The land appears dead and lifeless but nothing is farther from the truth.

Wild burros roam the area and can be heard braying some mornings.

There are several grey fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) dens on our property and they often come and visit us.

This fox den is about 50 meters from our building and the largest. They travel from here using the shallow arroyos to stay mostly out of sight.

 Roundtail Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma modestum).

Solitary brown tarantulas (Aphonopelma hentzi) can be found walking around as well. October brings the breeding migrations and sometimes you see multiple males wandering.

This juvinile Brown Tarantua on our building was about 4″ accross and still a lighter brown color. 10/14/2025

Chihuahuan Nightsnake
Hypsiglena jani  – This is a small mildly venomous (harmless to humans) snake that grow to a size of 10-15″. This is the first snake I’ve found on the property!

Bull Snake (Pituophis catenifer sayi) – This Bull Snake was basking in road warming up for a night of hunting. He was easily over 4′ long and fat with great coloring especially in the last few inches of his tail. 10/18/2025

Diamond Back Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) – I was walking around the bird feeder area ~100′ from our building at dusk and suprised this healthy 3′ long Diamond Back Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox). Its the first rattlesnake I’ve personally seen in this area and his light banding suprised me compared to ones at the Corpus Cristi,TX shore and in the Chisos mountains of Big Bend. Note the spider friend to the snake’s left. 8/28/2025

This is a terrible picture showing 3 of a herd of about 20 Auodad aka Barbery Sheep (Ammotragus lervia) that climbed up and down the mesas right behind our building. They are native and endangered in North Africa but were introduced to Texas as a game animal and are considered invasive. 8/3/2024

Desert Millipede

Orthoporus ornatus – These can be found all over the property especially after rain.

Road rabbit.

Desert Millipede

Orthoporus ornatus – These can be found all over the property especially after rain.


Black Scorpion

Diplocentrus lindo – This one was only 2″ long but I’ve also seen a larger one in a hole near our building that is at least 4″ long.

Sun Spider Aka Camel spider, wind scorpion Eremobates sp. These cool creatures are in the same class as spiders and scorpions but exist in their own order – Solifugae.

Scaled Quail Callipepla squamata palida – These birds prefer to run vs fly and travel in large bevy of 10 or more birds.