New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-07-23
STRANGE DESERT LIFE
Wonderful Plants and Animals OF
Lower California.
THE CACTUS'S MANY FORMS
"A Forest That Actually Travels
and Animals That Never
Took a Drink.

Lower California, combined with alterra-
lions of long continued drouths and heavy
rains has resulted in the development or
the richest and most extraordinary desert
fora in the world says E. w. Nelson IN
..The National Geographic Magazine
"Cactuses of many kinds abound. vary
ing from giants standing with massive
nuted trunks fifty 20 sixty feet tall TO
little struggling -stemmed species too weak
10 hold themselves upright. The fruit OF
nanv Of these cactuses is edible and much
sought for by birds and mammals. They
were once one Of the main crops OF the
Indians who lived in this arid region. Inc
cactus forests often form thorny Jungles
through which 1t is impossible to pass
"After months among these thorny plants
VIC supposed we had seen them in all their
eccentric variations of form. One morn
ing. however while crossing the Llano oe
Yrais, in front of Magdalena Bay l rode
out from a dense growth of bushes into
an omen area and pulled up my horse IN
amazement at sight of the most extraor-
dinary of them all Before me was
great bed of the creeping devil cactus
which appeared like swarm OF giganuo
caterpillars creeping In all directions'
These plants actually travel away from
the common centre Of the group, and saw
many single sections twenty or thr'!
wards away from the others Inc pal'
of the stem resting on the ground sehos
down rootlets. and the older stems die IN
the rear at about the same rate as they
grow in front. so they slowly move AVA
from the colony across the mats Wnele
they live.
Another most remarkable plant is the
elephant wood Neatchia discolor)' "hicn
like the cirlo, is confined TO the mioo'e
parts of the peninsu!ar but occurs az
on Cedros Island. II is q curious dropsicdi-
appearing tree. from three 10 SIX iee'
high with trunk measuring a FOOT OF
,wo IN diameter at the base and sendlns
on, thick. wide-spreadng. contorted
branches Both trunk and branches are
covered with a smooth-skinned bark lying
in thick folds and curves. as though inueh
swollen.
"As in similar arid areas of the extreme
southwestern United States, the plains Oh
Lower California ordinarily abound VIII"
.,,.u desar. mammals such as raooits'
nocLet mice. kangaroo rats and otners'
During long continued dry perioos vast
,,,ors or those small mammals perish
Of starvation, owing TO the failure Vi 'ne
necessary crops Of succulent ana seeu-
hearing heritage: but after two or three
,.s.rs Of renewed rainfall and abundant
,,ert life the desert again swarms with
countless numbers Of these small foik'
"a large number of the smaller KINDS
IF desert mammals never drink water.
r,bev live and thrive on dry SEEDS ana
scraps of vegetation in places where 'ie
heat and aridity are excessive "Nhou.
ever touching their lips 20 water ana II
has even been found impossible TO teach
some of them to take water in captlVity' |
Anparently they never know thirst or the
delight of quenching 1t.
"J.arge desert mammals, such as rabpits |
and deer, also obtain sufficient mois'ure
nv eating the succulent parts Oh certain
plants they know how to find
II have come repeatedly to solitary wat
or holes, in the hottest weather. long
march from any other water, ana iouho
the loose earth about their borders undis-
turbed by tracks except those OF piros'
while within a few rods were tracks where
wandering deer and rabbits had fed day
after day with absolute indifference TO the
proximity Of water. The ability to do
without water on the desert appears 10
he peculiar to rodents and other herbivo-
rous mammals. since we found no signs of
carniyorous species far from accessible
water.
THE first mountain sheep discovered in
America were those recorded In the early
writings of the Spanish missionaries from
lover California There are numerous
species of mountain sheep in the noun
tsins in the northern part OF the peninsula
Here the summer temperatures are COM
monty much more than 100 degrees
Fahrenheit in the shade, and the ARD
mountain slopes have a scanty growth OF
cactuses. yuccas, fouquieras and other
strictly desert plants. These sheep com
monty go to water when available In the
hot. dry summers, but are able to exist
for considerable periods, even In hot wealth
or. on the moisture obtained from the
heshy visnaga cactus. the tender flowers
and flower stalks of agaves and yuccas
and from other water-storing desert plants.
I'm addition to the mammals already
mentioned wildcats, badgers, spotted
skunks raccoons, coyotes and kind Of
fox make their homes on the desert.
The spotted skunk. or hydrophobia
skunk as 1t Is commonly called, Is most
abundant In the extreme southern end OK
the peninsula, where II Is looked upon with
fear and adherence. owing TO its habit or
hitting people in the face while they are
sleeping on the ground and the reputed
commonly resulting death of the victim by
rabies The fear of these animals extends
throughout the peninsula. and we were
warned of the danger from them when We
were preparing for the trip.
ION San Martin Island. near San Quintin.
in July. We found many cormorants breed
ing. with some families Of young in the
nests While We wandered over the island
We were accompanied by low flying es-
cort of Western gulls
whenever a cormorant alarmed by our
approach. flew away. the gulls swooped
down on the exposed eggs and ate them at
once: or. II We were too near. each gun
transfxed an egg on It's beak and flew away.
draining the contents as II went On two
occasions I saw gulls alight on nests and
calmly pick UP young cormorants weighing
FIVE or six ounces each. and swallow them
entire. the helpless victims being swallowed
head foremost, their feet waving despair
ingly from the gulls' widely spread beaks
as they disappeared
while at La Grulla meadow. in the San
Pedro Martir Mountains. we were fortunate
enough to secure our first California condor.
q huge bird. sometimes measuring nearly
eleven feet across us outspread wings. We
afterward saw others and had most en-
ioyable experience watching dozen or
more of them in superb flight as they swept
back and forth over the pine forest or
scared I'D and disappeared In the blue sky.
lf..,to on a