The Great Horned Owl

March 7, 2011 by taha 

AT Take A Hike Arizona, we like to keep things fun and light-hearted and we love when children (especially our own) show a growing interest in our beautiful desert! Well, my 10 year old daughter actually wrote this report about the beautiful Great Horned Owls that we have here in our desert. I thought she did a great job of keeping it simple and interesting. So, I wanted to share it with you. If you have any questions or comments about anything, please feel free to post comments below and if you like what you read, let us know that too. I’m sure my daughter would love to hear from you!

The Great Horned Owl

         The Great Horned Owl is one of twenty types of owls living in North America.  This report will tell about what the owl looks like, where it lives, what it eats and drinks, and will also give you some interesting facts about it. I found this bird to be fascinating and I hope you will too.

          The Great Horned Owl is brown and gray. It has big yellow eyes, a white throat, two feathery horns on top of its head called tufts, and gold colored disks made from feathers that frame its face. The owl has four powerful toes with very sharp claws called talons. The Great Horned Owl is one of the biggest types of owls and grows to be as big as two feet tall with a 3 ½ foot wingspan.

          Like many animals, the Great Horned Owl drinks only water. It eats small mammals, birds, small reptiles, and insects. It does not eat plants. It is purely a meat eater, in other words, a carnivore. The owl eats its prey whole.  However, the owl cannot digest all of the parts of its prey such as the fur, bones, feathers and teeth.  So it ends up spitting these parts it cannot digest back out. These parts that are spit back out are owl pellets.

          Great Horned Owls are common in both North and South America. You can find them in deserts, mountains, woodlands, canyons, near water, and in cities and suburbs. Usually these owls use the old nests of hawks, crows, ravens and other birds.  It will also use existing holes found in cactus, trees and rock cliffs as its home.

          The Great Horned Owl has excellent hearing. It is able to hear a mouse moving beneath a foot of snow!  The owl is sometimes called a cat owl because of the tufts on its head. But, the tufts on its head are not ears at all!  Its ears are actually holes found on the side of its head.  What’s really interesting is that one of the owl’s ears is set higher than the other.  By moving its head to equalize sound, the owl can align the source of the sound with its line of vision.

          It also has excellent eye sight. However, its eyes do not move, they are fixed in place in its head. The owl has to move its head to see what is around it. Even though it looks like it can turn its head in a complete circle, the owl cannot turn its head all the way around. It can turn its head 180 degrees each way. The owl does not see in color, it only sees black, white and shades of gray. An owl’s eyes do not work as well during the day as they do at night.  They can see when there is hardly any light at all.

          A few more interesting facts about the owl is that it can fly silently. This helps it to hunt at night. Also, the Great Horned Owl is one of the very few animals in the world that will kill skunks and porcupines. This owl is so fearless that it is sometimes called the flying tiger.  Owls do not form flocks. They always hunt alone. Also, did you know that they rarely fly in rain because their feathers are not waterproof?

          There  are many more facts to learn about the Great Horned Owl.  This report provided some information on what the owl looks like, where it lives, and what it eats and drinks. I hope you enjoyed my report about the owl as much as I enjoyed learning about it myself.

  

Bibliography

 

Tekiela, Stan. Birds of Arizona. Adventure Publications, Inc., 2003

Bessesen, Brooke. Look Who Lives in the Desert!. Arizona Highways, 2004

Jackson, Tom. Owls. Grolier, 2008

Gray, Mary Taylor. Watchable Birds of the Southwest. Mountain Press Publishing  

          Company,1998

Filed under: Desert Wildlife
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Hiking with Gila Monsters!

August 5, 2010 by taha 

I am not a Gila Monster!

I am not a Gila Monster!

    Hiking in the Phoenix area can be an adventure for a number of reasons.  One of my favorite reasons is the opportunity to see the local wildlife firsthand.  I am always on the lookout for our little desert dwellers. But, the one I am still in search of is the elusive Gila Monster.  In all my years of hiking here in the Sonoran Desert, I’ve yet to spot one of these guys.
    Gila Monsters are only one of two venoumous lizards found in the world and is the largest native lizard in the United States.  The other venomous lizard is the Mexican Beaded Lizard found in the lower Sonoran Desert.  Not to be confused with the Chuckwalla, which it often is by visitors, the Gila Monster has hard, round, bead-like scales covering its face, legs and body and more often than not is pink and black in color (see photo below).  This lizard can reach over 1 1/2 feet in length!  That’s a big lizard and not one you want to mess with if you come across one.  The Gila Monster is a relatively slow moving animal and will not be overly aggressive unless threatened, say by someone who wants to pick it up!  The animal does not typically go out of its way to attack people.  But if you do decide to get too close it will bite and its bite is venomous. 
    No known deaths to humans have been recorded as a result of a Gila Monster bite, however, the bite is painful and may cause edema, bleeding, nausea and vomiting.  So best advice would be to take photos of it from a distance!If you or someone you know does get too close (while obviously harassing the animal) the lizard will bite in its own defense.  Unlike a rattlesnake bite, the Gila Monster transfers its venom through grooves found in its front teeth.  The venom is transferred to its victim as it chews with its front teeth.  Once the lizard latches on to you, it is very difficult to remove it.  However, contrary to popular myth, it will not clench onto you until it is dead nor does it need to be upside down to express its venom into the bite.  Another good reason to keep your distance from the Gila Monster is that it is protected by federal law. The Gila Monster was one of the first venonous animals in North America to be given legal protection and it is illegal to handle, collect, kill, or sell them in the U.S.
    Now that you know Gila Monsters do not conspire to hunt humans as prey, you may wonder about what it actually does eat.  Typically, these lizards will eat ground nesting bird eggs, baby rodents, rabbits, hares and small lizards.  A young lizard can eat up to 50% of its body weight at one meal, older lizards will consume approximately 35% of their body weight in one sitting.  They can also survive on about 4 -5 meals per year if necessary.  They spend about 95 % of their time in underground in their burrow, which is why it is such a treat to see one while hiking if you are so fortunate! 
    For those of us that would like to come across a Gila Monster during our desert adventures, the most likely time to do so would be during the Spring when they are most active.  They do, however, come out during all times of the year so you may be lucky enough to see one sunning itself outside its burrow on a sunny winter day as well.  You are also more likely to encounter this beautiful lizard in a rocky habitat on a bajada or hillside and in mountainous areas.  If you are fortunate enough to see one, send us a photo and let us know where you saw it! I’ve seen plenty of Gila Monsters in captivity, but I would love to see one in its native environment so let me know if you come across one!  Happy searching!  And remember, do not get too close, but take lots of photos!
    If you’d like to hike with us and search for a Gila Monster, just give us a call at 480-634-8488. We go out everyday, morning and evening during the summer and even if we don’t see a Gila Monster, we do get to see a lot of other great desert critters!
Now I'm a Gila Monster!

Now I'm a Gila Monster!

Filed under: Desert Wildlife, Hiking
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