Mystique of madera canyon
Friends educator outlines mystique of Madera Canyon
By Ellen Sussman
What’s the origin of the Santa Rita Mountains? What flora and fauna live at the various elevations in Madera Canyon? How many species of birds are there?
These were just a couple of questions answered Wednesday evening at a talk given by Doug Moore, director of education for Friends of Madera Canyon.
Held at Quail Creek’s Crystal Ballroom about 200 attended and through an ongoing display of photographic slides got to see some of the vast variety of cactus, plants, birds, insects, snakes and rare animals that inhabit the region.
Moore referred to Madera Canyon as “an incredible resource right in our backyard with thousands of plants and hundreds of types of animals.”
The main part of the Santa Rita Mountains was formed by volcanoes about 100 million years ago. Elephant Head is younger; it’s only 35 to 40 millions years old, Moore told the audience.
The Canyon, which was formed by erosion, has five seasons: spring, which is beginning now; a dry summer that runs from April to mid-June; monsoon season that runs from mid-July through August; autumn in September and October and winter where Pacific storms bring snow to the Santa Ritas.
Moore gave an overview of the various plants and animals that live in the various “life zones” because of the temperature and precipitation.
Photos of one life zone showed a blending of desert and forest with evergreen oak, ponderosa pine, desert scrub, Saguaro, cholla and prickly pear cactus.
“At higher elevations trees are larger and closer together,” Moore said, and showed a glowing photo of Aspen trees captured in the perfect light.
He explained that Madera Creek is seasonal; certain varieties of vegetarian thrive because of the water. Huge Arizona sycamores with white bark grow well here.
“There are 1,000 to 1,500 varieties of plants in the Canyon, a lot of cactus,” he said. One close-up photograph showed an extremely rare tall, yellow lily with touches of burgundy that Moore said is in the tiger lily family.
“There are lots of daisies; they attract lots of kinds of insects… and there are some really great caterpillars. Some are very plant-specific.” To illustrate, Moore showed one slide of a lime green specimen with white hairs and blue spherical spots. The blue circles are the openings through which they breathe, he explained.
To further illustrate the variety of living things in the Canyon Moore showed photographs of beautiful butterflies, snails, slugs, two types of frogs, toads, colorful lizards and unusual animals—a ringtail and a coati, which feed on snakes and lizards.
Educating the audience on the Canyon’s snakes Moore said there are very few that can hurt a person because they’re small and their venom is mild. There are rattlesnakes, which he said “don’t want to bite you or mess with you.”
It’s the 250 or so species of birds that bring bird watchers from around the world to Madera Canyon. One slide of an emerald green and blue hummingbird with a red beak illustrated why birders are so drawn to the area.
In a brief interview Moore told the Green Valley News how Whitehouse Canyon Road got its name: The most famous historical feature of Madera Canyon was built in the 1870s-1880s. The white-washed adobe structure was likely built by a sheepman named Walden and was later used as a vacation retreat for a prominent Tucson merchant who brought his family to the Canyon to escape the summer heat.
Ellen Sussman is a freelance writer in Green Valley. Contact her at ellen2414@cox.net.
Reprinted with permission of the Green Valley News.
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