Organ Mountains-Desert PeaksJunior Explorer |
Junior Explorer guide to Dripping Springs Natural Area at Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument (NM) in New Mexico. Published by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
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Bureau of Land Management
Junior Explorer
Dripping Springs Natural Area
Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument
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BLM/NM/GI-05-8300
Junior Explorers and the BLM
The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Junior Explorer Program helps introduce
young explorers like you to the lands and resources that the BLM manages. This is
the Junior Explorer activity book for Dripping Springs Natural Area - a special area
within the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, located outside
Las Cruces, New Mexico. You can work through the activities on your own or invite
a sibling, parent, or an adult you know to join you. Complete five or more of the
activities in this book, and show them to a BLM staff member at the Visitor Center
or mail it to the BLM office in Las Cruces. Then, take the Junior Explorer pledge
on the back cover and sign the certificate. You’re on your way to exploring and
protecting America’s public lands.
If you are mailing it, be sure to include your return address.
Mail to:
Bureau of Land Management
ATTN: Junior Explorer Program
1800 Marquess Street
Las Cruces, NM 88005
Public Lands Belong To You!
The BLM is a Federal government agency that takes care of more than 245 million
acres of land. Most of these lands are in the western United States. These lands are
America’s public lands, and they belong to all Americans. These public lands are
almost equal in area to all the land in Texas and California combined.
The BLM manages public lands for many uses. The lands supply natural resources,
such as coal, oil, natural gas, and other minerals. The lands provide habitats for
plants and animals. People enjoy the big open spaces on the lands. The lands also
contain evidence of our country’s past, ranging from fossils and Indian artifacts to
ghost towns.
Illustrations for this book by Lorenzo Moreno.
Leaping Lizards
Here are pictures of lizards you might see at Dripping Springs. Can you identify what
kind of lizards these are? Check in the Visitor Center Kids’ Corner for a poster to help
you identify them.
Did you see any of them on your hike? If you did, make notes next to the picture about
what it was doing when you saw it. *Challenge - mimic the movements of the lizards
you saw.
h
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Ma the Tracks
Draw a line from the track-maker to the kind of track it makes.
Ringtail
Roadrunner
Hiker
Coyote
Mountain Lion
Lizard
Take a Hike
Hike up the La Cueva Trail and look for the plants shown below. Place a check mark
in the box next to the plant if you find it along the Trail. Also, complete the nature
notes on how you felt and what you saw, smelled, and heard on your hike.
Sotol
Yucca
Fish Hook Cactus
Nature Notes
Prickly Pear Cactus
In the box below, draw a plant that you see on the
trail and is not pictured above.
Do you know its name?
Color and Draw
Color in the picture and draw some of the plants you
see along the trail.
The Hermit
A man who people called the Hermit
lived and died in La Cueva.
There is a panel with information
about him there. Use that panel to
answer the following questions:
1. Where was the Hermit born?
2. What was his real name?
3. When did he die?
4. How did his friends in Mesilla know that something was wrong?
Sounds of Nature
Sit in one place, close your eyes, and listen.
What do you hear? Draw the different things you hear in the space below.
Dripping Springs
Trail
What kind of wildlife did you see on the Trail?
Hike Dripping
Springs Trail. As
you hike, circle the
things you see in this
picture. Take notes
in the box below of
what the wildlife was
doing and what the
historical buildings
used to be.
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Nature writers, and phis coyote
artists,e inspired by t e or tell a
Becom nd either writ oing on here.
scene about what is g
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Adaptations
Prickly Pear
Cactus
Western Diamondback
Rattlesnake
Animals and plants have had to adapt in order to
survive. Match the adaptation listed below with the
plant or animal that it best fits. Write the numbers
in the circles.
Ocotillo
Ringtail
Mule Deer
Jackrabbit
Roadrunner
1. This animal has adapted to run at high speed through the desert to remain
camouflaged, avoid recognition from predators, and to hunt successfully.
2. This animal has excellent eyesight and hearing, which are both helpful
adaptations for a nocturnal animal.
3. This plant is a large shrub with long cane-like unbranched spiny stems. It is
adapted to its environment by sheding small leaves during dry spells. It has a
shallow but wide root system, which it uses to gather rain-water
4. This animal’s large ears help it to lose heat, thereby cooling its body temperature.
5. This plant has an advantage in the desert because it has fixed spines instead of
leaves. The green pads produce the plant’s food, and loses less water than leaves.
6. This larger animal has adapted to living in the desert by being active during night
and early morning hours in warmer seasons.
7. This animal is a pit viper. This means that it has a heat sensing pit (loreal pit)
behind each nostril that can detect differences in temperature, allowing it to detect
prey.
Leave No Trace
The Leave No Trace Principles are seven simple guidelines to follow when visiting Dripping
Springs Natural Area and other public lands in order to leave the area the same or better
than when you arrived.
*Know before you go: Be prepared with the right clothing, maps, and knowledge
about the area.
*Choose the right path: Stay on the trail in order to not hurt nature.
*Trash your trash: Pack it in, pack it out.
*Be careful with fire: Use existing fire rings and camp stoves, and make sure your
fire is out cold.
*Respect wildlife: Watch animals without bothering them or their homes.
*Be kind to other visitors: Others have also come to enjoy nature, so be courteous
and quiet.
*Leave what you find: Leave nature as you find it. Take pictures and leave only
footprints.
Fill in the blank, or tell an adult what you can do before, during, and after your visit
to Dripping Springs Natural Area to follow the seven Leave No Trace Principles:
Before my visit, I can....
During my visit, I am going to....
After my visit, I will...
The member-driven Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics teaches people how to enjoy the outdoors responsibly. This
copyrighted information has been reprinted with permission from the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics: www.LNT.org.
Fun Nature Facts
Did you know?
d Some biologists estimate that a mule deer’s sense of smell
is up to 1,000 times stronger than a human.
d The Organ Mountains have over 800 species of plants and host some 80 species of
mammals, 185 species of birds, and 60 species of reptiles and amphibians. Some of
these plants and animals can only be found in the Organs, like the Organ Colorado
Mountain Chipmunk, Organ Mountain Primrose, and Organ Mountain pincushion
cactus.
d Scorpions are covered with several layers of wax so they loose water very slowly -
making them ideal desert dwellers.
d An agave’s flowering stalk can grow nearly a foot in just a single day.
d The Organ Mountains emerged from the molten interior of the Earth in a complex
sequence of violent eruptions, lava flows, structural warping and fracturing, and
relentless erosion.
d Although roadrunners cannot fly for more
than a few feet at a time, they can run up to
speeds of 15 miles per hour.
d When diving for prey, peregrine falcons can
reach speeds up to 200 miles per hour.
d Getting outdoors and exercising has proven
mental and physical health benefits for both
adults and children.
Junior Explorer
Certificate of Achievement
Date Sta
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p
He
re
_______________________
is a Bureau of Land Management
Junior Explorer for Dripping Springs Natural Area!
As a Bureau of Land Management Junior Explorer, I promise to:
do all I can to help preserve and protect the natural and cultural resources
on our public lands;
be aware of how my actions can affect other living things and the evidence
of our past;
keep learning about the importance of nature and our heritage; and
share what I have learned with others.
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Explorer’s Signature
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BLM Staff Member’s Signature