The Arizona- Sonora Desert Museum Junior Docents, before heading to Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge worked on a wildlife camera project. They headed south to Ajo Road, then west to Three Points, then south through Altar Valley where they observed two wild Crested Caracaras swooping over their vehicles. They were surprised at how the desert…

All over our community, people are working to live in better harmony with wildlife. A great example is the bat habitat designed for the new Ina Road Bridge. You may have seen Desert Museum docents teaching about bats as they emerge from their summer roosts under other bridges, such as the one at Campbell and…

Walking Sticks No males? No problem. Short-horned walking sticks are parthenogenic, which means these bug beauties can reproduce sans males. Pepsis Wasp Female tarantula hawks can really pack a punch! Their sting is rated a 4 out of 4 on the Sting Pain Index. Honey Bee Girls. Do. Work. If you see a busy bee…

Membership Who wouldn’t love getting to spend 365 days a year with our precious prairie dogs or javelinas? That’s exactly what you could give someone this season when you gift them a membership to the Museum! From now until the December 31, when you buy a membership you’ll receive an awesome Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum hat…

Packrats are absolutely vital to a healthy desert ecosystem. Packrats eat plant parts and seeds, and thus are seed and cactus dispersers (they help plants get started in new places). They not only help aerate soil, but their poop even helps fertilize the seeds! Additionally, packrats are food for bobcats, coyotes, owls, hawks and snakes….

Help us celebrate Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) by decorating a monarch butterfly in memory of a loved one. You can place it on our Monarch Butterfly Celebratory Altar located in the lobby of the Warden Oasis Theater. This year, we are celebrating and honoring the culture and tradition of Dia De…

Tumamoc Hill is a culturally and scientifically important site in Tucson. It’s an 860-acre ecological reserve and one of the oldest research stations in the world, much loved by the people of Tucson and operated by the University of Arizona College of Science in partnership with Pima County. The hill boasts at least 2,500 years…

On October 20, 2017, the Sonoyta mud turtle will be officially listed as an endangered species by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. This listing comes exactly 99 days after the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum had three Sonoyta mud turtles hatch in captivity, marking the first ever successful captive breeding for this subspecies. Multiple factors…

This year, like many years, Tucson put on a 4th of July fireworks display over A Mountain. This would not be a problem for a typical Sonoran Desert landscape that has natural open space among its scattered trees, shrubs, and cacti and thus a very low potential to burn. However, this hill that lies nestled…

Do you want to enjoy a taste of history in your own backyard? Try planting the same fruit trees that European missionaries did many centuries ago! At this year’s Plant Sale, some of the coolest plants that will be featured are the heritage food plants. These include plants like fig trees, pomegranate trees, grape vines…