The Saguaro Cactus And Its Greedy Guests

The Saguaro cactus, found in Mexico, Arizona and some parts of California is a giant among its type, growing to the size of a tree. It also gets a number of greedy house guests during its life time.

Image Credit Flickr User kretyen

The desert isn’t a place that you might normally associate with teeming life, but our planet is full of surprises. The saguaro manages to survive in extremely harsh climates and, wherever it lives animals are to be found. Some even manage to make the enormous cactus their home. This Gila Woodpecker, for example, seems completely at ease among the spines.

The Water Vole - Back from the Brink

Forgive the image related pun, but the Water Vole has been skating on very thin ice in the UK for a number of years. You and I know him as Ratty from Wind in the Willows but a rat he is not.  Scarce, yes: rat, no.

In fact conservationists warned a decade ago that very soon there would be none left – extinction within the British Isles was it seems a done deal. However, the water vole has made quite a comeback in several areas, thanks to environmentalists and not least its own remarkable fecundity. The Ark in Space reports on this happy tale from the riverbank.

Image Credit Flickr User Cracker08