Climate:
The Western Desert Tarantula has limited areas for survival. Over the years these unique tarantula's have been surviving in Arizona and Mexico. The specific climate of these places is exactly what the tarantulas need therefor making these places the most common for tarantula spotting. In the winter months the average temperature is 11ºC. During the winter tarantula's live in a burrow that gets made during the summer. They live in an inactive state and eat stored fats. During the summer the average temperature is 30ºC, on the really hot days it can reach up to 54º C in the shade. Temperatures can get very high but the humidity is said to always be very low. The Sonoran Desert is one of the wettest deserts in North America, it can range from 3 to 16 inches a year. The common rainy seasons are in the summer and the winter. The summer rains are usually short and heavy, on the contrary the winter rains last longer and are lighter.
Characteristics of Plant Life:
In the desert there isn't much of a variety of plants, but just mostly the same plants reoccurring. The most common plant found in deserts are barrel cacti (image 1). This type of cactus can be easily differentiated from other cacti because of its round shape. A barrel cactus can reach up to eleven feet tall, with 4 inch thorns. This cactus is green with white thorns.These cacti can be boiled and consumed if you're ever lost in a desert. Natives used to use the long thorns as fishing hooks to catch prey, also.
Another common plant is the brittle bush (image 2). This plant can grow about two to five feet high. The plant grow from a wooden trunk into a stem with leaves and a small flower on the top. The leaves are very rough and are broader at the base. The leaves can get about three inches long. The plant is green but has hairs covering the leaves making them appear gray. The hair protects the leaves from the extreme weather conditions and also keep in water from the dry air. The yellow flowers at the top of the plant blooms around March, giving the desert a soft yellow color. This plant is in the same family as a sunflower, it mimics the appearance of one on a much smaller scale. Located in the stem there is a liquid that Natives used as glue and toothpaste before they were actually invented.
The chain fruit cholla (image 3) is also frequent in the deserts of Arizona and Mexico. It takes on the form of a tree that can grow about fifteen feet high and six feet wide. The trunk splits into many different spiny branches. The spins of the branches are a dark gray color, this reflects the sunlight and prevents the tree from over heating. As the spines grow old they fall off the tree and do not reappear. Along with the spines the branches have light green leaves about an inch long with whitish pink flowers that bloom from the leaves in June. Pear shaped fruit grows about 2 inches off. these flowers. Over the years groups of these fruits continue to grow onto each other, up to two feet long this is where the name chain fruit cholla comes from.
The final common plant found in the deserts of Arizona and Mexico is the Ocotillo (image 4), also known as the vine cactus. This plant can reach all the way from 30 feet tall to nine feet tall. The stems of the Ocotillo grow is an "S" pattern. The stems are covered with thorns reaching up to 2 inches long. The leaves are an oval shape, really thick, and can grow about 2 inches. When no water is available for the leaves they turn brown and fall off. When a leave falls of the stem attached to it turns to wood and grows spines. In March this plant grows bright red flowers that are an inch wide.
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The Western Desert Tarantula has limited areas for survival. Over the years these unique tarantula's have been surviving in Arizona and Mexico. The specific climate of these places is exactly what the tarantulas need therefor making these places the most common for tarantula spotting. In the winter months the average temperature is 11ºC. During the winter tarantula's live in a burrow that gets made during the summer. They live in an inactive state and eat stored fats. During the summer the average temperature is 30ºC, on the really hot days it can reach up to 54º C in the shade. Temperatures can get very high but the humidity is said to always be very low. The Sonoran Desert is one of the wettest deserts in North America, it can range from 3 to 16 inches a year. The common rainy seasons are in the summer and the winter. The summer rains are usually short and heavy, on the contrary the winter rains last longer and are lighter.
Characteristics of Plant Life:
In the desert there isn't much of a variety of plants, but just mostly the same plants reoccurring. The most common plant found in deserts are barrel cacti (image 1). This type of cactus can be easily differentiated from other cacti because of its round shape. A barrel cactus can reach up to eleven feet tall, with 4 inch thorns. This cactus is green with white thorns.These cacti can be boiled and consumed if you're ever lost in a desert. Natives used to use the long thorns as fishing hooks to catch prey, also.
Another common plant is the brittle bush (image 2). This plant can grow about two to five feet high. The plant grow from a wooden trunk into a stem with leaves and a small flower on the top. The leaves are very rough and are broader at the base. The leaves can get about three inches long. The plant is green but has hairs covering the leaves making them appear gray. The hair protects the leaves from the extreme weather conditions and also keep in water from the dry air. The yellow flowers at the top of the plant blooms around March, giving the desert a soft yellow color. This plant is in the same family as a sunflower, it mimics the appearance of one on a much smaller scale. Located in the stem there is a liquid that Natives used as glue and toothpaste before they were actually invented.
The chain fruit cholla (image 3) is also frequent in the deserts of Arizona and Mexico. It takes on the form of a tree that can grow about fifteen feet high and six feet wide. The trunk splits into many different spiny branches. The spins of the branches are a dark gray color, this reflects the sunlight and prevents the tree from over heating. As the spines grow old they fall off the tree and do not reappear. Along with the spines the branches have light green leaves about an inch long with whitish pink flowers that bloom from the leaves in June. Pear shaped fruit grows about 2 inches off. these flowers. Over the years groups of these fruits continue to grow onto each other, up to two feet long this is where the name chain fruit cholla comes from.
The final common plant found in the deserts of Arizona and Mexico is the Ocotillo (image 4), also known as the vine cactus. This plant can reach all the way from 30 feet tall to nine feet tall. The stems of the Ocotillo grow is an "S" pattern. The stems are covered with thorns reaching up to 2 inches long. The leaves are an oval shape, really thick, and can grow about 2 inches. When no water is available for the leaves they turn brown and fall off. When a leave falls of the stem attached to it turns to wood and grows spines. In March this plant grows bright red flowers that are an inch wide.
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Characteristics of Animal Life:
Believe it or not, but there are a large number of incests and animals roaming deserts. Most of the animals in the desert are poisonous. The Banded Gila Monster (image 1) is one of the two most venomous lizards in the world. They are usually very shy but will defend their selfs very quickly if needed. This lizard is red, pink and orange. It has about five black rings and spots surrounding its body. These colors send out a warning to predators that they are venomous. This lizards maximum length is two feet long and weight three pounds at its heaviest. Their head is very big, their tail is short and thick and they have a large body. There claws are relatively big compared to their short legs. They have a rough bumpy outer layer. The banded Gila Monster mates in July and can lay its eggs just three weeks later. They lay about ten eggs in a hole, then cover the hole with sand. The eggs hatch about a month later, when the lizards are first born they are about four inches long. By the age of two the are full grown. Not a lot of information is known about this species because it spends most of its life in burrows underground. The lizards hearing and vision is so advanced that it will stay in its burrow until it knows that it is completely safe to come out. This lizard has the ability to store fat in its tail and body for as long as it needs. It can survive on this fat for a little over three months. The Gila Monster also eats bird and reptile eggs, young rodents, small reptiles and small rabbits. They consume an enormous amounts of food then store that fat in their tails. There jaw is very strong and their venom gets released as they bite from their bottom teeth.
Another commonly seen animal in the Mexican and Arizona deserts is the Bobcat (image 2). Bobcats look like a regular house cat, only bigger. The desert bobcats are white, black, brown, and orange. Bobcats like the desert because of the bushy rocky terrain. When it is hot the trees and bushes give shade and it also makes a perfect place to hunt for prey. Bobcats eat rabbits, squirrels, gophers, rats, mice and fish. They average at about fifteen to twenty pounds and can get anywhere from three to four feet long and two feet tall. Bobcats can have one litter of kittens a year, which usually consists of two or three kittens. The mother will spend only one year with her kittens. She uses this time to teach them how to hunt and survive. Even though these animals look very cute, they are extremely vicious. They are able to kill prey up to the size of a deer. Each male bobcat claims their territory and no other male bobcat will enter.
The desert bighorn sheep (image 3) is also found in this region. These sheep enjoy this area because they prefer a clear view of all of their surrounds. They spend most of their time on rocks and in bushy areas. They have short legs but a very muscular body. The horns on the top of the males heads are brown with horizontal ridges, they can weigh about thirty pounds. They can curl back over their ears and down passed their checks and then up again. The females have smaller horns and can never get larger then half a curl. There nose and mouth is narrow and their ears are short. The sheep's have concaved elastic-like hooves. The outer layer is made up of short wavy hairs. During the summer it has a brown color and a possiblity of having white patches, but when winter comes, the colors fade. The average life span of a desert sheep is nine years. The males don't start mating until they are seven years old. At this point they can mate with a female who can give birth to up to three lambs. The mother usually stays with there baby for only a couple weeks. After a couple weeks the lamb has enough knowledge to survive on its own. The animal can eat and digest grass even when it is dried out. They mostly eat plants like grass, sedges, shrubs and trees. They only need a little bit of water every three days to survive.
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Believe it or not, but there are a large number of incests and animals roaming deserts. Most of the animals in the desert are poisonous. The Banded Gila Monster (image 1) is one of the two most venomous lizards in the world. They are usually very shy but will defend their selfs very quickly if needed. This lizard is red, pink and orange. It has about five black rings and spots surrounding its body. These colors send out a warning to predators that they are venomous. This lizards maximum length is two feet long and weight three pounds at its heaviest. Their head is very big, their tail is short and thick and they have a large body. There claws are relatively big compared to their short legs. They have a rough bumpy outer layer. The banded Gila Monster mates in July and can lay its eggs just three weeks later. They lay about ten eggs in a hole, then cover the hole with sand. The eggs hatch about a month later, when the lizards are first born they are about four inches long. By the age of two the are full grown. Not a lot of information is known about this species because it spends most of its life in burrows underground. The lizards hearing and vision is so advanced that it will stay in its burrow until it knows that it is completely safe to come out. This lizard has the ability to store fat in its tail and body for as long as it needs. It can survive on this fat for a little over three months. The Gila Monster also eats bird and reptile eggs, young rodents, small reptiles and small rabbits. They consume an enormous amounts of food then store that fat in their tails. There jaw is very strong and their venom gets released as they bite from their bottom teeth.
Another commonly seen animal in the Mexican and Arizona deserts is the Bobcat (image 2). Bobcats look like a regular house cat, only bigger. The desert bobcats are white, black, brown, and orange. Bobcats like the desert because of the bushy rocky terrain. When it is hot the trees and bushes give shade and it also makes a perfect place to hunt for prey. Bobcats eat rabbits, squirrels, gophers, rats, mice and fish. They average at about fifteen to twenty pounds and can get anywhere from three to four feet long and two feet tall. Bobcats can have one litter of kittens a year, which usually consists of two or three kittens. The mother will spend only one year with her kittens. She uses this time to teach them how to hunt and survive. Even though these animals look very cute, they are extremely vicious. They are able to kill prey up to the size of a deer. Each male bobcat claims their territory and no other male bobcat will enter.
The desert bighorn sheep (image 3) is also found in this region. These sheep enjoy this area because they prefer a clear view of all of their surrounds. They spend most of their time on rocks and in bushy areas. They have short legs but a very muscular body. The horns on the top of the males heads are brown with horizontal ridges, they can weigh about thirty pounds. They can curl back over their ears and down passed their checks and then up again. The females have smaller horns and can never get larger then half a curl. There nose and mouth is narrow and their ears are short. The sheep's have concaved elastic-like hooves. The outer layer is made up of short wavy hairs. During the summer it has a brown color and a possiblity of having white patches, but when winter comes, the colors fade. The average life span of a desert sheep is nine years. The males don't start mating until they are seven years old. At this point they can mate with a female who can give birth to up to three lambs. The mother usually stays with there baby for only a couple weeks. After a couple weeks the lamb has enough knowledge to survive on its own. The animal can eat and digest grass even when it is dried out. They mostly eat plants like grass, sedges, shrubs and trees. They only need a little bit of water every three days to survive.
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