Tag: Phoenix

Early Morning Ramble: Scenes from a walk in Pima Canyon, in the South Mountain Preserve, Phoenix, Arizona. Please click any photo in the set for enlarged views.

1. Sunrise over Tempe.

2. Creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) and buckhorn cholla cactus (Cylindropuntia acanthocarpa).

3. Saguaro (Carnegia gigantea) and foothills paloverde (Parkinsonia microphylla) on the hillside.

4. Paloverde blossoms.

5. Hohokam petroglyph panel on the trailside.

6. Tamarisk (Tamarix sp., probably T. chinensis).

7. Pima wash.

Round-tailed ground squirrels (Spermophilus tereticaudus), in a small colony at the Deer Valley Petroglyph Preserve in Phoenix, Arizona. The yellow flowers are globe chamomile (Oncosiphon piluliferum). 

For many years I fell victim to one of the classic blunders – the most famous of which is “never get involved in a land war in Asia” – but only slightly less well-known is this: “Never go in against a gray squirrel when your garden is on the line!” I hated the squirrels I knew back east, mostly because they were destructive pests who spoiled my tomatoes and ruined my tulips. 

Now that I’m in the desert and no longer planting a garden I find myself liking the squirrels I encounter. They are so damn cute! The squirrels of Arizona are lifting the dark blot of squirrel hatred that had stained my mind and heart. 

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Round-tailed ground squirrels (Spermophilus tereticaudus), in a small colony at the Deer Valley Petroglyph Preserve in Phoenix, Arizona. The yellow flowers are globe chamomile (Oncosiphon piluliferum). 

For many years I fell victim to one of the classic blunders – the most famous of which is “never get involved in a land war in Asia” – but only slightly less well-known is this: “Never go in against a gray squirrel when your garden is on the line!” I hated the squirrels I knew back east, mostly because they were destructive pests who spoiled my tomatoes and ruined my tulips. 

Now that I’m in the desert and no longer planting a garden I find myself liking the squirrels I encounter. They are so damn cute! The squirrels of Arizona are lifting the dark blot of squirrel hatred that had stained my mind and heart. 

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Common chuckwalla (Sauromalus obesus ♂). This stout fellow was about 9 inches long (23 cm) from snout to vent. And its tail added another nine inches.

At the Deer Valley Petroglyph Preserve in Phoenix, Arizona.