Desert Messenger

January 4, 2012

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Page 16 PALM CANYON FROM PAGE 12 From a distance, it doesn't look like there is much vegetation on the Kofa Mountains, but it rains more there than it does down in the valley below. The lush growth of the jojoba bean also offers excellent feed for the sheep and deer. The surrounding foothills and washes abound with giant sagua- ros as well as mesquite, Palo Verde, and ironwood trees. Also found in the Kofa Range is the catsclaw shrub, oco- tillos, brittle brush, yuccas, and a large variety of cacti. Each spring the white-winged dove NEED CASH? Jim Buys GOLD! Broken Jewelry, Old Teeth, Coins, Nuggets, etc. Across from McDonald's • Quartzsite www.DesertMessenger.com flies up from Mexico to lay her eggs that will hatch at the same time as the waxy-white blossoms of the saguaro begins to open. The chicks are fed the rich nectar of the large saguaro flow- ers that bloom in May and early June. The young doves will stay near the sa- guaros and by ear- ly September will be full-grown and ready to fly back to Mexico where they will spend the win- ter. The mourning dove and Gambles quail remain in the Kofas year round. Desert tortoises and other reptiles also make the Ko- fas their home. Mountain lions are there year-round and black leopards are being sighted more frequently. It is thought that the leopards are begin- ning to migrate up from Mexico. TOOLS & TARPS VENDOR SUPPLIES K & B "The place with the stuff!" • Canopies • All Sizes of Tarps • RV Supplies • Tools BURT & BILLIE'S If we don't have it, you don't need it!" Ladies Stuff, too! LOCATED AT TYSON CENTRE #1 121 W. Kuehn, Quartzsite Open 9am-5pm - 7 days a week • Table Legs • Hand & Power Tools • Furniture • Glassware • Yard Art Vendor Spaces Available • Antiques • Vintage Linen • Collectables Lots of vintage items...and great prices! 315 E. Ironwood, Quartzsite (next to the QIA) OPEN DAILY 9-4 The 665,400-acre Wildlife Ref- uge was established in 1939 jointly managed by the U.S. Fish & Wild- life Service and the Bureau of Land Management. The creation of the Refuge came about when fewer than 150 of the magnificent des- ert bighorn sheep were counted. A Civilian Con- s e r v a t i o n Corp camp was estab- lished to de- velop high mo u n t a i n waterholes by blasting out and creating big rock holes as catch- ments to benefit all the animals and birds of the Refuge. In a recent count it was esti- mated that nearly 1,000 sheep roam the rugged terrain of the Kofa and Castle Dome Mountains. By a congressional action the Refuge is now managed by just the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. To visit Palm Canyon, from Quartzsite drive north on U.S. 95 to milepost 85 where there is a sign to Palm Canyon. Take the gravel road east about eight miles to a large parking lot. About a half mile from the trailhead you will sight the first of the palm trees. On up the canyon and through a narrow wedge will be a larger grove of one of two known groves of this species of palms that grow naturally in the wilds of Arizona. January 4, 2012

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