Arizona Sonora Desert Museum

garden eels

We weren't expecting to find an aquarium at the

the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, but there it was.  The Warden Aquarium opened in January 2013, and it was thoroughly enjoyable.  Why is there an aquarium in the desert?  Read on.

We stopped in the Museum enroute from camping in Benson, AZ, to visiting a high school friend of mine in Phoenix.  The Museum is huge (21 acres) with nearly two miles of paths swathed through beautiful desert terrain.  if you take the time to walk through the whole thing, and you will be inundated with 3,000 (!) species of animals and 1,200 kinds of plants!  

We are generally more of the lolly-gagging sort.  This time we teamed up with friends from the campground and saw it all in a few short hours!  :-) 

The boys were delighted with the clear view and the proximity of the animals.  I was pleased with the unusually large enclosures which often gave the animals a wide territory to roam. I've since discovered that large enclosures seem to be a common theme among zoos in the desert. 

It was siesta time for the mountain lions.

See that?  We've never been given access to the boudoirs of the animals.  These enclosures delighted the kids with their traditional front view and with the occasional look-see into their favorite sleeping spots.  We were close enough to see her paws twitch as she slept.

A hopelessly sleepy Barn Owl.

There were plenty of educational talks about the animals.  We 'met' and learned about this lovely Barn Owl who couldn't keep his eyes open.

The boys petting a Mexican Black Kingsnake.

The boys were enchanted with this Mexican Black Kingsnake.  This snake is a colubrid, a constrictor, that is harmless to humans and often kept as pets.  They come in many colors and are often confused with their venomous look-alike, the coral snake.

"Red on yellow, kill a fellow; Red on black, friend of Jack."

Somewhere along the way, we picked up the phrase that helps people know the difference between a venomous snake and their look-alike non-venomous snake..  The boys probably know it by heart.  I have to look it up every time.  Truly, the more I live out here, the more I am thankful for the rattlesnake's rattle.  It couldn't be clearer.   Be honest!  Aren't there days it would be helpful to have a rattle to warn people away?

The javelinas were a hefty walk down the path.  We made a trip to see them with hopes of seeing the coyotes out & about on our way down.  We weren't disappointed.

There was an aviary at the Museum as well.

What a treat it was to see hummingbirds nesting!  The adult Ruby-Throated Hummingbird is tiny, and the baby is tinier -- weighing just .62 grams!  Three of them altogether weigh less than one dime!

My own personal favorites, though, were these two unusual creatures.

Tort-a-boy

Maga-eared-bat-boy

So now why is there an aquarium in the Sonoran Desert Museum.  It turns out the Sonoran Desert is the lushest desert on the earth, with summer monsoons, freshwater rivers -- including the Colorado River --, and 100,000 square miles of ocean in the Gulf of California.