Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

The scenic route to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum goes through Gates Pass in the Tucson Mountains. I knew there were mountains in Arizona. After all, I see the Catalinas from the kitchen window and I know the city is almost completely surrounded by four ranges. I’ve spent a lot of time in the Rocky Mountains and I always regarded Arizona mountains as big hills. Wrong!

Sorry I can’t show a picture of Gates Pass and the spectacular vistas it opens to. When we drove over the pass I was cowering in my seat in the clutches of acrophobia. I could have asked to pull over in one of the many scenic view parking areas for a photo, but I was afraid my legs would buckle if I tried to stand up.

My fleeting terror, however, was soon rewarded by the amazing Desert Museum. As it happens my son’s high school friend Jan is on the staff. She had arranged VIP passes for us and took us on a tour both in some of the public areas and behind the scenes.

I paused on our way to the raptor show to take this photo of another mountain range beyond the Tucsons. Mountain range upon mountain range – I had no idea Arizona was so mountainous. I need a book on the geology of this state!

We watched a grey hawk (Mexican goshawk) and a peregrine falcon flying free, but didn’t stay for the whole show, which was too long on words and short on birds.

We moved on to see a bobcat and a cougar living in expansive quarters resembling their natural habitats. Along the way we passed a long rectangular pool teeming with leopard frogs. Jan said they are all descendants of three frogs originally placed there. This photo shows a quartet of frogs behind the glass, which reflects the scene behind the camera.

The gemstone cave was cool and dark. The many rocks on display show an amazing range of brilliant colors. (Sorry, the glass barrier needed cleaning.)

A recent addition to the museum is an aquarium displaying fishes native to the Colorado River. My absolute favorite was the garden eel display. Only the top half of each eel is visible. The other half is anchored to sand below. All of the eels are in constant motion, swaying to and fro like flowers in a breeze. They are carnivores searching for plankton.

We saw more kinds of rattlesnakes (all in glass cages, I am happy to report) than I knew existed. I forget which one this is, but check out that tongue!

Behind the scenes, Jan took us through the rooms where she works. We went into the hibernation room, most of its occupants – but not all – were sleeping in little houses.

The room that blew me away was one that housed two varieties of rattlesnakes, the spotted and the speckled. Both kinds live in rocks. The color of their rocky habitat determines their color. This speckled rattlesnake obviously is native to white rocks.

The museum occupies 68 acres of the Sonoran Desert. There was no way we could see the whole thing and I can’t even begin to describe all the animals and plants we saw. I have to mention, though, that one item on my bucket list has been checked off. In the museum’s hummingbird aviary I got to see a hummingbird nest with a female sitting on eggs. I could have taken a picture but didn’t want to intrude on her privacy. The picture is clear in my mind, and that’s what counts.

Copyright 2015 by Shirley Domer