Paula DelGiudice's outdoors notebook appears Wednesday. Reach her at [email protected]
As the sun fades behind the Spring Mountain Range and the lights of the valley start to twinkle, our city begins to radiate the nightlife for which it is so well known. In the desert surrounding the valley, a nightlife of a different sort is just getting under way. After a hot day of resting and hiding out in rock piles and under brush, the desert's nocturnal wildlife is on the move.
In order to get a closer look, preferably one with someone who knows these animals like the back of his hand, I accompanied Brad Hardenbrook during his work at Red Rock National Conservation Area. Hardenbrook is a wildlife biologist and herpetologist with the Nevada Division of Wildlife. He is in the process of surveying night lizards and geckos at Red Rock. Not much is known about some of Nevada's smallest citizens. Hardenbrook hopes his surveys will help change that.
Four straight nights, every other week during the summer, Hardenbrook heads for Red Rock as the sun sets and the gate closes out the public. On this night, last Thursday, the first thing he does is check ground and air temperatures. The ground temperature is 100 degrees. The air temperatures is slightly less. He drives the loop three times each night of his survey looking for night lizards and geckos, checking temperatures at the lowest point of the loop and at the summit as he goes. Temperature plays a huge role in the movements of desert animals. The number of animals sighted dropped way off his previous counts last week due to the increase in temperatures.
Typically, nighttime during the summer is a good time to look for reptiles, particularly along roadsides. When air temperatures drop at night, cold-blooded animals look for warm areas to soak up the heat. The blacktop of roads holds the heat longer than its surroundings.
Driving slowly up and down the roads is a good way to look for the abundant small creatures that thrive in the desert. We headed up the loop road. Before too long Hardenbrook stepped quickly on the brakes, slammed the gear shift into park and jumped out of the van, seemingly running at shadows. He had spotted a diminutive night lizard. By the time he got to it, it had disappeared back into the brush. Night lizards are quite small and hard to spot. It was the only one we found that evening.
Before long, we spotted a couple of scorpions, several Western banded geckos and a Southwestern black-headed snake. The snake was very cool -- it was less than the diameter of a pencil and about as long. Most people would think it's some kind of strange-looking worm -- it's not. It has a neat-looking black spot on its head and a long orange-red stripe on its belly.
So why should people care about these creatures?
"People should care about them because they make the desert alive," explained Hardenbrook. "Red Rock Canyon is valuable for many other reasons other than its beauty. One fascinating detail is how much diversity is represented there. For example, of the 53 species of reptiles in the state, 21 are found in Red Rock Canyon. Part of what creates the diversity is a 1,000-foot elevational gradient providing many habitat types. The springs that dot the area are important to all sorts of animals."
Several of the animals we saw, particularly side-blotched lizards, had met their demise earlier in the day and were just part of the pavement by the time we arrived. This is a particular hazard for reptiles, but one that the driving public can influence positively. Driving slowly on the loop and watching for animals crossing the road can save a lot of lives -- both during the day and at nighttime.
The management plan in development for Red Rock calls for the addition of new smaller loop road at Red Rock. There's a new road to the toll area. Whenever cars are added in new areas, the threats to reptiles and amphibians loom large.
Cars aren't the only threats to these many desert denizens. Well-meaning citizens who release their pets into the wild can have an impact, especially in contributing to the spread of disease, particularly in desert tortoises. There is a higher percentage of captive populations with upper respiratory disease. Though there are few desert tortoises at Red Rock (the area traversed by the loop road is at the upper end of the tortoise's range), pets who are released may not be able to survive. They don't know how to take care of themselves, Hardenbrook said. People should never release animals that have been pets in the wild.
Cutbacks in enforcement personnel at Red Rock also take their toll on the quality of management at the conservation area. These cutbacks seem unreasonable given the huge increase in the daily visitorship received at Red Rock in the past few years as Las Vegas populations soar.
Will continued drawdowns of the area's groundwater supplies affect the many springs in the mountains on which the diverse populations of small animals depend? It's a concern for those who manage this system, not only for the intrinsic value these animals have, but also for what their loss might mean to the whole ecosystem. Many larger animals and birds, including owls, foxes, ringtails, coyotes and other animals depend on this vast, diverse and reliable food supply.
People should also resist the temptation to capture small animals for their home reptile tank. It's unlikely that the animal will survive for long and if everyone did it, you can imagine the impact on wild populations. There are many species of reptiles sold in pet stores that have been bred in captivity for the pet trade that make excellent small pets.
Though the threats appear great, the interest in the small creatures with whom we share our niche of the world is growing. Hardenbrook credits a renewed interest in dinosaurs, in part, for the resurgence.
Movies such as "A Bug's Life" help interest children in small creatures. So what about A Bug's Life? "Anatomically, it is pretty accurate," said Hardenbrook.
The most success we had locating animals that survey night was for geckos. They're quick, as I learned trying to capture and handle one myself. Hardenbrook is an expert as he scoops them into the plastic tubes and leaves a poker chip in the road so he will know where to release them. On the last swing of the night, after weighing and measuring the animals, and recording the data, he releases them exactly where he found them.
Though it was very late and I could feel my head bob every now and then, the desert show was worth the loss of sleep.
We may take these desert animals for granted, we may be frightened because we don't understand them, but altogether they make the desert the place that we love -- alive as any place on earth.
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