Plants and Animals
We Saw in Death Valley
Death Valley National Park is open all year but summer temperatures, when the greatest number of visitor drop by, soar to 120 degrees or higher. In 1913, Furance Creek recorded a temperature of 134 (folks at Furance Creek Ranch and Resort said, in 2006, temperatures were that hot for a couple of weeks). Then there is the challenge of dealing with only two-inches of average annual rainfall. What could survive under such conditions? Well, an amazing number of living things do. There are a total of 1,042 plant species, 51 native mammals such as deer, mountain lion, coyote, and fox, 346 types of birds (ravines were the most common but tiny hummingbirds and an unknown songbird enjoyed our campground), 36 classified reptiles including the amazing chuckwallas and scary rattlesnakes, six types of fish, and five species of amphibians. Here are some of Death Valley's residents we saw during our visit.
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