The girls and I took a trip to Saguaro National Park one afternoon. It is about an hour drive from us, right outside Tucson. Here is a link to the park's website. www.saguaronationalpark.com
We took the eight-mile-loop drive through the park and really enjoyed seeing the desert and its wildlife. We spotted a roadrunner, several lizards, and a kangaroo mouse. And probably the most significant thing we saw, we didn't see. On one of our stops we got out to take pictures and saw a temporary caution sign near the rock. So we walked over to read the sign. It warned that Africanized Bees were swarming in the area and were very aggressive. If they came toward us, we were to run to our car, roll up the windows, close all vents and call 911. Needless to say, we got to the car as quickly as we could and finished the loop. We never did see any bees swarming, but it is all the girls could talk about for the next week. We also saw a teddy bear cactus. The Teddy Bear Cactus is also known as the Jumping Cholla Cactus. This is one desert plant that scares us! This beautiful almost soft looking cactus can be the most painful of plants to run into in the desert. All of the little fuzzy parts are prickly needles that can pierce even a pair of shoes. If you get near one of these, you are not likely to get just one needle, but hundreds. The needles go deep into your skin (searching for water) and are more difficult to get out the longer you wait. We were told, not to try to pull them out with your bare hands, as you will get them stuck in your hands as well as where you are trying to remove it from. The needles seem to jump to each place you touch! We took this picture from the car and the girls were all yelling for me to hurry and close the window. They take it pretty seriously, as do I!!
The large saguaro cactus shown here is the namesake of the park. They are actually fewer in number now than they were when the park was established. The cacti began to die out in great numbers after a couple of freezes about 50 years ago. They are slowly coming back, though. They are a beautiful plant.
The girls and I took a trip to Saguaro National Park one afternoon. It is about an hour drive from us, right outside Tucson. Here is a link to the park's website. www.saguaronationalpark.com
We took the eight-mile-loop drive through the park and really enjoyed seeing the desert and its wildlife. We spotted a roadrunner, several lizards, and a kangaroo mouse. And probably the most significant thing we saw, we didn't see. On one of our stops we got out to take pictures and saw a temporary caution sign near the rock. So we walked over to read the sign. It warned that Africanized Bees were swarming in the area and were very aggressive. If they came toward us, we were to run to our car, roll up the windows, close all vents and call 911. Needless to say, we got to the car as quickly as we could and finished the loop. We never did see any bees swarming, but it is all the girls could talk about for the next week. We also saw a teddy bear cactus. The Teddy Bear Cactus is also known as the Jumping Cholla Cactus. This is one desert plant that scares us! This beautiful almost soft looking cactus can be the most painful of plants to run into in the desert. All of the little fuzzy parts are prickly needles that can pierce even a pair of shoes. If you get near one of these, you are not likely to get just one needle, but hundreds. The needles go deep into your skin (searching for water) and are more difficult to get out the longer you wait. We were told, not to try to pull them out with your bare hands, as you will get them stuck in your hands as well as where you are trying to remove it from. The needles seem to jump to each place you touch! We took this picture from the car and the girls were all yelling for me to hurry and close the window. They take it pretty seriously, as do I!!
The large saguaro cactus shown here is the namesake of the park. They are actually fewer in number now than they were when the park was established. The cacti began to die out in great numbers after a couple of freezes about 50 years ago. They are slowly coming back, though. They are a beautiful plant.
