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!
I sure talk about a lot different flora and fauna. From three species of quail, to canyon wrens, to Yarrows spiny lizards, to bristlehead...
I first learned this snake as the western hog-nosed snake (Heterodon nasicus). It’s now called the Mexican hog-nosed snake (H. kennerlyi). And, this is...
Western soapberry is Sapindus saponaria var. drummondii and is in the Sapindaceae. In that family there are around twelve species of Sapindus. I say...
