Before you go:
If your new to the area and plan on taking
a trip out to the desert, ensure that you have plenty of water on hand.
Not just for personal consumption, but also for your vehicle. The desert
can kill quickly in the summer months
without water. So drink as much as you can before departing and while out
on the trail, even when you don't feel
thirstyyou should throw back a couple
swallows. A few other good items to have are, a compass, a signal mirror,
flares, first aid kit, a pocket knife, and a cell phone.
-Desert
Dweller of the month-
(April)
The Western Banded Gecko
Banded Geckos
are abundant in the deserts, occupying a wide range of habitats.
When protecting
its territory against other males, or when captured, they emit a squeak
or chirp.
The Western
Banded Gecko, like other geckos, is nocturnal. It avoids the heat of the
day by
hiding under
logs, debris and within moist rock crevices. Geckos frequent rodent burrows
where they
hunt insects, spiders, baby scorpions and other small arthropods.
When threatened,
geckos stand tall on their legs and wave their tail over their backs.
Geckos store
fat in their tails, which like most desert lizards break away
then grows
back. Because geckos maintain a reduced metabolism at low temperatures,
their tail
fat can sustain them for up to 9 months. Because the Western Banded
Gecko restricts
its activities to nights, it is often seen,
silhouetted
against the black asphalt of desert roads.
Did
you know??
Barrel
Cactus
Many people believe
the barrel cactus is filled with water. Not true.
It is filled by
a slimy alkaline juice. It is a member of the Cactus Family and is also
known
as Arizona barrel
cactus, candy barrel cactus, fishhook barrel and compass barrel.
Blooms from July
through September. Flowers are shades of orange to yellow to reddish
and are cup-shaped.
Flowering is followed by yellow, barrel-shaped, scaly fruit.
Fruits are eaten
by deer and rodents. Bees are attracted to the plant's flowers.
Cactus candy is
made from plant's pulp. Found at elevations between 1,000 and 4,000'.
Native Americans
used its sharp, hooked spines as fishhooks. A good way to differentiate
a barrel cactus
from a young saguaro
cactus, is to look at the spines; the saguaro's are straight not hooked.
Grows faster on
its shady side causing it to lean in a southerly direction, hence the name
"compass cactus."
Offroad Safety
Tip
Everyone who
plans on taking it offroad should have at least some recovery gear
onboard. A
20' web strap and a come-a-long will be better than nothing at all.
If you get
hung up in the sand you can tie off your vehicle and come-a-long and
bury your spare
tire in the sand a few feet in front or behind the vehicle
from max length.
It takes a lot of effort and some time, you can place large
rocks on top
of the spare once its burried if you notice it starting to slip.
This will move
your vehicle about 4-5 feet and ithelps to know.
Especially
when there are no trees around to tie off too.
Another great
Idea
(emergency field welding)
By bringing along an extra battery, your jumper cables, and
some low temp welding rods. You have the means
of welding breaks in your vehicles suspension. Run the batteries
"you will need to remove your primary battery
from your vehicle" in series "you will also need some very low
guage wire about 2' long". Connect + to - between
between the two batteries, put the + & - clamps of the jumper
cables to the batteries and, put the rod on the +
clamp at the free end of the cable. Then clamp the - free clamp
to the frame of the vehicle. Thats it,
your ready to start welding. the rods tend to stick so use quick
taps for your bead
"Under
Construction"
