Carrie took her first flight on a calm morning in the Desert Museum’s butterfly garden on January 9, 2017. We saw her fluttering colors, letting us know she would be fine, a few minutes after she was released into the wild. Carrie is a female monarch butterfly. She emerged from her chrysalis 24 hours earlier, the…
Baby Got Bat!
Rather, the lesser long-nosed bats are having babies! According to a press release from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, a proposal has been submitted to delist the bat from the United States endangered species list, following a delisting from the Mexican endangered species list in 2015. With over half of the North American species…
Filthy, Stinking Niche: Vultures in the Ecosystem
Vultures have garnered perhaps the worst reputation of all birds worldwide. They’ve been blamed for killing cattle and stalking vulnerable prey. And while they do scavenge upon what humans would label as filthy, gross meals, without the tidy housekeeping of vultures, any ecosystem would quickly be overrun by insects and diseases. If being maligned in…
Animal Migration in the Sonoran Desert Region
Many of us are anticipating the arrival of sun-seeking visitors from afar due to the holiday season. But what if your winter visitors had to swim 6,000 miles to get here? That is exactly what our region’s largest winter visitors do. Each winter, the Sonoran Desert bears witness to the greatest mammal migration on Earth….
Buffelgrass: Why You Should Care
Buffelgrass. It’s a dry topic, literally. Buffelgrass is typically bone-dry nine months of the year, greening up only during the monsoon season. And when this drought-hardy bunchgrass is dry, it poses a serious fire risk. That’s why Pima County was awarded a $3.4 million dollar matching grant from the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) to…
Go Green on #GivingTuesday
Black Friday. Cyber Monday. #GivingTuesday. Tis’ the season for days dedicated to shopping and spending. Why not shop and spend your money with a cause and organization you’re passionate about? We’d like to give you three ways to go green today. Give your time. There is no way we could operate without our volunteers. We have more than 500…
3 Parks: 1 Partnership
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, along with Organ Pipe National Monument and Pinacate Biosphere Reserve, are teaming up on a unique conservation and education project (funded by a grant from the National Park Service). The three organizations are uniting to help ensure species survival of Sonoyta Pupfish (formally known as Quitobaquito Pupfish) and the Sonoyta Mud Turtle. Actions include researching…
Mad Hops: It’s Grasshopper Season
Grasshoppers are intriguing creatures at any age. Owing to their size, ubiquity, and nonthreatening reputations, they are often the first insects a child will pick up. In school, grasshoppers are used as model organisms for teaching insect morphology and are often the first in a semester series of animal dissections. However, even with a lifetime…
Desert Diaries 