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Animals that live in the desert in the Southwest must be very strong to survive. In parts of Arizona you might go over one hundred miles and not even see a dune of sand. There are many plants but the vegetation is sparse. Plants tend to not grow next to another and to try for survival on their own. Sometimes for days and weeks there is hardly any humidity and even if rain appears it quickly evaporates if it does not all seep into the ground. Heat can be very intense even during the night. It is at times so quiet that you cannot hear even one single sound yet animals exist and thrive in the desert. Even though at times you cannot see the tiny animals they live there.
The honey ants (Myrmecocystus) live in communities in a network of galleries and chambers. You might see a clump of sand perhaps only a few inches high and not realize it is really an entrance to an anthill that is seven inches below the surface of the ground. Honey ants are repletes. During the day you probably will not see any of these honey ants around the mound as they tend to move about during the night. The honey ants will be running around getting food and bringing it back to the lair.
Honey ants differ from other ants as the honey-colored abdomen is severely distended looking like a small grape. In the chambers under the ground in clusters are these insects. They spend their lives suspended by hooked claws from these ceilings. When one insect comes back with honey in his mouth he transfers the honey to the mouth of another and then that ant becomes a reservoir for food. Then when there is no moisture in the dessert they thrive on the replete regurgitating drops of liquids stored in the bodies of these repletes.
The Couch spadefoot toad (Scaphiophus couchi) of North America is an amphibian living in the desert. He does not come out at all until night as he cannot withstand heat or drought. He has a long, sticky tongue that enables him to catch spiders, and insects. Before the sun rises he will quickly burrow into the ground very swiftly with a horny projection on each of his hind feet. In a prepared hole he buries himself until he can go out again at night.
The only time the toad will leave this burrow during the day is after a rainfall as he wants to attract attention from a female who might wish to spawn. He croaks to attract her. He takes her eggs that she expels and puts them in a rain puddle to fertilize them. In about three days tadpoles are born from the fertilized eggs and in five weeks they become adult toads. The process in a very wet region takes about eight weeks for the tadpoles to become adult toads.
Dessert squirrels live in the desert and retain their diurnal habits. They develop a high tolerance to desert conditions such as heat and drought. They build elaborate systems of underground shelters to survive during critical times. These may be only three inches or so below the ground. There are two species of ground squirrels of the group spermophiles living in the Mojave Desert. The antelope squirrel (citellus leucurus) is a very little animal about ten inches long and only weighing one-fourth pound. It will lift the tail with white hindquarters like the pronghorn antelope. The Mojave squirrel (Citellus mojavensis) is not as active and is larger than the antelope squirrel. They live in the same surroundings and will get along well.
The two squirrels are omnivores that will eat sap-filled plants and smaller animals. The antelope squirrel has mechanisms that help it with heat and drought but the Mojave squirrels do not have these capabilities. The antelope squirrel has a way of dribbling and uses this fluid to wet his entire head, thus having moisture in times of severe drought. The Mojave squirrel will sleep sometimes up to five days a week in a burrow then goes about activities. The sleep can last six hours or more and his temperature will drop during this sleep period. He will need less oxygen and his breathing requirements are less due to the heartbeat being slower thus he needs less energy for survival. The body returns to normal about thirty minutes after waking.
The kangaroo rat (Dipodomys deserti) is another rodent that survives in the desert. This rat can just not have a need to drink as his elimination process is reduced. His kidneys filter probably five times greater than humans, he does not sweat, and when he produces feces that are dry and hard he devours them by swallowing. He can gain moisture from the feces and vitamins. His diet consists mostly of seeds he finds on the ground. As he eats the seeds they convert into a tiny released liquid. As his body has little requirement for water this process is sufficient.
He spends the daylight hours buried in a hole in the sand then comes out before sunset. He uses his paws to tuck seed into his pouches for storage. He empties his pouches when he gets back to his lair. He will bury the seeds around his lairs until they dehydrate. You might find many of these depressions in the sand near the burrow of his lair. By digging burrows the kangaroo rate helps the soil ecology as it drains water in the subsoil.
Kangaroo rats are a favorite food in the desert to rattlesnakes, badgers, lynxes, coyotes, and many birds. They have a high rate of hearing and can detect an enemy easily and then run away swiftly. They can register vibrations that allow them to hear approaching enemies.
Trapdoor spiders inhabit the desert and when you see one beware, as there bite is fatal. They use the venom in self-defense. They will devour insects to live by trapping them. There is one predator that is fatal to them, the hunting wasp as she will dig a tomb and then grab the trapdoor spider and bury it alive.
There are many other small and tiny animals that inhabit the desert of the Southwest. Now you have the information to locating them when you happen to be in the desert.
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