Favoritos de dalemeister

The Merriam’s Chipmunk, left side of photo, is trying to figure out the answer to the same question I am asking. Why is the ground squirrel chewing on the rim of the clay pot. I posted an observation yesterday of what I believe to be the same squirrel, doing the same chewing action on the same clay pot?

Friend sent me cactus photo from a recent hike for I D. Photo credit: L. Biewer.

Link to flowering Ferocactus cylindraceus nearby on 3-26-21 https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/72138246. The California Barrel Cactus is an excellent compass: it always slightly leans or points to the south-west direction.

California Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus cylindraceus) A.k.a. Desert Barrel Cactus. Bisnaga in Spanish. Native, perennial cactus that grows on gravelly fans or on rocky slopes of the Colorado Desert. Stem is taller than wide, spherical when young, becoming more columnar as it ages. It expands a bit after rain (like an accordion). Spines are erect and spreading, the longest generally recurved or hooked, generally +- red, sometimes yellow, and gray in age. Yellow flowers form a ring around the apex. Peak bloom time: April-May. Bighorn sheep have been observed knocking them over and chewing the inner parts.
The buds of the plant were a Cahuilla food source (preparation required). The body of the plant could be used as a cooking vessel after the top was cut off. Barrel Cacti were plentiful generations ago. 10 other uses by Indigenous people listed in http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=Ferocactus+cylindraceus

Temalpakh: Cahuilla Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants, Lowell John Bean and K. Saubel, Malki Museum Press, 1972, pp. 67-68.

A Database of Foods, Drugs, Dyes and Fibers of Native American Peoples, Derived from Plants http://naeb.brit.org/ http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=Ferocactus+cylindraceus

Anza-Borrego Desert Wildflowers (and more) https://borregowildflowers.org/?type=search&searchtype=S&family=&name=Ferocactus%20cylindraceus

Jepson eFlora https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=25765

Baja California Plant Field Guide, Jon P. Rebman, Norman C. Roberts, 3rd. ed, 2012, pp. 183-184.

Cacti, Agaves, and Yuccas of California and Nevada. Text and photos by Stephen Ingram. Cachuma Press, 2008. pp.82-83.

Cacti of California, E. Yale Dawson, 1966, 3rd printing 1975, pp. 49-50.

Plants of Southern California: Regional Floras http://tchester.org/plants/floras/#abdsp (comprehensive website)

Beaumont, Riverside County, California

Males and females look the same, while friendly juvenile white crowneds feature bold nutmeg brown stripes on top of their heads. Those stripes typically turn black and white the following spring, when the bird is almost a year old.

Observed a camera-shy California Ground Squirrel rush toward the safety of the shrub, directly to where a Desert Cottontail was sitting causing the Desert Cottontail to leap straight up into the air allowing the California Ground Squirrel to pass underneath (image 2).

California Fan Palms growing at the Stone Pools, a seasonal stream bed that was full of water after recent rains.

California Fan Palm (Washingtonia filifera) A.k.a. Desert Palm, is California’s only Native palm tree. These palms often grow over seeps, springs, rivlets—wherever there is a regular source of water. They can be seen along (earthquake) fault lines on east side of the Coachella Valley. The cross-section of the trunk looks like vertical packed-together straws. Peak bloom time: February-June. Hard, pea-sized fruits are sweet and datelike in flavor. The fruits are an important food source for coyotes and many species of birds. Native people ate the berries, both fresh and dry, and ground the seeds into meal. The old fronds (skirts) provide excellent shelter and habitat for many species of birds, bats, owls, reptiles, insects and other animals.
The California Fan Palm was a very important plant with many uses for the local desert Cahuilla people. They added the small, sweet fruits fresh or dried to flavor foods. The most common use of the long fronds was in house construction to make the homes both waterproof and windproof. Palm frond stems were used to make cooking utensils, particularly spoons and stirring implements. Palm leaves were used to make sandals or foot pads. . . 17 other uses described in http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=washingtonia+filifera

Temalpakh: Cahuilla Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants, Lowell John Bean and K. Saubel, Malki Museum Press, 1972, pp. 145-149.

A Database of Foods, Drugs, Dyes and Fibers of Native American Peoples, Derived from Plants http://naeb.brit.org/ and http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=washingtonia+filifera

Desert Palm Oasis, James W. Cornett, 2010, pp. 4-79.

Anza-Borrego Desert Wildflowers https://borregowildflowers.org/index.html?type=search&searchtype=S&family=&name=Washingtonia%20filifera

Jepson eFlora https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=48512

Shrubs and Trees of the Southern California Deserts. Jim W. Dole and Betty B. Rose, Foot-loose Press, 1996, pp. 21, 53

California Desert Wildflowers, Philip A Munz, 1962, p. 28

CalFlora's Southern California Plant Communities http://www.calflora.net/botanicalnames/plantcommunities.html

Plants of Southern California: Regional Floras http://tchester.org/plants/floras/#abdsp (comprehensive website)

Native and Introduced Plants of Southern California by Tom Chester http://tchester.org/plants/index.html

What do yo mean....I'm a nuisance!!!
Dig the stare & turned down mouth in the last frame! No way was it going to move. I was close enough to reach out & touch him! These kids of mine have NO manners!!!