Critters with Four Feet and one Tail

The desert has a variety of creatures

A friend and I were driving down a dirt farm road when we saw what appeared to be a large stick on the road ahead of us. As we approached it we saw that the "stick" was moving and I yelled, "Gila Monster". We jumped out of the car to get closer in order to observe and to take photos. Gila Monsters are the only venomous lizard native to the United States. They are stout, slow-moving reptiles that are just under two feet in length. The Desert Museum has a Gila Monster Fact Sheet.

Each bump on the Gila Monster is a small bone under the scale. Those sharp claws help the Gila Monster dig burrows for shelter, dig out prey, and help them to climb in search of prey or to escape from threats.

As the weather has been cooling, we've spotted more Coyotes active in the farm fields. Even at a distance, one Coyote paused to see what we were up to. Coyotes are intelligent and very adaptable. Their historic range was the western two-thirds of the United States but they have now spread to every state on the continent. You can watch an active map of their range expansion at this site.

Coyotes are canines, related to domestic dogs, wolves, foxes, and jackals. They have pointed ears, a slender muzzle, long legs, and a bushy tail. The Coyote below was crossing a recently harvested field of alfalfa. I was impressed with how tall the (palmer amaranth) plants in the rows between the fields have grown.

The tall 'weeds' between each field allows for coverage for birds and animals in the fields. This large Mule Deer buck is three to four feet tall at the shoulder. It was standing, seemingly hidden behind a row of vegetation on a berm. As the days have grown shorter and cooler, we have begun seeing more deer along with more coyotes.

Another common desert animal with four feet and one tail is the Javelina. I came across a small herd of them one morning. One-by-one, they ran across an open area. Only one Javelina stopped to converse with another, and then they both ran off.

The Desert Museum has more facts on Javelinas to share. Javelinas look similar to pigs but they are not pigs, having separated over 40 million years ago and evolved ever since. The range map for Javelinas tells us where they can be found in the Western Hemisphere.

In my neighborhood, we hear Coyotes howling at night. Often they leave us 'presents' on the driveway. Back on the farm, the Coyotes also do what they do when nature calls.

Coyotes, Javelina, Gila Monsters and Mule Deer are all representative of the four-legged animals which call the Sonoran Desert home.