Animals on the Desert

There are lots of animals on our high desert mesa as well as plants. Rabbits are what are usually seen the most. There are both jack rabbits and cottontails. The jack rabbits have such long legs and can run very fast. Some of them look as tall as a medium size dog when they are running. Jack rabbits are actually hares with their young born fully furred and with their eyes open. They make a nest like area under a well shaded bush. The desert cottontails prefer as much protection as possible from predators having babies under rocks, in abandoned prairie dog holes, or a shed or building if they can find one. Cottontails are born with eyes closed and no fur. Coyotes are the main predator of rabbits. You may never see a coyote on our desert but with a few hours spent out at night you will probably hear them. Coyote howling is eerie, spooky, causing shivers to run up and down their spines to some people while others say it reminds them that there is still wildlife and wild country even this close to towns. I think it can be a cool, thrilling sound but at the same time can be very similar to a pack of dogs. Coyotes aren’t that big usually about 45 to 50 pounds at most. They don’t just eat rabbits, but help keep down the amazingly large amount of mice and rats that live in the desert – kangaroo rats, field mice, pack rats, and prairie dogs are just a few, plus there are several types of ground squirrels.

There is a large ground squirrel that would remind you of a tree squirrel, and there is the tiny Harris ground squirrel that looks like a chipmunk but with a lighter coat and stripes.
I remember one time when Lee and I had driven out across the mesa to get away for an hour or so as we frequently did. We drove up on a little rise with a good view to the west and watched the sun set. Lee turned the radio on in our old Scout and we sat listening to a few songs as the trees, rock and sand faded waiting for the stars to shine. In that hazy light of dusk we both spotted a coyote sneaking up on us. Neither of us spoke and we sat perfectly still waiting to see what it would do. It came almost up to the truck, nose up and smelling, and ears cocked as if listening while at the same time it was trembling with fear and ready to run at the least movement or sound from us. After a few more moments it simply turned and disappeared into the dark. The only thing we could figure that would have caused it to act like that was that it couldn’t figure out what the music was. Most coyotes are familiar enough with trucks and cars to ignore them but the music may have intrigued it.


There used to be a small herd of antelope that roamed across the desert and a couple of times we saw a deer. Badgers used to be common and once we saw a raccoon. Several times we saw porcupines but kept our distance from them. We have seen bear tracks. Once we had Dustin and our nephew, JJ out and saw some really large bear tracks wondering down an arroyo. Several times bears have wondered into Rio Rancho and had to be tranquilized and moved to a better place. Once a cougar was in someone’s backyard. I have never seen a bear, or cougar or bobcat on the desert but have seen them in the mountains. Last year there was a photo taken of a bobcat up a power pole. A few years ago a young bear managed to get into downtown Rio Rancho and walked into a doctor’s office causing a quick evacuation of everyone there. Someone got video on a cell phone of this one before Fish and Game was able to get there and tranquilize it and take it some place better for a bear. http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2007/may/18/bear-captured-rio-rancho/


We see lots of hawks, owls, and on occasion an eagle and a few buzzards. Our desert seems to almost be on a migration flyway for birds. We see lots more birds in the winter than in the heat of summer. Curved bill thrush, mockingbirds, sparrows,

roadrunners, and a few other birds are here year round. When we first moved to Rio Rancho hunting doves and quail on the desert was common but as the town grew and a few people moved onto the desert it was stopped as so many would be hunters didn’t have enough since not to shoot toward houses and people.
The roadrunner is our state bird and is a very strange bird in my opinion. They are fairly common and can be seen just about anywhere in town and out on the desert but I have never seen them in the mountainous areas. They run more than they fly, only seeming to be able to fly a short distance before dropping to the ground and running again. They probably weigh several pounds and are up to 18 inches high at their full height. As well as long legs, a long body and tail they have a long, sharp bill that I have heard they can use viciously if caught. As much as you see them running along the roads and highways I have very seldom seen dead ones that look like they have been hit by cars. Roadrunners are a kind of predator bird eating lots of mice, rats, other birds, lizards, and yes, they do eat snakes including rattlesnakes. Once I watched a roadrunner jump from branch to branch as if climbing stairs to get to the top of one of the spruce trees in our front yard that were

by then about twenty feet tall. There were several sparrow nests in the top and the sparrows were going crazy trying to drive off the predator bird as it inched its way toward their nests. Not wanting to watch the roadrunner eat the baby birds that I knew were in the nest I opened the door and walked into the yard and under the tree and asked the bird what it was doing. It took off and glided back down to the street, ran a few yards and turned and looked at me with a mad expression on its face. I knew we had too many sparrows and it was only natural for the roadrunner to eat some, and the bird probably had babies of its own it was trying to feed but I just couldn’t watch the mayhem that day. When we moved farther west onto the desert just out of Rio Rancho town limits, we didn’t see as many roadrunners as I would have thought but do see them more in the winter. One roadrunner learned there was water in the heated water buckets for the horses. Another spent a night in our hay shed once when it apparently got accidentally locked in. It was glad to get out the next day. It is possible it was after the sparrows that roost in there and nest there in the summer, much against my wishes.
Recently I let all three of our black cats, Jade, Murphy, and Wiley, out for their morning run about 8 am. As I watched they started stalking a roadrunner that I hadn’t seen when I let them out. The big bird was sitting on a stack of three cinderblocks with a piece of plywood on them that we use to sit our little grill on when we fix hamburgers. As the cats sneaked closer the bird decided to fly up into a small cherry tree nearby. I thought about grabbing the camera but before I could the

bird flew down and took off at a run up through the horse pen that attaches to our backyard. Wiley, one year old and the youngest of the cats we have now, took off after the bird at a dead run. I only got to see them for a second before they were out of sight but it was like watching an old cartoon of the Roadrunner and the Coyote only Wiley was playing the part of the Coyote. No, he didn’t have any better luck catching the roadrunner than the Coyote ever does. The cat chased the bird across the horse pen, through the fence and across the road. Thankfully there were no cars coming when they crossed it. About a half hour later Wiley came home, wanted into the house, and kind of flopped down on the floor as if he was very tired and degusted after his fast but futal experience at chasing a roadrunner. I think it may have been the first roadrunner he had ever seen as we don’t let him out very much.
There are lots of reptiles on the desert. I really like lizards and horn toads, but don’t care for snakes even though I know they are necessary to help keep down the rodent population. There are also lots of odd insects. Mostly what are seen are scorpions, tarantula, centipedes, and ants. All insects seem to have a stinger attached to them but usually if you leave them alone they will leave you alone.