From Misty Briggs
If you think no one saw you trip on the sidewalk... you're wrong.
(Western Screech, Arizona)
Damn who shot that cactus with a cannonball?
this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2025
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For owls that are superb.
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US Wild Animal Rescue Database: Animal Help Now
International Wildlife Rescues: RescueShelter.com
Australia Rescue Help: WIRES
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If you find an injured owl:
Note your exact location so the owl can be released back where it came from. Contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitation specialist to get correct advice and immediate assistance.
Minimize stress for the owl. If you can catch it, toss a towel or sweater over it and get it in a cardboard box or pet carrier. It should have room to be comfortable but not so much it can panic and injure itself. If you can’t catch it, keep people and animals away until help can come.
Do not give food or water! If you feed them the wrong thing or give them water improperly, you can accidentally kill them. It can also cause problems if they require anesthesia once help arrives, complicating procedures and costing valuable time.
If it is a baby owl, and it looks safe and uninjured, leave it be. Time on the ground is part of their growing up. They can fly to some extent and climb trees. If animals or people are nearby, put it up on a branch so it’s safe. If it’s injured, follow the above advice.
For more detailed help, see the OwlPages Rescue page.
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More goes into the holes than I had previously thought. Woodpeckers make most of them, but they have to pick the spots months in advance of needing them. They make the hole early so it can dry out and harden over, so it isn't a damp, spongey mess inside by the time they need it. After they move on, the little owls can make use of it.
Saguaros are a keystone species for this and many other reasons! They're homes for so many animals of the Sonoran desert.
Plants can really be the unsung heroes to many types of life!
From the Sonora Desert Museum
Because many other species rely on them for sustenance and shelter, saguaros are a keystone species, a foundation of the ecosystem in which they grow. Birds, bats, tortoises, javelinas, coyotes, and others feed on their sweet, red fruit. Some birds carve holes high up as shelters for their nests. A saguaro boot forms as the inside of these cavities harden, and when vacated by the original residents they become home to other birds that move in. Humans, too, benefit from the saguaro. Many people, including the Tohono O’odham, Pima, and Seri, use every part of the cactus, eating or making syrup from the fleshy fruit, repurposing the boots as water containers, and using the wood-like ribs as building materials for roofs, fences, and furniture after the cactus dies and decays. The saguaro skeleton also makes a great home and resting spot for desert critters.
From April through June, white flowers with thick, waxy petals grow at the crown of the saguaro, and open at night when bats pollinate the flowers. Honey bees and other insects, white-winged doves, and some hummingbirds pollinate them the following morning. By June and early July, the red fruit mature and ripen. The small seeds germinate about a year later, but due to dryness and being a food source for animals, only 1% successfully sprout.