WHAT TO KNOW
GOLDEN BARREL FARM: AN ECO-LODGE IN THE HEART OF THE DESERT
Located in the heart of the Anza-Borrego Desert, the Golden Barrel Farm eco-lodge is a unique retreat designed to blend luxury with the natural beauty of the desert. The Golden Barrel Farm eco-lodge was thoughtfully built to minimize its impact on the environment while providing guests with all the amenities of a high-end resort. Each room is elegantly furnished with comfortable bedding, modern amenities, and large windows that provide stunning views of the surrounding desert landscape. Golden Barrel Farms offers various activities to its guests, including hiking, bird watching, stargazing, and self-guided tours to explore the local flora and fauna. Visitors can also enjoy a relaxing soak in outdoor cast iron bathtubs, taking a nap in private outdoor daybeds, or sit by warm evening campfire. Golden Barrel Farms is an excellent choice for people looking to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoy the peace and solitude of the desert. Whether you are looking for an adventure or a relaxing getaway, the eco-lodge offers the perfect balance of luxury and nature in one of the most beautiful and unforgiving deserts in the world.
LOCAL DESERT FLORA
The Anza-Borrego Desert and the surrounding area is home to a diverse range of desert flora. Despite the harsh conditions of the desert, these hardy plants have adapted to thrive in the arid landscape and provide a unique and beautiful display of desert flora.
Golden Barrel Cactus (Echinocactus Grusonii)
The Golden Barrel Cactus (Echinocactus Grusonii) is a species of cactus native to central Mexico. It is a slow-growing, spherical-shaped cactus that can grow up to three feet in diameter and height. Its distinctive golden-yellow spines are arranged in clusters, and its round body is covered in small, golden-yellow bumps. The cactus produces bright yellow flowers that bloom in the summer, followed by red fruit. The Golden Barrel Cactus is also known for its long lifespan, with some individuals living up to 100 years or more.
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Teddy Bear Cholla (Cylindropuntia Bigelovii)
The Teddy Bear Cholla (Cylindropuntia Bigelovii) is a type of cactus that is native to the Sonoran Desert in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. It is named for its fuzzy appearance, which is created by long, hair-like spines that cover its cylindrical stems. Despite its soft-looking exterior, the Teddy Bear Cholla is armed with sharp, barbed spines that detach easily and can cause severe pain if they come into contact with skin. The cactus produces small, yellow-green flowers that bloom in the spring and summer, followed by small, spiny fruit. The Teddy Bear Cholla is an important food source for many desert animals, including rodents, birds, and insects, and is also used in traditional medicine. It is a popular ornamental plant in desert landscaping, although it requires careful handling due to its spines.
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Silver Cholla (Cylindropuntia Echinocarpa)
The Silver Cholla (Cylindropuntia Echinocarpa), also known as the Silver Pincushion Cactus, is a type of cholla cactus that is native to the Sonoran Desert in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. It is named for its distinctive silvery-gray color, which comes from a covering of tiny hairs that protect the cactus from the harsh desert environment. The Silver Cholla has cylindrical stems that can grow up to six feet tall, and each stem is covered in clusters of barbed spines that detach easily and can cause significant pain if they come into contact with skin. The cactus produces small, yellow-green flowers that bloom in the spring and summer, followed by small, spiny fruit that are an important food source for desert animals.
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Diamond Cholla (Cylindropuntia Ramosissima)
The Diamond Cholla (Cylindropuntia Ramosissima), also known as the Pencil Jointed Cholla or the Walking Stick Cholla, is a type of cholla cactus that is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It gets its name from the diamond-shaped segments that make up its cylindrical stems, which can grow up to eight feet tall. The Diamond Cholla is covered in clusters of sharp, barbed spines that detach easily and can cause significant pain if they come into contact with skin. The cactus produces small, yellow-green flowers that bloom in the spring and summer, followed by small, spiny fruit that are an important food source for desert animals.
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Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus)
The Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus) is a genus of cactus that is native to the Americas, particularly in the southwestern United States and Mexico. It is named for its distinctive spiny appearance, which resembles a hedgehog. The Hedgehog Cactus typically has a short, round stem and produces colorful flowers that bloom in the spring and summer. The flowers are usually red, pink, yellow, or white and have a waxy texture. The cactus is covered in sharp spines that can cause skin irritation or injury, and it is often used as a protective barrier around homes and gardens in the southwestern United States. The Hedgehog Cactus is also used in traditional medicine by indigenous communities for its anti-inflammatory properties.
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Beavertail Cactus (Opuntia Basilaris)
The Beavertail Cactus (Opuntia Basilaris) is a type of cactus that is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It is named for its flattened, oval-shaped stems that resemble the tail of a beaver. The Beavertail Cactus typically grows to a height of two to three feet and produces brightly colored pink or magenta flowers that bloom in the spring and summer. The cactus is covered in small, barbed spines that can cause skin irritation or injury. The Beavertail Cactus is an important food source for desert animals and is also used in traditional medicine for its anti-inflammatory properties. The fruit of the Beavertail Cactus is edible and is used in jams, jellies, and other culinary applications.
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Fishhook Cactus (Sclerocactus)
The Fishhook Cactus (Sclerocactus) is a genus of small cacti that are native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. They are named for their curved, fishhook-shaped spines, which are used to protect the cactus from predators and to anchor it in the sandy soil of the desert. Fishhook Cacti are usually solitary and grow to a height of four to six inches. They produce small, pink or purple flowers that bloom in the spring and summer, followed by small, edible fruit. Fishhook Cacti are slow-growing and can take several years to reach maturity.
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LOCAL DESERT FAUNA
Easily overlooked the Anza-Borrego desert is home to a diverse range of wildlife adapted to survive in the harsh desert environment. Despite the challenges of surviving in a hot and arid environment, many of the animals that call the desert home, and have adapted unique and fascinating ways to thrive in the desert landscape.
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Desert Bighorn Sheep
The Peninsular Bighorn Sheep, also called the Desert Bighorn, is at the top of the "most want-to-see" list of many Anza-Borrego visitors. This animal is endangered due to disease and loss of habitat, but there is a good population that can be found throughout Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
Peninsular bighorns prefer dry and rocky low elevation areas, between 300 and 3500 feet in elevation. During the summer months desert bighorns are most likely to be seen near sources of water. Some parts of the desert are closed to people during this time so the Desert Bighorn can have access to water without the fear caused by a human presence.
The bighorn sheep eats many different plants depending upon the season and what is available.
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Coyote
Coyotes can only rarely be seen throughout the day, but definitely heard at night yipping and yelping as they communicate their location to other coyotes. They are very social animals, but do not hunt in packs (like wolves). Coyotes are the ultimate survivors, cunning and intelligent, with the ability to adapt and survive in almost every environment. They are opportunistic feeders.
Eats: small mammals, birds, snakes, lizards, carrion, fruit, vegetation, and larger animals, particularly if they are weakened or young.
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Kit Fox
The desert kit fox is the smallest member of the dog family found in North America and common in the open desert, living in the creosote covered alluvial fans and the sandy washes of Anza-Borrego, where vegetation is sparse.
These foxes are mostly nocturnal, spending the hot part of the day in the underground dens. The best chance to see a kit fox is at night.
When you see a kit fox for the first time the thing that may seem most striking is the size of their ears. The oversize ears not only help with hearing but are also an adaptation to assist with cooling. The desert adaptations do not stop there; these foxes have a digestive system that gets most of the water they need from the food that they eat. They rarely need to drink water.
Eats: rodents, rabbits, ground birds, insects, snakes, and lizards
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Black-Tailed Jack Rabbit
The black-tailed jackrabbit is common throughout Anza-Borrego, particularly in the flat scrub desert, and is easily distinguished from the desert cottontail by its long ears and long back legs.
Like many desert animals, the black-tailed jackrabbit gets most of the water it needs from the plants that make up it's diet.
Jackrabbits spend the hot part of the day resting and keeping cool in shallowed-out depressions in the sand. Like cottontails, when trying to escape from a threat, the jackrabbit can run at high speed, up to 30 mph and run in a zigzag pattern.
Eats: shrubs, trees grasses, and other vegetation
Eaten by: coyotes, foxes, bobcats, hawks, owls, and snakes
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Desert Cottontail Rabbit
The desert cottontail is most active in the morning and late afternoon, and is a common sight around Borrego Springs, often feeding in large groups as the sun is going down.
Eats: grasses and other vegetation, and these rabbits rarely need to drink water, obtaining most of what they need from the foods that they eat.
Eaten by: coyotes, bobcats, birds of prey, and snakes
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Antelope Squirrel
The antelope squirrel is one of the few animals that is active during the hottest part of the day. They are frequently seen scurrying from bush to bush with their tail held high over their back. Antelope squirrels can tolerate body temperatures up to 108 degrees F, the highest of all mammals. When they do need to cool off they will stretch out, belly pushed flat on the ground in some shady spot with legs extended, to cool as much of their surface area as possible.
Eats: seeds, cactus fruits, other vegetation, and insects.
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Kangaroo Rat
The tiny kangaroo rat gets its name from it's very large and strong back legs and the way it moves around; they hop like a kangaroo and can jump up to six feet in one jump.
This tiny rodent has adapted perfectly to live in a dry desert environment. Kangaroo rats do not need to ever drink water in their entire life. Their body creates water from the dry seeds and other foods that they eat.
The kangaroo rat has a complex system of burrowing; the burrow not only provides a place to hide from predators and the heat of the desert sun, but also has different chambers for caching food, sleeping, and living.
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Side-Blotched Lizard
There are many different lizards that live in the Anza-Borrego Desert. The Side-Blotched Lizard is one of the most common ones. You will see it darting across rocks as you walk along a desert trail.
All reptiles are cold-blooded and they must warm up before they can move very fast. For this reason you will often see lizards sunning themselves on a rock.
Eats: insects, spiders, and scorpions
Eaten By: snakes, other lizards, roadrunners, and birds
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Stink Bug
When people think of "animals" they often don't think of anything more than mammals, like sheep and mice, coyotes, and deer. But the term "animal" is an entire kingdom of creatures and it includes everything from insects to birds, to fish, to reptiles, and those big mammals that usually come to mind.
The very common stink bug sometimes goes by other names ,like the "clown beetle", or the "Pinacate Beetle", It is often seen wandering the desert floor, especially on warm nights. When it’s very hot or cold, the stink bug lives in burrows of kangaroo rats or other rodents.
Eats: seeds, and plant and animal debris
Eaten By: ants, roadrunners, and other birds
The Stinkbug has glands that give off a smell to help protect it from ants and other desert predators. When disturbed or something comes too close, the Stinkbug will stand on its head to defend itself, giving a warning that it is about to spray. Don’t be scared of me, I am not harmful. But don't pick me up, either, because your hands won't smell very good afterwards.
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Harvester Ants
Harvester ants are the most abundant animal in the desert. They live in underground nests, and come out and forage when it warms up
Eats: seeds such as creosote seeds, mesquite seed pods, grasses, and also dead insects
Eaten by: spiders, lizards
See it: Look for a mound of sand with the entrance hole, often with a ring of seed husks surrounding the sand mound.
Harvester ants survive by working together and living underground to avoid the harsh desert conditions. Underground they stay cool, store their food, find water, lay eggs, and avoid predators. As a result, they are one of the longest-lived insects in the desert. Harvester ants work together in big groups called colonies (can have up to 12,000 ants in a colony) to collect food to feed ant larvae. They store the seeds in chambers near the top of the underground nests where it is dry, that way the seeds do not germinate. Harvester ants are an important part of the food chain. Please do not harm me.
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