I have two books on my shelf about desert bighorns. The Desert Bighorn, It’s Life History, Ecology and Management. Edited by Gale Monson and Lowell Sumner, U of A Press 1980. A fascinating read on the ancient and modern history of the critters, coupled with wildlife management stories and reports. The other book is Counting Sheep, 20 Ways of Seeing Desert Bighorn, edited by Gary Nabhan, U of A Press 1993. The “20 Ways” are 20 different authors writing about desert bighorns. I suspect you’ll recognize many of the writers.
The photos are from trips into the Galiuro Mountains. What great rugged country to see desert bighorns. The magnificent long cliff face in the bottom photo is called the Galiuro Escarpment. I’ve hiked up to the base of it many times. It’s awesome!
Desert anemone (Anemone tuberosa) is in the Buttercup Family. Buttercups are the genus Ranuculus and the family name is Ranunculaceae. It’s probably just me,...
I think buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) is pretty cool, but I would never recommend it for a landscape in southern Arizona unless there is an...
Between the Mesquitey chickens finally laying some eggs and the point leaf manzanita blooming in the hills, there is much excitement around the ol’...