It’s not easy to survive the harsh climate of our desert. Yet an amazing variety of animals have adapted to this inhospitable place, making it great for kids who love learning about wildlife. From birds and bats flittin’ high in the sky to serpents slitherin’ on the sand, there are all sorts of desert critters. “People don’t realize that the Sonoran Desert is so rich in animal and plant life,” says Robin Kropp, education specialist with the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. “It’s not like the Sahara—we’re a tropical desert. A lot of our plants and animals have their origins in the tropics (south of here),” she explains.

Kropp says this is a great time to get to know nature—spring is here, and Earth Day is April 22. “There are so many beautiful places right now where the flowers are flowering and streams are flowing. You see a lot of things when there’s water for the animals,” she points out.

As things warm up, lizards, snakes, insects, spiders and scorpions are out and about. “We’re so lucky to live in this state,” Kropp says. “Get out and hike. We have tons of public spaces that are great for getting out and looking for stuff.”

Just keep an eye on where you step and where you’re reaching!

Of course, the Desert Museum is a fantastic place to learn about the desert and see animals that you’d probably miss on a hike. If you can’t get out on the trail, remember that you, too, live in the desert. “Start with your own backyard,” Kropp suggests. “Sometimes in the city you forget that you live in a desert, but the desert is still there. So look at the birds and the butterflies and the lizards. Animals have adapted to living in the city.”

If you’re lucky enough to live in the foothills, you can see more desert critters like rabbits, squirrels, foxes, javelina, coyotes and even bobcats!

To help you tune in to the wildlife that’s around, there are terrific books and, of course, the Internet. “We have a really great kids Web site at www.DesertMuseum.org. It has got some really good kid pages and simple fact sheets about a lot animals,” Kropp says.

Out in the desert, you’ll likely see lots of young birds and mammals. “This is a really active breeding season for them,” Kropp explains. She reminds you to wear a hat, a pair of sturdy, closed-toe shoes and sunscreen. Pack water bottles, snacks and a cell phone. Always go with an adult, and tell others where you’re headed. To get you started, here are poems about a few of Boomer Bear’s favorite desert dwellers!

Desert Head Banger

The bighorn is no domestic sheep, waiting to be shorn. It’s king of the mountain with a MAJESTIC, spiral horn.

Reintroduced to the Sonoran Desert ‘cause their numbers were in a slump, it’s about the size of a mule deer, with a white muzzle, belly and rump.

Females have horns, but male horns grow larger. These 40-pound curls make rams super chargers.

Bighorns eat grasses, leaves, cactus fruits and other plants. In the shade they stay chewing cud (they are ruminants).

A bighorn nimbly climbs to escape creatures that view it as prey. It can drink 2 gallons and then store water in its stomach day after day.

Lurker in the Sand

It needs no costume for Halloween— bands of black and orange are clearly seen. With bumpy skin and a venomous grin the gila monster has few friends!

Twenty inches long and weighing 3 to 5 pounds the lizard flicks its forked tongue as it patrols the ground. Picking up scents of a tasty rat, bug, bird or frog, it chomps its prey like a reptilian bulldog.

To keep its cool, the gila monster seeks the shade— of a bush, under rocks or in a BURROW that it made. With prickly claws on powerful legs, it digs its shelter and it digs up eggs.

With its heavy body and wicked hiss, a gila monster is really hard to miss. It lives up to 35 years and is a protected species. In fact, humans are the monster’s only enemies!

Wily Wildcat

This wildcat wants to be alone. No, it’s not a snob! It’s just a solitary cat, whose tail ends in a bob.

About 30 pounds is as big as a bobcat gets. Some may be smaller, but don’t mistake them for pets.

Agility and feline grace mark this elusive creature, but tufted cheeks and small black spots are its very best known feature.

It marks its terrain with scat and pee so other cats won’t grab it. It eats all meat: lizards, snakes, birds and its favorite food—rabbit.

Long legs, large paws and wiry muscles let it jump high in the air. Hollow logs, thickets, brush or caves provide a cozy lair.

From Canada to Mexico and in between it roams; mountains, canyons, even suburbs this adaptable cat can call home.

A Boring Bug

A dark rider of muggy, midsummer nights, the palo verde root borer is a horrible sight.

It doesn’t make friends, even when little and soft, ‘cause it devours tender tree roots and make palo verdes die off.

Its armored body and giant jaw look quite strong. Even as a grub, it’s 5 inches long!

For three to four years, it lives underground, until it emerges from its hole to take a look around.

As a scary lookin’ adult, it has to stick with its kind, ’cause someone like itself is the only friend it will find.

Clattering on your porch or flying through the air more often than not it’ll land in your hair.

Precious Pollinator

The lesser long-nosed bat searches for flowers sweet, not looking for a sniff, but for a fruit or nectar treat. Feeding on night-blooming cacti, like saguaro, agave and organ pipe, it migrates long distances seeking fresh blooms and fruit that’s ripe.

From Central America to Baja, to the Southwest states it ranges. Owls, bobcats and snakes are some of its IMMINENT dangers. Its body’s just 3 inches, with a 14-inch wingspan. Moved to the endangered species list, it has lost habitat to man.

It uses caves and mines to shelter its troops. In the spring, baby bats join in with the group. When this mammal’s maternity colony is set up each fertile female will give birth to one pup.

Jolly Green Giant

With a clap of thunder and a howling wind our summer monsoons every year begin. Then the thirsty desert springs to life and you’ll hear the sound of the mighty Sonoran desert toad jumpin’ all around!

Weighing over 2 pounds and bigger than your hand, it’s the biggest toad that you can find in this desert land. Munch, munch, munch—it hunts incessantly. Insects, spiders, mice and more it eats voraciously.

Females lay up to 8,000 eggs in long strings of jelly. A few days later, tadpoles wriggle free and begin to feed on algae. But the brownish tadpoles aren’t tadpoles for long. Within a month their legs sprout out and their tails are long gone!

Behind its eyes and on its legs and back are poison sacs which make Sonoran desert toads deadly snacks. So from May to September, if you find a toad at your home, remember you and your pet should just leave it alone!