The Living Desert Museum

above: California Fan Palms drape the entrance.

 

When my Cousin Greg mentioned he would like to take us all to a local museum in Palm Desert, I had visions of a building with mounted animal exhibits, dioramas, pictures and lots of literature to read. I didn’t expect The Living Desert Museum to be a zoo. Although, I guess I should have caught on to the “living” part.

 

 

 

left: Pronghorns

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

right: Cacti with a backdrop of Fall color.

 

 

 

So, I was pleasantly surprised when we walked through the gates to find that it was actually a zoo devoted to desert creatures around the globe as well as having a huge collection of desert plants including more species of cacti than I knew existed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The zoo was big enough to contain a large collection of plants and animals but small enough so that one could see everything in an afternoon without being rushed. The only thing we made a point to get to on time was the Giraffe feeding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we got there, the keeper shook a bucket of food pellets, a kind of “come and get it” call and one of the males meandered across its enclosure to the fence in front of us. I have never been to a zoo where you actually get to hand feed one of the animals but here, the keeper gave each one of us a pellet to give to the Giraffe. He bent his 19 foot tall frame over so that he could descend to a human level. Then, he stuck out his 19 inch long tongue so that we could place the pellet on it. He would then curl his tongue back into his mouth and start chewing. He was very gentle with his mildly damp sandpapery tongue and we all racked up a “first”- feeding a giraffe.

 

 

A desert seems like a dead place, a place where nothing could possibly survive. But, after walking through the museum, you realize that there is an incredible amount of life that flourishes in these seemingly uninhabitable places. Everything from tarantulas and snakes to larger mammals like camels and cattle were represented at the museum. Below are some more of the interesting creatures that call the desert – home.

 

 

 

 

left: Mexican Wolf (don’t you just want to pet him!)

 

 

 

 

 

right: Big Horn Sheep

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

left: African Wild Dogs

 

 

 

 

 

right: Grevy’s Zebra

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, the Dudes always find time to do some exploring of their own. The Big Dude tried to be a spider and the Lil’ Dude tried to be a Weaver Bird.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also saw some very unusual birds.

 

below: Yellow Billed Stork                       below: Grey Crowned Crane

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are a couple of my favorites.

 

below: Fennec Fox                                    below: Serval

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Always the entertainer, the Lil’ Dude tries out the drums in the African Village.

 

 

Last but not least – an Ostrich who looks like he owns the mountains.

 

 

A walk through the Living Desert Museum convinced me that the desert is very much alive.

 

above: The crew- Kailash, David, Kaden, Uncle Ren, Aunt Deetsie, Amah, Greg and Cindy

 

“The desert holds a perfect and natural balance between lifelessness and living vibrancy” Edward Abbey