In their Visitor's Center they had a small, but interesting, section on the Mescalero Apache Indians that lived in this region and still have a reservation just north of here in Ruidoso. The most interesting part was this short explanation of the ceremonies surrounding the "coming of womanhood" thru puberty of young Indian girls. It struck me as funny that while they hold 4 day celebrations, I can't imagine in our culture how horrified a young 10-11 yr old girl would be if everyone in her neighborhood gathered round upon hearing of her 1st period! Would that be a sight to see, or what?!
She even wears this "puberty necklace once "the event" happens!
Anyway, they had several hawks and eagles they were rehabbing.
Walking along to each exhibit, we came upon the Javelina first.
Did you know that bullfrogs ate birds?
And that bats nurse whichever 2 babies make it to them when they return from feeding, regardless of whether those babies are theirs or not?
Read how fast an antelope is, and how many Bison there used to be before we got here from Europe.
They had a hothouse containing various species of cactus and flowered trees.
Never saw these furry ones before. They are called Purple Hook Spine Mams and Fragile Mams.
And I forget what this kind is called, but you know they would hurt if someone hit you you with them.
Look how tall the 2 on the right are.
The yellow flowers grow on the Moses-in-the-Cradle tree, and the red flower is from a Hibiscus tree.
The sun peaking through the clouds as we drive home.
Looking for love in all the wrong places !!!! I thought we were supposed to kiss a frog to find our prince or princess???
ReplyDeleteWas that Javelina standing on only 2 legs? He looked pretty steady.
I like the looks of the fluffy bison. I remember looking hard for them in Montana and finally findingf some. They are kinda cool.
The 2 leg look on the Javelina is just the camera angle...he had 4 fully functional legs!
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