A Javelina and a Coyote for Breakfast

The javelina is a fun, yet somewhat frightening visitor to our yard.  They usually eat our plants, or bread we have thrown to the birds, but they are omnivores and may also eat small animals.  It's always exciting to catch a glimpse of them from our window, but nerve-racking to encounter them in person, as they can be fierce when defending themselves or their herd.

It's not unusual to see javelinas in our neighborhood, especially in the fall.  Our subdivision lots are an acre or more per home, with natural desert landscaping.  Many neighbors leave whole chunks of their yard untouched by landscapers, allowing the Sonoran Desert to develop as it may. 

The javelinas tend to make their rounds about the neighborhood when people begin adding gourds and pumpkins to their outdoor decor.  We have seen javelinas feast on our beautifully carved pumpkins on more than one occasion, even after placing them on a table we thought to be out of a javelina's reach.  They are determined critters.

What is not quite so common is to host a javelina and a coyote in the same visit.  This is what we saw out our kitchen window during breakfast yesterday.  I am excited I was able to capture it in a photo and share it.

In the upper left corner you can see the coyote lurking.  I'm not sure whether he was interested in the javelina, or the food the javelina was eating, but he was interested enough to hang around for several minutes.  The coyote does prey on javelina, but I suspect this one was a little too big for Mr. Coyote to take on by himself.  When the javelina finally sensed the coyote was there, she did an about face, bristled, and walked a few steps toward him, which had the desired effect of scaring him away.  The javelina stayed around for another fifteen minutes or so grazing in our back yard.

This all happened on my birthday, a wonderful birthday show from nature, if you like that sort of thing (which of course, I do). 

A Day at the Cave Creek Museum

One of our favorite places to take out-of-towners is the Cave Creek Museum, so I was happy when I found out about a special presentation happening recently when my parents were visiting from Michigan.  You can squeeze in a lot of Arizona learning there in a short amount of time.  The Cave Creek Museum packs every square inch of its small building and campus with a wide span of rich Arizona history, from pottery made by the earliest inhabitants to more modern settlers who came to mine gold or graze cattle.  They also have a neat little gift shop that helps support the museum. 

Recently, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community came to demonstrate traditional pottery making, beading, and basket weaving, which is not something we see every day, so we were thrilled to watch.

The demonstrators were happy to share their knowledge and skills with us and graciously answered our questions.  The clay used in the pottery made above is indigenous to the Salt River area.  After they are molded by hand, they are fired.

The woman above is creating beaded adornments using very tiny "seed beads."  It is painstaking work and fascinating (almost painful!) to watch.  I am envious of her patience and skill.  Once completed, the neck adornments can sell for several hundred dollars.  

The materials used in basket weaving are also native to Arizona.  The main fiber, tan in color, is taken from cattail plants that grow in the Salt River area.   The artist splits the stalk several times until it is divided into flexible fibers.  The darker brown color in the pattern is also from a native desert plant, the spiky dried blossom pictured below. 

There is a movement in the Community to return to native foods such as mesquite beans and corn.  Below is a chef demonstrating his skill in flipping roasted corn kernels.  He was fun to watch.  Maybe I should try this at home.  I might enjoy cooking more.

The next photo shows dried Mesquite bean pods.  They harvest them at the end of summer, let them dry, and grind the beans into flour.  I found this especially interesting as it answered my question posed in a former post, what to do with these beautiful mesquite bean pods.  

The banner below provides the address and hours of the Huhugam Ki Museum in Scottsdale if you are interested in seeing the traditional works on display.

Finally, we had the pleasure of seeing Jr. Miss Salt River 2012, who greeted us warmly and allowed us to photograph her in in her beautiful seed bead crown, a wonderful example of the traditional skills shared with us this day by the Community members.

Scorpion Trap

They're usually nocturnal, but I was able to snap a pic of this little guy in broad daylight when he became trapped in an old flower pot. Apparently, once they fall in they are not able to climb up the slick walls of the pottery. Good or bad? Depends on your opinion of these little creatures. I was just excited for the photo opportunity.