 |
The slide show is very graphic intensive.
We appreciate your patience.
We would like to share with you some pictures of the Southwest Desert Wildlife that live in New Mexico. In the early morning, you can hear many bird calls from the Cardinals, Quails, and Doves. The Blue-Throated Hummingbird who is only 5 inches long can be seen flying from catus flower to cactus flower. We have many Hummingbirds that come to our feeder from May until September. We also have seen the little Roadrunner racing along our yard at 15 miles per hour and then coming to an abrupt stop by flinging its tail in the air. There are several Prairie Dog colonies in our neighborhood. These fat little rodents are about 14 inches long and weigh about two pounds. They will greet you with a barking sound and will vanish into their burrows at the first sign of trouble. We often feed them vegetables and they will come very close to us for the food.
We have many other beautiful animals in the Southwest Desert. The Mule Deer or Burro Deer have large nine inch ears, a rusty brown summer coat and a gray winter coat that blends well with the desert and mountains. The Bighorn Sheep have massive curved horns measuring 42 inches which provide them with deadly weapons for fending off wolves or mountain lions. The desert is home to a number of varieties of squirrels and chipmunks that feed on buds, flowers, and seeds of cactus. The little Javelina is related to the wild boar and is timid and harmless in the wild.
Nightime in the Southwest Desert is cool breezes and an immense canopy of bright flickering stars. There are several desert creatures that can be heard. Overhead might be the flight of one of the owls searching for rodents. You can hear the mournful howls and short sharp yips of the coyote searching for rabbits, prairie dogs and mice. The Gray Fox who is known for their cleverness hunts at night looking for birds and has been known to climb small trees. The Bobcat is known for its short stumpy tail, tufted ears, longer hair and small feet. The Southwestern Bobcat has a reddish brown coat sprinkled with black spots and makes his home in hollow trees or holes in the rocks. The intelligent and often curious little Raccoon live in hollow tree trunks above the ground. They have been seen "washing" their food. This is done to moisten it because they have no salivary glands. The Western Diamondback Rattlesnake is highly poisonous and has diamond-shaped blotches edged with yellow that cover its body. They have a distinct rattle produced by pieces loosely joined at the tail.
There are 20 slides that you can view by clicking on Next Slide. You can also click on Previous Slide and see previous pictures. We hope you enjoy our Southwest Desert Wildlife slide show.
Free DHTML scripts provided by
Dynamic Drive
Please Sign Our Guestbook
 
If our guestbook is not working, please sign our Bravenet Guestbook.
Updated February 16, 2004
|
