful. You un-sling your camera to take its picture. But it flies on and you follow it. Finally you get the shot you are after and when you look up you have gone further than you knew. You are getting thirst and you wish you had that bottle of water.
It is just that simple. People die here in the desert all the time. Some swept down a canyon because there was a raging storm in the mountains and suddenly there is a wall of water coming down the canyon and it isn’t even raining.
Everyone needs to be prepared and cautious living in the desert. The desert is beautiful and seductive, always dangerous, sometimes deadly. I love living here, but I never let my guard down. If you are prepared and equipped you get to experience the beautiful seduction and limit the dangerous and the deadly.
August 12th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
Aaa, critters today!:-) The backyard of my office is like a mini Desert Museum.;-) Chipmunks, lizards, bunnies, suicidal birds… I find the chipmunks particularly cute.:-) The only time I didn’t think so was when they (I presume…) chewed up some wires under my hood!
Here’s a pic if somebody from out of town doesn’t know what chipmunks look like:
http://www.rshantz.com/Animals/Mammals/Squirrels/RoundTailed/20030310Squirrel02N.jpg
Their bigger cousins, the prairie dogs, are quite entertaining, too. Boy, all these guys have some appetite!;-)
August 13th, 2007 at 10:48 am
Dave - Great pictures of our beautiful desert.
December 12th, 2007 at 9:00 pm
Hello,
I was just reading your posts and wondering if the chamber would have information on what to look out for around that area as my mother and myself will be moving to the Sahuarita area in the spring. Thanks
December 12th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
Terryann,
There is plenty of information, but honestly, common sense is the best thing going. Take water with you and always keep some in the car.
The most annoying are the cactus when you don’t pay attention for just a second looking at something they will stick you. But it is more annoying than dangerous.
You will get along fine and before long you will have adjusted to life in the desert.