Three Amazing High Desert Inhabitants

J. Hertz

Oregon’s high desert is a land of many superlatives. You’ll find North America’s fastest land mammal here, as well as its largest fault block mountain.
Perhaps most intriguing are the ways that the plants, animals and insects that call the high desert home have evolved over millennia in ways that allow them to survive and flourish in this arid and, at times, harsh environment.
As we celebrate Earth Day (on April 22 in 2019), please allow us to introduce you to three of the most interesting desert dwellers and share a few mind-blowing facts that are sure to make you marvel anew at the wonders of Oregon’s high desert.

voices

Craig Terry, ONDA member and stewardship volunteer

Craig Terry, ONDA member and stewardship volunteer

“The people I have had the privilege to share time with each season keep me volunteering again and again. Who else but those ONDA staff leaders would make fresh coffee at dawn each morning or pack a watermelon all day to serve as a reward under a juniper in a steep canyon?” Craig, who grew up in northwestern Nevada, says ONDA connects him with places he loves and a mission he believes in. “My grandfather and his father put up wire fences for their ranching needs. Taking out barbed wire sort of completes a circle for me.”

fact

Far from Big Macs

Far from Big Macs

There is a point in the Owyhee region, in northwestern Nevada, that is, at 115 miles away, as far away as you can get from a McDonalds in the U.S.

Source: http://www.datapointed.net/2010/09/distance-to-nearest-mcdonalds-sept-2010

watch

Sage-grouse Mating Dance

Sage-grouse Mating Dance

Wilson's Phalaropes

Visit Lake Abert at the right time and you could see up to 100,000 Wilson’s Phalaropes.

J. Hertz

The Flyer

Wilson’s Phalaropes are peach and gray shorebirds that breed in marshlands across the West that embark on a truly amazing journey each year.

But, first, to prepare for their southbound migration, Phalaropes will vortex feed, swimming in a tight circle to bring food to the surface. Phalaropes can double their weight in just a few weeks time by eating almost continuously, a process called hyperphagia. Sometimes, they eat and grow so much in those few weeks that they aren’t able to fly. (We can relate to this feeling.) When they do leave the lake, bound for South America, they will travel roughly 5,000 miles in a single push – thought to be done non-stop – and shed most of the weight they put on.

Pacific Lamprey

The Pacific lamprey is one of the oldest living vertebrates on earth.

Dave Herasimtschuk   Website

The Ancient

You know that saying “as old as the hills?” Well, Pacific lamprey are older.

Paleontologists have found Pacific lamprey fossils as old as 450 million years old, which means that this anadromous species that plies the rivers of Oregon’s high desert today predates dinosaursby more than 200 million years.

In the Columbia River Basin, the Yakama, Umatilla, and Nez Perce tribes place a high value on the Pacific lamprey as a cultural, spiritual, ceremonial, medicinal and subsistence resource since time immemorial, and it’s easy to see why this species has earned so much respect.

Unfortunately, the species that has endured volcanic eruptions and colossal floods has suffered dramatic population declines in the 150 years of the Anthropocene, as hydropower development has blocked fish passage and a variety of human activities, such as water diversions, construction, chemical treatment and mining, have degraded their natural habitat.

Pygmy Short-horned Lizard

You’ll be amazed by how the pygmy short-horned lizard survives the harsh winter in the Northern Great Basin.

Alan St. John

The Freezer

You may have heard these guys referred to – incorrectly – as a horned toad, but the proper name for this tiny lizard that rarely grows to more than seven centimeters in total length is the pygmy short-horned lizard.

And, here’s the crazy part: recent field studies have disclosed that short-horned lizards routinely hibernate by burying in sand just a few centimeters below the surface, freezing solid for months at a time. When the warmth of springtime arrives, the lizards thaw unharmed.

Remarkable for an ectothermic reptile at the Northern Great Basin’s latitude, the pygmy short-horned lizard has been recorded living in the stunted sagebrush and bunchgrass habitats of the region’s mountain summits at nearly 2400m elevation. In these zones that are snowbound for months on end, short-horned lizards spend the majority of the year in hibernation.

Oregon’s high desert remains a stronghold for the sagebrush steppe ecosystem. However, the natural systems found here are also among the most threatened in all of North America. Your vigorous support for policies that protect this unique environment makes all the difference for the 350+ species that live in delicate harmony with the high desert today.
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