We love javelinas! So does our little Ugandan warthog fellow.
Before we left home, a good neighbor gave us a great tip: see the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum outside Tucson. Then once we hit the road every park ranger and fellow camper who heard we were bound for Arizona told us we needed to visit this place. They were right.
Don't be put off by the word museum. It's almost all outdoors. You walk through various exhibit areas and see the native flora and fauna (I dig any chance to use those terms). You would think it's all cacti, lizards and snakes but the desert is full of critters you will have a tough time finding in the wild. They're experts at the camouflage and they stay hidden most of the time unless they are after food. Here at the museum you not only get to see many of them, but they are housed in areas that look like they wandered in and the zoologists simply put up a basic fence lickety-split (I love that word too). In other words, it's a very natural environment. With the exception of the bear and the larger cats, the animals are not housed in zoo-like enclosures.
Don't be put off by the word museum. It's almost all outdoors. You walk through various exhibit areas and see the native flora and fauna (I dig any chance to use those terms). You would think it's all cacti, lizards and snakes but the desert is full of critters you will have a tough time finding in the wild. They're experts at the camouflage and they stay hidden most of the time unless they are after food. Here at the museum you not only get to see many of them, but they are housed in areas that look like they wandered in and the zoologists simply put up a basic fence lickety-split (I love that word too). In other words, it's a very natural environment. With the exception of the bear and the larger cats, the animals are not housed in zoo-like enclosures.
One of the coolest things to do here is see the Raptor Free Flight program. A docent talks about various birds of prey while several handlers set trained falcons, hawks and owls free to fly all over. They swoop over your head and perch on nearby saguaros. The Harris Hawks hunt in a group. It's tough to adequately describe, but having seen a few peregrine falcons in the wild I can honestly say this is the next best thing or maybe even better.
El Diablo, a Gila monster.
Like reptiles? The 95% of you who answered "No" should take a detour to one of the two aviaries. But if you dig lizards and snakes there is a great program with two herp specialists who show off a nice (did I just say that?) rattlesnake and a Gila monster. Don't tangle with these varmints (the reptiles, I mean -- their human handlers are quite pleasant). An adult Gila monster has a nasty bite and can hold onto it's victim for 20 minutes, even under water. The good news is, they don't strike like snakes and they move slowly. You could outrun one, even if like me, you only run when being chased by the Careers.
So, those aviaries I mentioned...there is one full of just hummingbirds and another with other desert birds. Hummers are pretty fast and tough to photograph, but I got this shot of some kind of yellow dude that reminds me of the yellow Angry Bird.
Here are a few other photos we captured. If it's a good photo of a bird or cat, all the credit goes to Kevin. He rocks the 70-200mm lens. A few are shots taken by Kristin.
And remember, do not feed the coyotes chocolate chip cookies that you have already taken a bite out of. They find that annoying.