Nature News

A great horned owl uses huge eyes and silent feathers to hunt at night.

Imagine hearing a mouse moving under leaves from across a playground! That’s one of an owl’s amazing superpowers.

Try It!  Have a friend crumple paper while you close your eyes.  Can you point to where the sound came from?  Owls use their hearing even better than you can!

A duck has webbed feet and waterproof feathers for life in the water

An Arctic fox stays warm with thick fur and changes color to blend into its habitat.

A jackrabbit uses its giant ears to release heat and stay cool in the desert.

Try being an Adaptation Detective! Look for an animal and ask yourself:

What helps it find food?

What helps it stay safe?

What helps it survive where it lives?

Our Rocky Mountain mule deer are known for their large mule-like ears with acute hearing, one of their chief defenses along with eyesight, camouflage, and running. They favor foothills, brush canyons, and deserts feeding on a variety of grasses, mesquite, and seeds. They will occasionally feed on moonlit nights.

White-tailed deer live at higher elevations in the mountains. In the Americas, it is the most widely-distributed wild ungulate. It has a characteristic white underside to its tail which it raises when alarmed to warn the predator that it has been detected.

The Coues deer (pronounced “Cows” not “Cooz”) are called elfin deer, small, standing 32-34 inches at the shoulder, seldom exceeding 100 lbs. They are a subspecies of white-tailed deer. They favor elevations of 3500 to 9000 ft. Their large ears help to dissipate heat during hot summer months. Their breeding is timed to the monsoons so that June-born fawns have plenty of nutritious vegetation growth.

The pronghorn lives on open plains and grasslands. Both sexes have forked horns which are shed each year. Their range is primarily in the north-central portion of AZ with small scattered herds in SE and SW AZ. The Sonoran pronghorn in SW AZ is considered endangered. They are the second-fastest land mammal (the cheetah is #1) with top sustained speeds up to 60 mph. To detect predators they rely on their excellent vision up to 4 miles due to large eyes and 360-degree peripheral field of vision. They are reluctant to jump and will crawl under fences.

Bighorn sheep favor rocky desert mountain ranges, canyons, and precipitous slopes and cliffs to escape predators. They feed on grasses, mesquite, and agave. They will kick off the top of barrel cactus or butt horns against saguaros to get at tender moist flesh. Both sexes have horns, the male’s are curled and larger.

The javelina resembles a small boar, weighing about 40-50 lbs. They have poor eyesight, an acute sense of smell, and long sharp canines (javelin/spear for which they are named). Not many predators other than mountain lions will attack an adult javelina. Babies do fall prey to smaller predators. All members of a herd have a communal smell. They are found throughout AZ favoring saguaro-palo verde areas feeding on mixed shrubs, cacti, tubers, and green vegetation. Twins births are common and babies are called “reds” due to their color.

Elk stand up to 4-5 feet at the shoulder and can weigh up to 1100 lbs. Only the males grow antlers which can grow up to 4 ft above their head. They can run 30-40 mph. They are typically found in woodlands such as coniferous, aspen, and pinon-juniper forests. They feed on grasses, woody growths and even mushrooms. They form social herds run by a single female. In AZ they are commonly found in the White Mountains, Mogollon Rim, and Kaibab Forest.