Desert

   

J  A  C  K  R  A  B  B  I  T

SURVIVAL  BEGINS  ON  DAY  ONE.

 They are hares, born fully furred, eyes wide open

and they hop around just minutes after birth.

A rabbit, by contrast, is born blind, hairless and 

helpless.

Jackrabbits have eagles, coyotes and bobcats

for neighbors.  Everyone of these predators 

rely on these hares as a staple of their diet.

The Jackrabbit hides in the spindly shade

of a desert creosote bush, its camouflaged form

difficult to detect, provided the animal doesn't move.

When seen, burst away full throttle for your life.  

Adults can run nearly forty miles

an hour and leap twenty feet in a single bound.

Their eyes are positioned to see nearly 360 degrees

without moving their head.  Their huge ears provide

keen hearing as well as serving as a radiator, 

releasing the body's excess heat into the

surrounding air.  

Their extreme environment requires they eat 

their own stools, making double sure their 

gut didn't miss some bit of nutrient or drop

of water that might have slipped through 

their first go around.  

It's a hard life having to snack on fecal pellets

like they are some daily probiotic supplement.

 K  A  N  G  A  R  O  O       R  A  T

METABOLIZE DRY SEEDS INTO WATER.  THEY NEVER DRINK.

 Common to deserts of the American Southwest - 

Sonora and Mojave.  It's relatives are gophers,

not rats.  They have fur-lined pouches outside

their cheeks to hold the foraged seeds

they will return to their burrow for storage.

Having the cheek pouches outside the mouth

prevents saliva from contacting these seeds,

causing them to later mold while stored.

Its skull appears almost half the size of its body.

Behind each animal's ear is a large, hollow chamber

that amplifies subtle sounds, like the faint whoosh of

an owl's wings in flight or the near silent glide 

of a snake closing in.  Keen hearing is the

kangaroo rat's best defense against predators

that make them their primary source of food.

 R  O  A  D  R  U  N  N  E  R

 CAPABLE OF FLIGHT BUT PREFERS RUNNING.

 Twenty miles an hour sustained speed, 

twenty-five in a burst.  And you don't know

whether it's coming or going, judging by the 

tracks it leaves.  It has two toes in front and

two in back. The footprint is the same either way.

All members of the cuckoo family share the

same curious feet.

They are known to kill rattlesnakes.

They might even eat it if it is small enough.

Mostly their diet is made up of mice,

lizards, insects, tarantulas and scorpions.

All you can eat.

C  O  Y  O  T  E

 POPULATION  EXPANDS  DESPITE  ADVERSITY.

 An animal once limited to prairies and desert 

has now stretched its population from coast 

to coast, New York City to Los Angeles, and

everything in between - forests and mountains

alike, in spite of efforts by ranchers and others

to eliminate them as pests.

Coyotes eat most anything.

Rabbit if they catch one, deer if it's already dead.

Insects will do.  They can live on fruit if need be.

They are highly social animals and use a

number of different barks, howls and yips to

keep track of each other's location and to 

maintain social bonds as well as mark

their territory.

 S  A  G  U  A  R  O

 THEY TAKE FOREVER TO GROW - 10 YEARS TO REACH 3 FEET.

 Let's say your parents planted a one inch tall 

saguaro cactus in the yard to celebrate your 

birth.  You would probably be middle-aged 

and using reading glasses by the time it had

its first flower bloom.  The saguaro would sprout

its first arm when you are over 75 and making

frequent doctor visits.  Your grandkids will

celebrate the saguaro reaching its mature

height when they are all old enough to vote.

In Arizona, it is a felony to disturb these plants

in any way, shape or form.

G  I  L  A       W  O  O  D  P  E  C  K  E  R

 APARTMENT LIVING IN A SAGUARO.  KNOCK, KNOCK.

 If you are a woodpecker in the Sonora Desert

you settle for a saguaro in place of wood.

They excavate a cavity in a living saguaro

to make its home.  It takes months of drying

before the pulp hardens to a leathery case,

and becomes suitable for raising a family.

This woodpecker likes to extract insects from

crevices with its sticky tongue, one that wraps

around its brain when retracted because it is

too long for its bill.  Seriously.

Gila woodpeckers like cactus fruit, nectar, 

berries and pet food left in a bowl out on

the patio.

*  *  *  *  *

©  Tom Taylor

 

OVER   EASY

 

 

coldValentine

good morning jack

  

I   D   E   A

 

 

love 

   dad

  

coldValentine

Yard Friendly

  

 B  L  U  E       J  A  Y

 HOW DO YOU GET BLUE FROM A BROWN PIGMENT?

 There is no blue pigment in nature.  To make 

a Blue Jay's feathers blue requires biologically

created microscopic structures that scatter the

sun's light, so that only the color blue is reflected

back to you.  The same holds true for blueberries

and hydrangeas, anything living that looks blue.

The Jay is closely related to Crows and Magpies.

Clever birds all; known for problem solving.

Highly adaptable.  It's true of every animal you see

making a living about your house.  Each of the

animals featured here has its own way of dealing

with you.

 A  M  E  R  I  C  A  N       T  O  A  D

ONE OF THESE IN YOUR YARD RIDS YOUR HOME OF INSECT PESTS.

 Each day they swallow about a thousand creepy crawlers

that would like to surprise you and run out from hiding in

your cupboard.  And you have guests... over for dinner.

You don't have these problems with Mr. Toad.

Of course, this could easily be the misses.

I can't tell them apart.

You could stuff a lizard in that big mouth.

The thick, gnarly bumped skin slows water evaporation.

Frogs need to be near ponds.  All this toad needs 

is a log or rock, someplace dark and cool to hide under

during the day.  But the toad is an amphibian.

It's eggs have no protective shell, and they must 

be laid in standing water or they quickly dry out.

Reptiles lay eggs with shells and they have 

no such constraint.

G  R  A  Y       S  Q  U  I  R  R  E  L

 AND YOU THOUGHT THEY WERE VEGAN.

 What turns a park squirrel into a murderous carnivore?

Opportunity.  A dead bird.  A nest of eggs or young ones

momentarily left unguarded.  There is no nut and seed 

diet that provides the surge in protein, fat and calcium

that animal flesh delivers.  Here is the needed 

pick me up if you are a pregnant or nursing squirrel.

Have a sudden urge to bite the head off of a baby chick?

Don't worry about it.  It's instinct,

and comes with a rational explanation.

 

 B  R  O  W  N  -  H  E  A  D  E  D       C  O  W  B  I  R  D

 A YELLOW-THROATED WARBLER FEEDS A SPIDER TO 'BABY'.

 The cowbird looks like a black bird with a brown head.

They don't make nests.  Cowbirds drop their egg in

the nests of unsuspecting birds because they haven't

the time to raise kids.

For thousands of years the cowbird had made a 

good living following the buffalo about as it stirs

insects from the prairie grass.  Day after day the

scenery always changed because these large

bison herds were nomadic.  If you wanted to make

a living off the buffalo you couldn't take time to build

nests and raise the nestlings.

Most birds take an hour or more to lay one egg.

A cowbird delivers its egg in under forty seconds.

Get in and get out quickly without being seen.

The cowbird young are precocious.  They hatch

sooner and grow more quickly than their nest mates.

Consequently they monopolize the food and 

push their competitors from the nest.

Is there no justice for the wronged?

 E  U  R  O  P  E  A  N       S  T  A  R  L  I  N  G

 A CRAZY HIGH METABOLIC RATE REQUIRES INNOVATIVE RESPIRATION.

A bird's airflow system is not like the bellows that are a

mammal's lungs, tidal - first drawing oxygen in then push

out carbon dioxide.  An avian respiration has a one way flow

of air, much like that of a wind tunnel.  The beauty here is

that even when the animal is exhaling, it is also drawing in 

oxygen at the same time, supercharging the metabolism.

The body's intense burning of calories generates a

dangerous amount of heat.  Once again, this respiratory

approach provides the solution by efficiently drawing 

heat from the body, along side the CO2.

When it comes to flight, birds are jets and mammals

strictly piston engines.

O  P  O  S  S  U  M

 HER JOY FROM HEAVEN.

 Nocturnal.  Highly nomadic.  Moving always from 

den to den.  They are marsupials.  Their embryonic

young migrate to a pouch, where they develop into

something survivable.  

Possums are surprisingly good climbers.  They also

have a high immunity to snake venom.  Here's the

problem.  Possums prowl for insects, snails, rodents

and the like at night.  They have poor vision.  They 

rustle through leaves where copperhead rattlers like

to rest.  Bingo.  They get bit, with enough toxin to

quickly kill an animal this size.  But the possum

has natural immunity.  It may well go on and 

eat the snake.

Possums do play dead.

Under extreme stress they involuntarily fall into

a comatose state.  To heighten the intensity of the

moment, the possum also releases a death-like odor

to further discourage a predator from making

it a meal.

*  *  *  *  *

©  Tom Taylor

 OVER   EASY 

coldValentine

good morning jessicca

  

P  I  N  E  A  P  P  L  E       F  I  Z  Z

*   *   *   *   *

 

love

    dad

 

coldValentine

Curious Neighbors

  

 B R O W N       B U L L H E A D       C A T F I S H

F I S H

 Bottom dweller.  

Thrives off dead animals drifting to the murky

bottom of lakes and rivers.  Here the waters 

are so thick with silt, mud and debris that one's

eyes are useless.  To compensate the catfish

has a great sense of smell that guides them to

their meal, and tenacles around their mouth 

allowing them to feel about the muck to find

their food.

 R E D       S A L A M A N D E R

A M P H I B I A N 

Lungless.  They breath through their skin.

Very inefficient method of getting oxygen

to the animal's cells deep inside.  Relying

on the passive diffusion of gas drastically

limits the size of an animal.  The salamander

pictured here is no more than five inches long.

It fits comfortably in the palm of your hand.

Here's a biological engineering problem

common to both salamanders and lizards.

Their legs stick out of their side instead of

underneath.  Consequently, they are constantly 

dragging their belly over the ground everywhere

they go.

Imagine horses running the Preakness 

with their legs like oars sticking out the side

of a boat.  You might as well saddle up

on a potted plant.

 

 A L L I G A T O R       S N A P P I N G       T U R T L E

R E P T I L E

 Comes from a tough neighborhood.

This guy is armored head to tail and 

has a bite that will amputate your foot.

It rules over lakes and streams, wherever

it lives.  What could possibly threaten this

reptile armed with a bone-crushing beak?

Probably another snapping turtle...

one that wants your territory, figuring 

you're too old to defend what's yours.

You are.

Soon you become just another item on

a catfish's menu.

 P I L E A T E D       W O O D P E C K E R

B I R D   

 Banging your head against the wall is hard

on the brain.  If you've heard a woodpecker

doing their job you know they bang their head

several times a second.  Just a couple of those

hits would put an NFL quarterback in concussion

protocol.  

In the real world of cause and effect you already

know there must be an engineering solution

to prevent constant bruising of the brain.  

There is such a fix but it's only temporary.

After a couple of years of being just a 

woodpecker you're pretty used up.

Senility sets in.  You begin wondering

which end is up?

Does it ever really matter?

You just couldn't stop banging your head.

 B I G       B R O W N       B A T

M A M M A L

 Flying mice.

A mammal with wings.

The bones of the front legs are elongated

into a skeletal structure covered in a membrane 

that replaces a bird's feathers for providing lift.

Bats fly at night using their echoes 

for navigating around obstacles and 

directing them toward their prey.

Sight guides a bird's flight.

An owl's eyes can maneuver through darkness

but who else ventures into the night except

to migrate across a sea of water?

Bats rule the night with their dog paddle 

flight skills because they don't have to compete

with a bird's skillful acrobatics.

.

Like the salamanders, a bat's engineering

was built atop a foundation that wasn't 

designed for the purpose of flight.

For instance, the lungs of a bat reflects

those used by ancient four-legged mammals.

The mammal breathes in oxygen, then

exhales carbon dioxide.  It spends only half

its time retrieving oxygen whereas a bird's

breathing doesn't need time to exhale.

Their oxygen intake is uninterrupted.

The bird's performance is turbocharged

by this boost in energy efficiency.

How did this advance in respiration 

come about?

 N I N E - B A N D E D       A R M A D I L L O

M A M M A L

 Armored against coyotes and bobcats, 

not so much protection against bears

and mountain lions.  Your best bet 

to survive as an armadillo is to avoid

being seen.  

Have your meals at night, limiting 

your search for grubs and insects

to after dark.  Generally this precaution

works out and maybe you live long

enough to raise a family.

Eventually, though, your luck runs out 

and you become some predator's meal.

All those vital nutrients that made you, you,

now inhabit another of Nature's creatures

who's first act is to take a nap after its

meal of you.  

Once your predator revives it runs and 

snoops about, schemes and plots and

looks for a mate before it too, eventually

succumbs to something lethal.

The nutrients that once were a part of you

and then that other guy, now inhabit the nutrient

cycle of another living home, insuring this

Earth-bound process continues.

Existing in Nature.

Food for thought.

*  *  *  *  *

©  Tom Taylor

OVER   EASY

 

coldValentine

good morning jeremy

  

R  U  S  H       H  O  U  R

 

  

love

   dad

 

coldValentine