Hello everybody and welcome to Episode 12 of What’s in that Hole?, a fun series I’m writing for my blog.
In the last episode, we found something really exciting: an eel! That episode, as well as the two before it, focused on holes away from home. Today, we return home to Tucson’s Sonoran Desert for our hole.
The hole
And here it is! Well, kind of. This hole is a representative hole, not the hole:
The hole!
Here’s that same representative hole again from a bit further out:
A wider view.
Any guesses as to what type of hole this is?
I’ll give you some time.
It’s a saguaro hole! In case you don’t know what a saguaro is, it’s the iconic cactus that you picture when you think of Arizona. You know, the really tall ones with arms.
Saguaro holes are difficult to photograph due to (1) the fact that they’re generally pretty high off the ground and (2) the cactus spines. Hence the representative hole.
The occupant
Now that you know what type of hole we’re dealing with, do you have any guesses as to what our occupant could be? This is a tricky one, since there are all sorts of desert critters that live in saguaro cactus holes. On top of that, in this case it’s even trickier since our occupant isn’t even a critter!
Here’s a photo of the saguaro in question. Notice anything odd?
Today’s saguaro cactus.
If you didn’t see it, don’t feel bad; only keen-eyed desert-dwellers really had a chance. I’ve circled the oddity in the next photo to help you out:
Quite the oddity.
That’s weird…that looks like a prickly pear cactus pad. Indeed, it IS a prickly pear pad! Here’s a closer look:
There’s a prickly pear in our saguaro!
I know what you’re thinking. You think I’ve photoshopped this, or played on some sort of optical illusion. But no, I am serious. Today’s hole, a saguaro cactus hole, is occupied by a prickly pear cactus. Here’s proof. In this next photo, you can see the prickly pear actually growing out of the saguaro hole. It blends in well, but it’s smack dab in the center of the photo:
Prickly pear in a saguaro hole.
Pretty cool! Here’s a closer view:
See? It’s real!
And there you have it! Today’s answer to What’s in that hole?: a prickly pear cactus!
Bonus: more prickly pears living on saguaros!
Friends, I have something extra for you today. You see, as strange as prickly pears using saguaros as dwellings seems, it’s not a one-off occurrence (don’t get me wrong though – it’s not common!). Usually, I spot them in the crook of the saguaros’ arms, rather than actually in a hole. Here’s a couple examples:
Another saguaro-dwelling prickly pear in my neighborhood.
One at Tohono Chul Park.
And another one at Tohono Chul!
So, if you find yourself in the Sonoran Desert with nothing to do, have a go at finding one of these odd couples!
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Next episode available here!
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