Poster I made for CAC College for Kids 2007The San Pedro River flows from its source in northern Mexico to Winkleman, Arizona where it joins the Gila River. This river is a riparian corridor that is home and passageway for a dizzying array of wildlife. The beaver population is returning to help regulate the flow once again. Some of us have seen the dam at the San Manuel Crossing (32 35'58.47”N 110 32'11.97”W) but it was washed away during the last set of storms. You can still see the marks of beaver teeth on the trees in that area. This is an easy place to drive to and park. You may need to walk up or down stream to get away from the noise of the paint-ball games and quad riders.
Sit still and get quietSitting still on the bank of the river gives children and their grown-ups a chance to listen for the movements and calls of the wildlife. Follow the sounds to see what kind of creature made them. Bring binoculars if you can; they make the experience closer but not necessarily better.
Look at all the distances: close up, middle, and far. You see different things.
Bright red and yellow birds flit through the branches or walk carefully across a floating carpet of duck weed. Great Black Hawks hunt and nest; frogs croak and call to each other; cicadas crawl out of the damp sand, up he tree trunks and out of their skin to scream at each other in the branches. Large animals make their way down to the water at different times of day. If you sit still long enough you may see coyote, deer, bear, javelina, coatimundi, ringtail cat, bobcat, mountain lion, and raccoon. Huge wasps make nests in the mud on the banks. Funnel spiders make beautiful webs and raise their babies as one big, happy, crawling family.
The plants ar beautifully adapted to the strip of water that runs through the arid landscape. In the summer the trees take in water during the day and the flow of the river diminishes. At night the trees don't drink as much so the water level goes up. On really hot days you can see the difference as though it wer tidal. The next time you go down to the river, take a moment to have a look around, then take another moment to listen.
Three Cautions:
1. Bees do sting and spiders do bite but not if you leave them alone.
2. Remember to stay away from the river if it is still raining upstream or in surrounding mountains.
3. Pack it in – pack it out.
At-home activity: print out the line drawing of the poster and color it yourself
