32 Our Araby 



zoologically-minded visitors to Palm Springs, which 

 already has a gopher and a ground-squirrel "named 

 for it": — why not again? 



Suspicious people, noticing that I have said 

 nothing as to reptiles, may ask "What about the 

 snakes?" Here comes in another popular miscon- 

 ception, the idea that the desert swarms with rattle- 

 snakes, sidewinders, and Gila monsters. The fact 

 is that rattlesnakes are certainly no more numerous 

 on the desert than in the coast or mountain regions: 

 I think on the whole they are fewer here. As for 

 the sidewinder (which is simply the desert's special 

 form of rattlesnake), in several years' experience I 

 have seen but two, one of which was dead when 

 found, while the other was hailed with rejoicing 

 and carried home tenderly in a tomato-can (being 

 needed for photographic purposes ) , having been an 

 object of daily search for two or three months. 

 The Gila monster, rare at best, is never seen in or 

 near this part of the desert. Ordinary lizards we 

 have in plenty, but they, of course, are wholly 

 harmless, even friendly and amusing. The chuck- 

 walla, with his alligator look, may not be charming, 

 but need cause no alarm to anything bigger than a 

 house-flv. 



But this is aside from the matter of the amuse- 

 ments Our Araby offers her visitors. A few words 

 as to sporting possibilities will not come amiss to 

 lovers of rod and gun. Fishing will hardly be 

 looked for on the desert: indeed, the mention of 

 the rod may seem like rather a futile joke. Not 



