On the road again - in the Wild West

We finally tore ourselves from the warmth and hospitality in Santa Barbara and are continuing our road trip. We find ourselves in cactus country again, in Arizona.

Saguara cactus in the Sonora Desert around Tucson.  Almost like Mexico.  But without the lovely beaches and the warmer sunshine.

Indian petroglyphs.




We visited the marvellous Sonora Desert Museum.  This is a successful tribute to the Sonora Desert, one part zoo, one part botanical garden and one part museum.  All sorts of denizens are displayed in fairly natural looking enclosures.  The grounds are thick with desert plants and enthusiastic, mainly elderly volunteers offer factual data.  We were very taken by the animal inhabitants.  Here are a few shots.

Prairie dogs.  These cute looking creatures are very territorial and the males have scratches all over them and tufts of hair missing as they defend their small patch in a very large enclosure.  The sign informs the visitor that the babies often get eaten in the burrows by other mothers.

One year old mountain lion with ball.  He was abandoned by his mother and brought up here in the museum. I thought he may appreciate a mate but they are solitary creatures and if a female is brought in for mating they are kept apart.

Arctic fox.

Hawk at the raptor show.  These shows never fail to impress with the impressive bird behaviour.  They soar and dive on command almost brushing one's hair.  The speaker warns people not to raise their cameras.

This owl looks magnificent but it has no hunting instincts as it too was abandoned as a baby and is reliant on being fed here.  But she has been well trained and participates in the raptor show and enjoys the raw meat morsels during training.

Bighorn sheep.

We are now fully equipped with a handsome kangaroo emblem as well as the AUS sticker so we can be fully identified as travelling Aussies.