Mammoth Takes to the Bats, Day 5

Sat 15 July

Went to Living Desert Zoo and Botanical Garden. It was great! Their animals were all rescues of some sort or another, which makes it really worthwhile. And all from the area, of course.There were a couple of animals we didn't see, but the Mexican wolf pack--two adults and two or three cubs--and the mountain lions (mating) made it all worth while. (We didn't watch them mating--they went off in a private spot for that. But the zoo attendant said they were going to.)

 Scott's Oriole in the garden outside the zoo

Female hummingbirds are unidentifiable

Javelina

It was pretty much empty of people, too. We met a few families here and there, walking the 1-1/4 mile circuit, but mostly no one. I only wish I'd paid more attention to the plant labels. The only one I learned for certain sure was the Desert Willow, which isn't a true Willow at all. The leaves look like willow tree leaves, but it has long pods and flowers that look like big mint flowers (tubular and lipped). There were several hummingbirds around the zoo too, and I've seen one at the park.

 
We've hit it lucky with the weather so far. Every afternoon thunderheads build up and block the sun from our heat-absorbing Mammoth. The air conditioner runs continuously from about noon until near sundown, and although it never gets down to our preferred temperature (75), it stays below 85. Or at the least, only jumps above 85 for an hour or so before evening. And of course, after sundown it gets cool enough for the air conditioner to work correctly.

We left camp again at six o'clock to see the bat flight out of Carlsbad Caverns. For such a deserted area, the number of people who turned out to sit on rock seats in an rock amphitheater facing a hole in the ground....

Surprising. Several hundred at the least. And they all stayed very quiet when the ranger started talking, and remained that way when bats started a maelstrom exodus and madhouse circle in front of the cave and off down the valley. It went on for a long, long time--according to the ranger, all night--but we only stayed for a half-hour or so. It was getting close to dark when we left, and after the one-hour drive back to camp, it was near bedtime when we returned. About 9:30, I believe. But of course the dogs needed to be walked and I wanted a bit of snack because I'd been showering at the lovely, lovely bathhouse instead of eating supper.

Just a note on that bathhouse, "Wow!" It must have been brand new. The showers had actual hot-and-cold levers instead of a single wheel, and there was a removable shower head. The water was nicely hot and you could use all you want to! Gorgeous.

Back to the bats...you may think that's a long way to drive just to sit on a rock and look at bats, and maybe it is. But the bats were there and I wanted to see them--just the know they were there, and just in case they all go away. I don't think scientists have a treatment for white-nose syndrome yet and I don't think they have any real clue on how to stop it from spreading, short of the impossible. The ranger said that estimates of the population back in the (1920s) were several million, and now it is just two-hundred thousand. That's still a lot of bats. I hope it's enough.