Adapted from Desert Hiking by Dave Ganci

The sun is nearing the horizon. A furry tarantula meanders across your path and disappears down into its underground cave. The desert seems to be coming alive now. More birds are flitting about. More insects are trying to dodge them. A covey of quail darts along ahead, going for the water hole. You find the mesquite trees and get comfortable again. The sun is setting and the scene captures your family's attention for nearly an hour. Blazing oranges, blues, purples, reds, yellows fade into scarlet and crimson.

You reach for the binoculars and spot a striped skunk ambling up to the water hole. The desert night has begun. Many of the desert creatures must secure water during the early evening hours because of the strict bondage of narrow temperature ranges in which they can survive. The desert becomes a frantic who-eats-whom battleground during these hours. The night creatures are driven from their hiding places by hunger and thirst, in search of seeds, roots, pollen, and one another. Insects eat pollen. Rodents eat insects. Reptiles eat rodents. Owls eat reptiles. And so it goes, the never-ending cycle that assures the perpetuation of all species of life.

It is getting cooler now; time to get sweaters and vests out again. You turn on your flashlight and notice a walking stick and a praying mantis on the branch in front of you. You hear wild bees. They are heading for the pollen in the evening primrose. A couple of wood rats dash away from the light. They were contemplating a route to the package of cheese and crackers stuffed in the side pocket of your day pack. The flashlight reveals the white blossom of the cereus. It blooms at night, seducing the hungry night-flying insects that will pollinate its flowers as they feed on its nectar.

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