L is for Ladder-backed Woodpecker

The Ladder-backed Woodpecker is a beautiful looking bird. It is black and white and the male has a red spot on its head. They like to nest in cactus and if you put out a bird feeder, one of these woodpeckers will most likely show up.

I always smile when I see one, but when I was younger they always managed to make me mad. Maybe because due to the Ladder-backed Woodpecker, I never got to sleep in.

When I was a teenager, I was just like any other teenager. I loved to sleep in. I especially looked forward to sleeping in during the summer months when I was off from school. But no matter how much I looked forward to sleeping in, it never failed that I would always be woken up early by the sound of the Ladder-backed woodpecker pecking non-stop at the metal on the swamp cooler. The sound is like a miniature jackhammer that never ever stops.

Photo by George Scott

Photo by Kenneth Cole Schneider

K is for Kit Fox

When I was a young girl and learning about the animals that live in the Sonoran Desert, I always picked the same animal as a favorite. The Kit Fox.

The Kit Fox is the smallest and rarest member of the dog family. It has very large long ears and fur on the soles of its feet.

They are mostly nocturnal and due to their coloring they blend quite well into their natural environment. They rarely have to drink any water as they get what they need from the food that they eat.

Other than at the Arizona Desert Sonoran Museum (a zoo for desert life), I have never seen a Kit Fox in the wild. 

How could I not choose this animal as one of my favorites? Isn't it just the cutest?

Photo by Mark A. Chappell

Photo by canines_of_the_world

J is for Javelina

Javelinas (pronounced ha-va-LEE-nas) are not pigs. They are actually collared peccary.

If you see a javelina be prepared to see more than one. They live in big family groups. The average group size is 10 or less, but a few herds have known to number up to 53 animals.

You are most likely to come across a javelina during the early morning and evening hours. They are creatures of habit and can be found walking the same path at the same time of day, every day. So much so that a neighbor put up a "Javelina Crossing" sign in her yard. They don't have very good eyesight but they do have great hearing and sense of smell. If you come across one you will want to keep your distance and not make any sudden movements or loud noises.

Javelina are nosy. They like to get into everything and are famous for dumping over the garbage cans and making a huge mess.

One night, my brother left the front gate open. I woke up in the middle of the night to see shadows moving outside the sliding glass door. A large group of javelinas were rooting around the front patio. I watched them until they all went out the gate. The largest one of the group was the last one to leave. I opened the front door and quickly slammed the gate shut. As soon as I did that, the giant one turned and butted that gate over and over. He was so angry. That is the closest I have been to an angry javelina. I was very lucky that there was a gate between us.

Photo by bigbendnps

Photo by Amythestsparkles

I is for Ironwood

The Ironwood tree is found only in the Sonoran Desert. It is one of the largest and longest-lived of the Sonoran Desert plants. Its wood is among the densest in the world and it sinks in water. This tree is known as a "nurse tree." Many different animals and plants live and grow under its protection.

When I close my eyes and remember, I can see the Ironwood seeds littering the ground, but I cannot recall ever seeing an Ironwood tree in bloom. I hope to see this tree in bloom someday. From what I have seen in pictures, the Ironwood is a very pretty tree when in bloom.

Photo by Doris Evans

Photo by Ken Bosma

H is for Horny Toad

I am not into lizards and such, but I have to say that my favorite lizard would have to be the Horny Toad. I really don't know why. Maybe because I was never afraid of them. Plus, it doesn't hurt that baby Horny Toads are just the cutest thing! They are so tiny!

When I was younger, I used to see them pretty much every day. My brother and I would catch them and put them in a shoe box to look at before setting them free. I think it was the whole "shoot blood out of its eyes" thing that had us all so interested. But no matter how many Horny Toads we may have caught, we never saw it happen.

Every year, I saw less and less of the Horny Toad. By the time I was in high school, I didn't really see them around much at all. As an adult, I have probably seen a Horny Toad maybe once or twice.

Photo by By Room237 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

Photo by Ned Harris

G is for Gila Monster

Gila Monsters are one of only two venomous lizards in the entire world. If you come across one, you will want to keep your distance and you definitely don't want to touch them because they will bite you. A Gila Monster bite is definitely not a good thing. When it bites, it chews in order to release its venom. Its jaws are very strong, so when it bites its jaws are very hard to open.

The Gila Monster is the first venomous animal in North America to get legal protection. You should not reposition, or handle a Gila Monster and it is illegal to collect, kill, or sell them in the state of Arizona.

Gila Monsters are very brightly colored and they have different color patterns. For a lizard, I think they are quite pretty. There were a couple of times, when I was younger, that I came across them when I walked home from the school bus stop. Now-a-days it seems that they are pretty rare to see.

And here's an interesting fact for you...  

A component of Gila Monster venom (Exendin-4) has been approved by the FDA to be used in a drug called Byetta which helps in the treatment of type-2 diabetes.

Photo by jessicamorgan_photography

Photo by dandalff

F is for Flowers

There are many different kinds of beautiful flowers that grow in the Sonoran Desert. Here are just a few.

E is for Elf Owl

Elf Owls are not only the smallest owl in the Sonoran Desert, they are the smallest owl in the world. They are about the size of a sparrow, 5 inches tall. Their wingspan is 9 inches and it weighs 1 to 1.5 ounces. When captured, they will play dead until all danger has passed. 

Photo by Scott Olmstead

Photo by Cameron Rognan

D is for Desert Tortoise

One of the animals that live in the Sonoran Desert is the Desert Tortoise.

It is actually kind of rare to see one in the wild. The only situation where I have come across them in the wild, was when they were trying to cross the road. I have encountered maybe about a handful in my lifetime.

I did have a Desert Tortoise when I was younger. It lived in the back yard and stuck around for a couple of years. It loved to eat the fruit from the prickly pear cactus. It was always a very exciting time when it would show up after months of hibernation.

Now-a-days if you find a Desert Tortoise in the wild, it is illegal to just pick it up and take it home. Although, if you see them crossing the road, it is okay to carefully pick them up and carry them to the other side.

The good news is, if you really want to own a Desert Tortoise you can adopt a captive Desert Tortoise.

A Desert Tortoise can live for an extremely long amount of time. In the Sonoran Desert, wild tortoises can live about 35 or 40 years although some live to be much older. So, if you find you are unable to care for it, or if you move out of the state where you adopted it, you will need to find someone else to take care of it or return it to an adoption agency as it is illegal to remove a Desert Tortoise from the state of adoption and it is also illegal to release a captive desert tortoise into the wild. 

Photo by runningdrew

Photo by spottyjess

Photo by lucastnovak

C is for Creosote

Ask people who are from the Sonoran Desert what they love (or miss) the most, and the majority will tell you that it is the smell of the rain. Rain in the desert has a distinct smell and it's all thanks to the Creosote Bush.

Creosote is a green bush with yellow flowers and white fuzzy seed pods. It can spread via its root system, so what may look like many plants may actually be just one.

If you love the smell of Creosote after the rain, you can smell it every time you shower by cutting some branches and keeping them in your bathroom.

Photo by danielleglows

Photo by sparklewithsara

B is for Brown

When most people think of the desert they think of the color brown. But the Sonoran desert isn't all brown, it's full of lots of different colors.

B is not for Brown. B is for Beautiful.

Photo by maunshb3

Photo by onetiredbuthappymamablog

Photo by theranchmineofficial

Photo by ckchristian

A is for Arroyo

Most places have rivers. In the desert, we have washes. Dry ones. They are called arroyos. They fill up when it rains and then they dry up. Sometimes they REALLY fill up.

When it rains the water causes a flash flood.




Some arroyos are really deep and wide. One of the largest is the Santa Cruz river. It is dry for most of the year. 

Here are a couple of photos to help give you a perspective of what it looks like when it is dry or kind of dry like the photo directly below.

Photo by lasertrimman

Photo by R.S. Walker

But then it rains and the excitement begins.

Photo by kiqwi

Photo by kevinlane2

The A to Z of My Sonoran Desert

The Blogging from A to Z Challenge begins in just a few hours.

This will be my 4th year taking part in the challenge. But it will be my first year actually choosing a theme to write about. In the past, I never chose a theme because I don't really think I am an expert at anything. So, I didn't really know what to write about. 

My "theme" for the last 3 years of the challenge has been ALL about Me. But this year I decided I should write about something else, because there is just so much that I can write about myself before it starts to get really really weird.

So, my theme for this year's A to Z Challenge will be... All about the Sonoran Desert.

I was born in the desert and raised here so I have to know something, right? But because I am me, my posts will be more like My Sonoran Desert.

Blogging from A to Z

I can't believe that I am doing this AGAIN!!

I signed up at the beginning of the year, but I have been on the fence about actually participating. I have enjoyed the challenge for 3-years now, but there was something about last year that made me feel like I just couldn't do it again.

The first year I did the challenge (2011) I had a blast. I wrote my posts by the seat of my pants and had a great time visiting other blogs and responding to comments (both on other blogs and on my own).

The next year I participated (2013) I planned out my posts a bit more. There was a lot of activity at the beginning of the challenge but it sort of petered out towards the end of the month. Even so, I still enjoyed the challenge enough to want to do it again the following year.

Last year (2014) had the largest amount of people participating in the challenge but I noticed very few people visiting my blog, much less leaving comments. From what I could tell this seemed to be happening just on my own blog though because I saw lots of comments on other blogs when I was visiting other challengers from the list. I didn't find 2014 to be as much fun as previous years. I decided then that I probably wouldn't participate in the next year's challenge.

But then I read the sign-up post for this year. And for some unknown reason I put my name on that list.

I think I may actually have a theme this year. I am starting to get a little bit excited about it all. April will soon be here. Oh boy, what have I done?