The Desert

Being in the desert requires venturing outside either in the early morning or at dusk. This is not only because wildlife is virtually only present at this time but also because during the summer heat this is the only time to avoid the 49° C weather. The desert plant life is also incredibly interesting because they thrive in exceedingly hot weather, with a lack of water. Some of the plant life is actually dead until rainfall occurs, it then plants roots, absorbs water, and lives until its water supply runs out. However, to me the wildlife is the most attention grabbing aspect. These creatures survive in a place where few plants carry any water, abundant heat, and a lack of naturally occurring water. They all have their own strange adaptations to survive this, but these adaptations are often interpreted as something dangerous or seen as just flat-out creepy. Take the solpugid (aka sun spider, wind scorpion, Solifugae, and many more) people are often fearful of spiders and scorpions, the name alone makes this creature sound dangerous or just something to fear. However, this creature is simply an arachnid, its chelicerae (the grabby parts before the fangs on a spider) are used for eating, it does not have any fangs nor venom. The chelicerae cannot even pierce the skin. This creature does not even have a tail for stinging such as the scorpion. It is completely nonvenomous, yet people are scared of it. This is the case for a lot of desert creatures, harmless spiders are declared venomous, harmless creatures are scary and dangerous, this is simply not always the case. The desert life is truly unlike any other.