Desert Museum: The Fauna

As I've mentioned, we're currently in Arizona for a week. Yesterday Husband and I took my parents with us to visit the Desert Museum, to the west of Tucson. None of us had ever been there before, so it was all new discovery for us. What a wonderful afternoon we had!

The first stop was the snake and wildflower house. Interesting combination, eh? I told my mom I needed the wildflowers to calm my heart after viewing the snakes. The above snake is the "hypomelanistic western diamondback." According to the tag, the light color is due to a lack of pigment in this snake. It also lacks the light and dark banding pattern just before the rattle, which is typical of other rattlesnakes.
A little further on, we came upon a window into the perch of the mountain lion. This one was calmly looking out over the domain, with folk down below looking up at him.
The view from below was lovely; you can see the window behind him through which we were able to look out over the lion's ears.
What a gorgeous animal! This living museum is set up really beautifully so that families can get around easily and get a sense of what the wildlife and plants in Arizona are like.
Prairie dogs! These little guys were so cute. A visitor from Colorado was standing nearby and remarked that the prairie dogs in this exhibit were the fattest he'd ever seen in his life--and he's observed them in Colorado as well. I'd have to agree with him; our Washington prairie dogs are skinnier, too.
Of course, these guys usually have to run pretty fast because of all the predators that are after them. The prairie dogs in the Desert Museum are quite protected from the myriad of animals that are out to get them in their typical habitat.
We saw some ocelots, but they were hidden in a dark crack of the rock where they hang out at the Desert Museum, so they didn't show up too well in my picture taking. But then we turned around and saw several employees working with this Harris hawk. There was one where we were, and two more way down the hill in various spots among the cacti. One would whistle, and the hawk took off, displaying his impressive wingspread and beautiful form as he soared in to perch on a gloved hand.
I think this was the first time I saw a beaver up close. A nice thing about the Desert Museum is that they've set up the habitats so that you can watch the animals from above, and from below as well. This beaver was having a great time swimming around and practically performing for the people looking through the glass into the water where he wheeled and turned in front of them. I love that flat tail. It reminded me of a picture book by Harry Baerg called "Benny the Beaver," a book I loved to read as a child.
The river otter was in quite a different mood from the beaver. He was curled up for a nap, looking quite comfortable.
A little later, from the window into his pool, we watched the otter swim around, seemingly grazing for something on the far side of the pool. He didn't come over and mug for the cameras like the beaver did, though.