In the beginning, there was the desert, and it was a vast expense of sage brush broken only by a crossroads with a Gilmore gas station. This place was then known to men as "Crumville". And it came to pass that the wrath of the Navy needed testing, and the desert was the chosen place. And from Washington came forth the word: "Let there be NWC". And it was so. |
The Naval Weapons Center (NWC) comprises 2,100 square miles of what is condescendingly called desert land. Ringed by mountains, the central and southern portion of the NWC range contains isolated playas, or dry lakes, China Lake being the largest of these. Numerous wildlife species make NWC their home, with most mammals and birds preferring the brushy mesas, canyons, and the forested ridges of the Coso and Argus Ranges. Within this setting opportunities abound for the serious field biologist to study both flora and fauna.
Our wild burros were in the news awhile back. Their problem was, and is, there are too many of them. They eat almost every kind of grass or weeds right down to the ground. They multiply to the starvation point, and deprive other species of vital browse while they are at it. It takes a hardy soul to defend the poor burro. Actually, so-called burro is Spanish for a small horse; donkey is slang for duncan, meaning something like a horse but with long ears. The right name is ass--the same kind as in Biblical times--coming from North Africa to Spain to the New World and to NWC. Hearing them bray in the distance is reason for some people to call them desert canaries. Prospectors used to sometimes set their pack animals free when they struck it rich.
Wild horses compete with the burros, but in smaller numbers. They are in four distinct herds from 6 to 10 animals each. Back in the 1870', a man named Bill Landers grazed horses in the area. He imported some Arabian stallions to produce better stock. When Bill died, his heir didn't bother to round up his stock. Sometimes a herd can be seen on some nearby hilltop, poised behind the leader stallion and surveying the intruding vehicle or person on foot. One could almost imagine a war party of Indians sitting on them. Once while roaming on Wild Horse Mesa I saw an ancient gray horse that the herd had left behind to die. Cattle graze at NWC under a permit issued by the Bureau of Land Management.
The desert bighorn sheep is still to be found in the Argus Range, but seldom within viewing distance. When so-ca1led deer tracks are seen near one of the springs below Maturango Peak, these are probably bighorn tracks since there are seldom any deer at NWC.
I once saw a beautiful big mountain lion sauntering around a miner's shack at the top of Burro Canyon. It had a reddish tan coat and I was so close I could see the cats muscles ripple. While still within range, I took a color photo of it, but its color matched the ground so closely that I never could find the animal in the picture.
The State Fish and Game chose NWC to plant Indian chukar, because the birds would be fully protected and have a chance to establish themselves. After precarious beginnings, these "chuck-chuck-chuckarr"-talking game birds now rank with the mountain quail and valley quail on the north range. and they have migrated far and wide. Many hunters tell stories about running some of the birds uphill to get within shooting range, only to have their prey say "Chie-u" and take flight back down to the valley.
Fenced watering holes called "guzzlers" have been built to tide the birds over the dry summer months. These are designed in such a way as to give refuge to baby birds from the Cooper Hawk, fox, coyote, and bobcat predators. The mascot bird at NWC is not the chukar, but the chaparral cock, ground cuckoo, or desert cuckoo-commonly called roadrunner. Its main interest in life is to kill rattlesnakes.
What would be a desert without rattlesnakes? NWC has a few. Some can be found congregating with the rabbits at the golf course. Sidewinders are likely to be anywhere, and when not moving they like to bury themselves in the sand. The Mojave Green, having both blood and nerve toxin, has now displaced many of the Pacific rattlers and is still moving north. This dangerous snake can be confused with the Panamint variety since it may have a similar pink color. In other words, the Mojave Green is seldom green, but could be tan, brown, gray, or pink in hue. To tell them apart from other rattlers you have to count scale plates on their noses. You can do that, not me!
There are thousands of bighorn sheep here, but only in pictures. The Indian rock carvings at Renegade and Big Petroglyph Canyons show the Shoshone "hunting magic" theme. Many different figures were carved into the granite walls and boulders, between 1,000 and 3.000 year. ago, but only a few can now be deciphered. The petroglyph areas are a part of the natural setting which is watched over by the NWC Natural Resources. Manager, Tilly Barling.
Weapons testing seldom involves live warheads so there aren't many bomb holes around, and most missile junk is hauled away after it hits the ground. Public visits to the more interesting areas are permitted on weekends when missiles don't fall. Maturango Peak and Burl Parkinson Peak are popular climbs. Fortunately, Coso Peak is no longer on the list. Besides, climbers scaling the blockhouse and radar antenna on its summit make the Admiral huffy. Once or twice each year I take See-airy Club and other people on a petroglyph tour and we climb the peaks from our camp at Junction Ranch.
