Jan
28
2014

Pride Goes Before a Fall

Posted in John's Musings by john

thumbs_harrishawk4lab300Harris’ hawks have always been one of my favorite desert dwellers. They have been called wolves of the desert because of their habit of hunting in “packs”. I have often watched two or three of them chasing rabbits near my house. They are also remarkable in that young from previous breeding seasons often help their parents raise their brothers and sisters in the following years.   I have often photographed Harris’ hawks and other birds of prey in their nests in tall saguaros.  I did this by carrying heavy metal scaffolding deep into the desert, building a tower and placing a blind on top, from which I took my photos.  On one calm spring day, having just completed one of my towers, I stood proudly on top.  Suddenly, a violent dust devil arose nearby. It moved closer, picked up steam and came directly over me!   I held on tight and the tower began falling toward the cactus covered desert floor!  Fortunately, we met a palo verde tree on the way down that broke our fall. I felt very lucky to walk away unharmed. Imagine what would have happened if the tree hadn’t been there and I had landed on a cactus instead!  The tower wasn’t so lucky, and was badly bent. I now secure my towers at each level as I build them. Whenever I travel down the dusty road where the nest was, I stop to kiss the palo verde, which didn’t fare so well when the tower crashed on top of it.  I  learned an important lesson that day– expect the unexpected — because the Sonoran Desert is predictably unpredictable. This event also supports the adage that “pride goes before a fall”.