Wild Desert Babies

Personal photos and recollections

Agave at sunset — personal photo

This time of year God often blesses us to see several kinds of wild desert babies in my home town. Because now it is hot and dry, many of us have water and sometimes food out for our wild neighbors.

The monsoon rains begin starting early to mid July and produce much more wild food. Water will not be as scarce. However, because they become used to coming to my yard for water and birdseed, I will probably continue to see quite a variety of wild desert dwellers.

We had a few days of light rain, a couple of weeks ago. As a result, more babies than usual come by this year.

Among the birds, young quail and doves seem to predominate. Below please enjoy photos of baby Gambol’s Quail.

Baby quail with their parents and by themselves — personal photos

Below you will see a newly fledged Mourning Dove sitting on the ground in dappled sunlight and shade:

Newly fledged Mourning Dove, tired from the first flight — personal photo

Of course, other kinds of birds have fledglings flying around, like the young Curved-bill Thrasher below. He or she begged from one or the other parent for a few days before learning how to find food:

Fledgling Curved-billed Thrasher begging from parent — personal photo

Young mammals also wander through. God blessed me to watch several baby mammals right in my own yard. The photo below shows a baby Javelina with her or his mama. They came close to my back porch, looking for birdseed that falls from my bird feeder:

Baby Javelina and mother — personal photo

Several days later I saw a young mule deer whose coat still carried the spots of a fawn. This young deer came up onto my back porch and peered in my plate glass door with his or her forehead pressed against the glass. In the photo below you can see the bottom of the rolling shutter that I close to keep the summer heat outside:

Mule Deer fawn on my back porch — personal photo

In this photo a quite young Antelope Ground Squirrel’s bristling tail and slightly smaller size distinguishes it from an older ground squirrel as the two greet each other by touching noses:

These ground squirrels often come up onto my back porch to cool off in the shade.

Baby Desert Cotton-tailed Rabbits also come to feed on fallen birdseed:

Desert Cotton-tailed Rabbit — personal photo

Last year, a mother Wood Rat, also known as a Pack Rat, nursed her baby up against the cool plate glass door that goes from my bedroom out onto the back porch. I think the baby had finished nursing in this picture:

Mother and baby Wood Rat — personal photo

A young Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake hid itself under a small bush way too close to my back porch. My very kind next door neighbor removed him or her for me and carried it down to the dry wash (a little creek bed without water) behind our houses:

A young Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake—personal photo

From these photos and descriptions you can see that there are many desert babies that come quite close to my home. Their presence blesses my life with both company and the reminder that all of God’s creatures are special individuals.

I hope you have enjoyed this story. If you have, you might also enjoy these:

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