Borrego
Springs, CA - Free Standing Art Structures
History is unfolding in Borrego Springs with the placement of the Gomphotherium
free standing art structures. These creatures lived in the area about 3 million
years ago. Dennis Avery, landowner of Galleta Meadows Estates has added 'free
standing art', original steel welded sculptures created by Perris
Jurassic Park's Ricardo Breceda.
2008
Wildflower Retrospectives
The 2008 Wildflower Season
was the best in several years. Many readers wrote in and sent pictures of the
flowers they found. We have made a video retrospective
for each area: Arizona
| Anza
Borrego Desert SP | Death
Valley NP | Joshua
Tree NP | Mojave
Desert & So. California | Nevada
& Utah
The Tick
A tick will sneak up on you or your dog, take up a sequestered
residence in secret body parts, administer a painless bite into the skin, and
engorge itself with blood. A small fraction of an inch in length, a typical
tick has a roughly teardrop-shaped, two-part body encased in a leathery, accordion-like,
dark brown external skeleton.
Carrizo
Badlands: Mud Caves & Canyon Sin Nombre
Some mud caves extend over 1000 feet and
feature ceilings as high as 80 feet. Caves have been reported up to 35 feet
wide, and others so narrow, you have to squeeze through openings. Multi-level
caves with skylights have been found, where erosion has created an opening, or
sinkhole, in the ceiling of the cave.
Anza Borrego
- Borrego Badlands
Conglomerates, sandstones, claystones and mudstones, compressed and
hardened, chronicle a variety of landscapes, fossil life forms and climates that
no longer exist at Anza-Borrego. This spectacular area, with its arid rocky geography,
sunken mesas and corrugated hills of dry mud, is called the Badlands of Anza
Borrego.
The
Kingsnake
The Kingsnake gets its name from its habit of eating other
snakes, and is most famous for eating rattlesnakes, copperheads
and coral snakes. But it also feeds on other snakes, lizards,
birds and their eggs, small mammals, turtles and frogs. This
is one snake you want on your property.
more videos like this
The Desert Food Chain
A food chain constitutes a complex network of organisms, from plants
to animals, through which energy, derived from the sun, flows in the form of
organic matter and dissipates in the form of waste heat. The food chain depends
on factors such as seasonal sunlight, availability of water and seasonal
temperature changes.
The Black Widow Spider
The female black widow spider is the most venomous spider in North America, but it seldom causes death to humans, because it only injects a very small amount of poison when it bites.
Black Widows spin webs that lack shape and form. The silk is stronger than most spiders.
The Rattlesnake
Rattlesnakes come in 16 distinct varieties, all positively identified by the jointed rattles on the tail. Most rattlesnakes, when disturbed, normally try to withdraw. But if they think they are cornered, the explosive sizzling buzz of their rattles is an unmistakable warning to retreat. more videos like this
The Saguaro
Saguaros often begin life in the shelter of a "nurse" tree
or shrub which provides a shaded, moister habitat. The largest plants are estimated
to be 200 years old and can reach heights of 15 to 50 feet. Saguaros have creamy-white,
3-inch-wide flowers with yellow centers that bloom in May and June.
The Tarantula
The tarantula family includes the largest spiders known. The Goliath Tarantula (Theraposa leblondi) which inhabits South America, reaches a body length of 5 inches with a leg span of up to 12 inches. Watch video of this fascinating creature.