Desert Museum Tucson Part 1

Good place to visit, the Desert Museum.  Plants, mammals, birds, reptiles, caves, minerals--something for everyone.  The drive out there from Tucson is just long enough, and gorgeous.  
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At the Desert Museum, there's a window so you can watch the Pumas sleep.
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The animals become active when most visitors have left, in late afternoon.  We stayed late, and saw them start to wake up and move around.  
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There was a girl Puma and a boy Puma
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A Black Bear.
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A White-tailed Deer 
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The animals have natural enclosures with places to hide, bathe in water, and browse.  I've seen some quite depressed looking zoo animals, but these appeared reasonably content.

The nearly extinct Mexican Wolf looks like a dog I once had.  The Wolf had bigger paws.  
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My dog had that same half-circle of white tipped fur behind his shoulder blades. 
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The naturalism of the enclosures made for decent photos.  I longed for a telephoto lens, but that's one more thing to carry, and more expense.  Big horned sheep:
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 The Bobcat looked lazy in midafternoon heat.
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There's a special room just for rattlesnakes, and I took no photos, not wanting to have rattlesnake nightmares that night.  We also went to a "Meet The Creatures" talk at the auditorium, where you could take Rattlesnake and Gila Monster pictures up close and in person.  We enjoyed the talk--from farther back and out of photo range.  The toad was nightmare-proof, so that is what I have:
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There is a hummingbird aviary and an other-bird aviary.  There was a big sign with pictures of the inhabitant birds and their names, but they didn't seem to look like the ones I
got photos of, so I have no names.
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Matthew, Mark, Luke, and...Duck.
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Quit staring at my backside!
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We went through the hummingbird aviary in early afternoon.  The hummers seemed grumpy and sleepy.  
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Plants from the Desert Museum in the next post.  I'm better with plant IDs, anyway, and plants are a lot easier to photograph.    
   
  

Comments

  1. Great fauna shots...especially that the puma graced you with it's presence...one time there, the male climbed up a tree limb and glared down at me from below (it's still a cat!), looking like "you're lucky I can't leap up to get you!"

    What a magical place, including the drive in that you captured.

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    1. Yes they are just big cats in many ways. Every animal was waking up and emerging from their caves just after most everyone (but us) had cleared out. It was the funniest thing.

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  2. You don't need a telelens your photo's are great.
    Have a wonderful day Hoover

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  3. Never have been to the Desert Museum, the husband never has seen a live bear. Obviously I am going to have to right both those wrongs, soon.

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    1. Really fun place, with Saguaro National Park trails about 5 minutes up the road...

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  4. Absolutely love that place. We haven't been for many years now and this is giving me a hankering to take a trip out west. Great pics!

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    1. Good time to go, monsoonal rain this summer made everything look wonderful.

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  5. All photos are awesome, but i am most fascinated by the expanse of the desert like those 2 first shots. I might not be able to see them in this lifetime, so thank you very much.

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  6. Your photos & commentary are fabulous, Hoov! Loved to go along for the tour with you. Thank you very much!

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