Shark Week, the annual summer tradition, is here and the Desert Museum is celebrating at our Cool Summer Nights series on July 29th! What makes Shark Week popular? Sharks! They are fascinating, we fear them, but we like watching them in their natural habitat. The show also sheds a light on the difficulties faced by…

A scorpion, according to most, is a symbol of cruelty; tangible evidence that nature has a mean streak. However, as with all fauna, when we turn an attentive eye to the creature we will see something worth observing. A scorpion is more than pincers and a stinger. It too needs to make its way in…

One of the beautiful animals that make an appearance during our summer rainy season is the red velvet mite, Dinothrombium spp. These very large mites spend most of the year under ground. Mites are arachnids in the order Acari, along with the ticks. There are over 30,000 species of mites, and perhaps thousands more to…

A summer day in southern Arizona is anything but silent. Even if we completely eliminated the sound of humans and their machinery, the desert supplies a raucous, riotous auditory performance during the summer. Animals are emerging to metamorphose, feed or mate. In monsoon season, the diversity of the Sonoran Desert is on full audible exhibition….

Did you know that buffelgrass is one of our most serious environmental problems in the Tucson Basin? More specifically, it’s the invasion of buffelgrass in our city and the wildlands that surround our city. What’s at stake is much larger than the saguaros that stand on A Mountain. A smoldering cigarette tossed from a car…

Many people feel a special affinity for marine mammals. If you’re like me, you once dreamed of being a marine biologist and working with dolphins or whales. (This seems to be especially true for girls.)  The interplay of otherness and familiarity between humans and cetaceans engages the heart and the mind. It is therefore especially…

Quiz Yourself! Are you hip to Gila monsters? 1. Gila is pronounced: A. HEE-la B. Gill-ah C. Guy-la 2.  In Arizona, Gila monsters are considered:  A. Protected B. Threatened C. Endangered D. The state reptile 3. Gila monsters love to chow down on:  A. Native desert plants B. Eggs and baby rodents C. Avocado toast 4….

Summer solstice marks the first official day of summer! This is when the sun reaches its northernmost point from the equator. On June 20, the sun will be higher in the sky during the day and its rays will hit Earth directly. This causes higher temperatures and it will be the day with the most…

“I woke up like this. Flawless.” – Beyoncé Insects dominate the animal kingdom. They occupy every niche imaginable and have evolved to make meals of every substance available. Winged or wingless, aquatic or terrestrial, solid or fluid feeders, insects have acquired the flexibility to adapt to their surroundings quickly. They are opportunistic, industrious, integral to…

Our Oceans, Our Future is the overall theme for World Oceans Day 2017. Join us and the rest of the world to celebrate our environment and oceans. The desert and the ocean? Yes! The Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez) is part of the Sonoran Desert, which plays a role in regulating our climate and…