The Masked Bobwhite Rides Again

208 Pages·1993·24.24 MB·English

by  Alcock

^»fc«i»^-w^r."
JOHN ALCOCK
THE MASKED
BOBWHITE
AGAIN
RIDES
Despite its implacable, prehistoric appear-
ance, the desert is a dynamic landscape, re-
sponsive to a myriad of influences. And as
the population of the southwestern United
States has exploded, humans have become
the primary catalyst for desert change.
In The Masked Bobwhite Rides Again, natu-
ralist and ecologist John Alcock explores
the complex relationship between the
desert and its human inhabitants through
a collection of thoughtful and thought-
provoking essays. Blending his keen eye
for the nuances of desert life with a wealth
ofscientific knowledge, he takes us on a
tour of "a land that has been through a
host ofchanges some caused by slow-
. . .
moving but inexorable geological and bio-
logical processes and others by fast-moving
humans and our heavy-footed livestock."
Alcock elegantly chronicles not only the
changes wrought on the desert by people
but also the ability of the desert to recover
and rejuvenate ifgiven the chance. He
offers us hope through stories ofsmall,
—
tentative successes such as the ^intro-
duction of the masked bobwhite quail in
—
southeastern Arizona all the while gently
but persistently prodding us to "maintain
the biological heritage that has the ca-
. . .
pacity to enrich the lives ofus all, ifwe
would just respect it a little more."
BOSTON
PUBLIC
LIBRARY
Digitized by the Internet Archive
2012
in
http://www.archive.org/details/maskedbobwhiteriOOalco
The Masked Bobwhite Rides Again

John Alcock
The Masked Bobwhite
Rides Again
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA PRESS
Tucson and London
—
Illustrations by Michael McCurdy
The University ofArizona Press
©
Copyright
1993
Arizona Board QfRegents
All Rights Reserved
© This book is printed on acid-free, archival-quality paper.
Manufactured in the United States ofAmerica.
98 97 96 9c 94 93 6 c 4 3 2 1
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Alcock.John, 1942-
The masked bobwhite rides again /John Alcock.
cm.
p.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
—
isbn 0-816C-1387-2 (cloth acid-free).
:
ISBN 0-816C-140C-4 (pbk. acid-free)
:
—
1 . Natural history Sonoran Desert. 2. Sonoran Desert.
— —
3. Desert ecology Sonoran Desert. 4. Cattle Sonoran Desert
— —
Ecology, c. Man Influence on nature Sonoran Desert. I. Title.
QH104.C.SC8A39 1993 93-iS4i6
—
co8.79i'7 dc2o cip
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
3
1
Contents
Preface
VII
DESERT MOUNTAINS
A
natural history
3
Cactus-hugging in practice 7
Army
ants o
1
Death comes for the black-tailed gnatcatcher
1
Michael's ashes 17
The birth ofa paloverde 21
DESERT PEOPLE
Schilling's best 33
The miner's cat 36
Where did all the glyptodonts go? 41
Thirty-eight Apaches ci
The last Indian war? 6
Bandidos 69
Confessions ofa cactus-hugger 76
Abert's towhees and other opportunists 82
Playing God with the white-winged dove 89
1
DESERT CATTLE
Cows
97
One man's campaign 102
Cattle free in 1893 107
The impact ofan impact statement 16
1
Mountain lion mathematics: A report from
Klondyke, Arizona 121
More mountain lion mathematics 127
Cowpies 128
Peccaries 133
Death in a saguaro forest 137
Randolph Canyon and Burro Creek 141
The masked bobwhite rides again 147
DESERT HOPE
Life in a saguaro forest £j
1
The black bear in Ballantine Canyon 60
1
The Mazatzal Wilderness Area 62
1
The coyote in South Mountain Park 64
1
December rain 72
1
References
1 7^
Acknowledgments 8
1
Index 183
vi • Contents