Walking

Today, Libby and I walked our dogs along the strip of wild desert below Rim Road that runs from behind El Paso High School to the mountain, overlooking the new ball fields and the arroyo that borders the lower part of Tom Lea Park.  In the clay and gravel hills (Fort Hancock Formation and upper alluvium), we found little holes used as burrows by ground squirrels and/or other rodents.  At the lower entrance of each hole were mesquite seed husks, occasional acorn shells from the live oaks planted in nearby office complexes, and even, in one case, a pecan shell.  The mesquite husks were by far the most abundant debris.  These animals are probably among the creatures who are prey of the owls that we see wheeling over the practice field of the high school at night when we walk the dogs up there, as well as the occasional gray fox or coyote that we've observed prowling around the school at night (a few years ago there was an entire den of foxes in one of the cliffs near El Paso High).