December 12, 2013 Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

Right down the road from our campsite at Gilbert Ray Campground in Tucson Mountain Park 01-P1030448 02-P1030496was the renowned Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.  We were told by many people we met along the way that we had to go to this museum.  It is listed as the top attraction in the Tucson area, one of the top 10 museums in the world, and one of the top 10 U.S. Public Gardens.  03-20131212_150204 04-P1030514

We got an early start for what we thought would be a three hour visit.  Six hours later we headed back home.  This is a phenomenal museum, though I think a more exact name would be the Arizona-Sonora Desert Zoo because the content is outdoors and alive.  It showcases the Sonoran Desert which is the lushest desert on earth.  Located in the middle of the desert, it is on 21 acres with 2 miles of walking paths, and has 230 animal species, 1200 types of plants with 56,000 individual species.  It is home to one of the world’s most comprehensive regional mineral collections.  The museum has a zoo, botanical garden,

Agave plant which is used to make tequila

Agave plant which is used to make tequila

and art gallery, a natural history museum, an aquarium, and an aviary. 18-P1030509

Hummingbird

Hummingbird

Hummingbird

Hummingbird

Our favorite part of the museum was the Raptor Free Flight where they released birds in the desert and they were trained to fly to trainers, usually close enough over our heads that we could feel the brush of air from their wings.  One of them came close enough to brush the top of Bill’s hat.  They had a morning and afternoon show, and we were so impressed with the morning show that we made a point to return for the afternoon performance since they were featuring different birds at each show. 24-P1030473 25-P1030476 26-P1030482 27-P1030493 28-P1030495

29-P1030485Owl

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32-P1030451Harris Hawk

 

33-P10305363 of 5 Harris Hawks flying as a family during the program

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We loved walking in the desert on a warm day and seeing all the beautiful animals and plants.

07-P1030454Mountain lion

 

06-P1030452Mountain lion

 

09-P1030459Mexican wolf….today fewer than 50 Mexican wolves remain in the wild

 

10-20131212_142611Sleeping javelinas

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17-P1030506Desert Bighorn Sheep

 

15-P1030501Coati

 

22-P1030520Today some are found in the wild of Arizona…they are grassland squirrels…we noticed his feet are like fingers

 

23-P1030519Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs..once lived on approximately 1 million acres in Arizona but were gone by 1930’s

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I would like to copy the mission statement of the museum because I feel this best describes our feelings about our 3 days camping in the desert:  “The mission of the Sonora-Desert Museum is to inspire people to live in harmony with the natural world by fostering love, appreciation, and understanding of the Sonoran Desert.”

This visit ended our stay in the desert and in the Tucson area.  We truly loved Tucson and vowed to return here again someday.

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