Ravin' Raven

Once again, one of our winged friends puts on a show for us, and this time it's also for his mate, too. This is George and Gracie, our mated pair of Chihuahuan ravens who have adopted the area as their home. You can find them most evenings roosting on the vigas (the protruding roof supports on adobe dwellings) on the storage building behind the Visitor Center. They're really quite friendly -- and large!

Roadrunner Runs Amok

If you thought the curved-bill thrasher was an active little guy, just catch this fellow's act. This is Pancho, our resident roadrunner, and he does this all the time. I've never seen a more animated display before, at least not in real life. This guy's nuts!

Lemme At Him!!!

Of the various forms of wildlife out here in Big Bend, the bird population wins hands-down in sheer numbers -- over 450 species in residence in the park alone, not counting the migrants working their way through in the spring and fall. Here we have one of our local residents, a curved-bill thrasher, attempting to thrash the living daylights out of himself in the mirrored window of the Persimmon Gap Visitor Center. He's not alone in this little endeavor, either, as we'll see in upcoming videos.

Millipede

Here's a curious little critter for you -- a millipede. I'd always see their bleached white husks lying around here before, but never an actual animal crawling around. Then I found out that they are only seen in the spring months, when I was usually up in Maine. Since I took this job as a permanent position in February, I was here for the emergence and mindless march of these funny little invertebrates. These guys out here are around 3" or 4" long, much longer than the ones I saw in Central Texas as a kid.

Big Bend Country

And once again, we're back in the wide open spaces of the Big Bend country again, rolling along through oceans of creosote bushes, yuccas, and every imaginable prickly plant on this corner of the planet. This is just a brief little window on my world out here -- a world I've come to know and love, thorns and all. (Well, I don't know about the thorns.) Toward the end of the video, you'll see a lone peak that resembles a volcano off in the distance which is Santiago Peak - elev. 6521'.

City Museum Bedpan Slide

No, that's not its real name, I don't think, but the entrance to it was certainly reminiscent of one. This was a quick but fun little slide that was over way too soon, and they mean every word about "sharp turn," too, as you'll see.

City Museum Monstro Slide

So, why should kids have all the fun? I found this long, tall slide taking me back to those thrilling days of yesteryear, to a slide at the playground of the Lometa School when I was a kid visiting my grandparents, so I availed myself of it and had a blast -- so much so, I did it twice.