Desert Trash Series
Burrowing owls have made an amazing adaptation to man-made materials; dwelling in drainage ditches, empty lots and piles of construction materials all over the city.
Unfortunately, we’ve not noticed. New construction can easily demolish their burrows along with the dangers of rat poisons that poison the raptors that eat rodents. |
The Sonoran desert in Arizona is a beautiful place of unique vistas, plants, animals and minerals - pristine and wild. On a cool winter day (when the snakes are hibernating), it's an amazing place to discover natural wonders.
But every once in a while I come across old abandoned sites that are littered with rusted metallic trash. Pretty disgusting. Rather than getting a bad attitude, I decided I could make art out of that junk - cleaning up the desert one artist at a time. And I've committed to only search for trash on State Lands, because of the serious need to restore the beauty of our natural habitats. I included Arizona Burrowing Owls because I wanted to honor this species. We've methodically invaded their natural habitat in our Capital city, and their numbers have significantly dropped, putting them in the endangered category. I didn't know that, because we've always noticed little groups of them (parliaments) living in the outskirts of our neighborhoods. If you know where to look for them, they can be found hiding in drainage ditches all over town. Yet, as the city is becoming more congested, there are fewer places for them to live safely. They're biggest killer is rat poison, from city dwellers just trying to get rid of unsanitary pests. Scroll down to learn more about what's being done to help the burrowing owls along with the clean-up of our public lands. |