We spent Saturday night at Palo Verde camp and enjoyed a gargantuan potluck dinner, perhaps even larger then our Thanksgiving meal at Baboquivari. Afterwards, during the merriment around the campfire, someone happened to see the ice axe I just happened to bring along and the Desert Rat Test was called for. The karma was just right and with Dennis Baker standing on an ice chest and holding a lantern high overhead to simulate a twinkling star (it was overcast and sprinkling) we administered "The Test" to more than 20 successful Desert Rats. Even assistant Maris finally passed. Diane and several others twinkled their way to a second or even third completion. Ben Bernard became the youngest Rat. Patty Carpenter and Anna Miu-Ling Leong each climbed their 6th DPS peak and passed "The Test" to become full-fledged Section members. The next morning Lisa Freunalich ran 9 miles out to the highway while Dennis and Diane race out on their mountain bikes. The rest of us drove north on a very good dirt road (much better than the standard approach on Gene's map) to Elegante Crater (map enclosed) and continued on to Mexican Highway 2, a total of 21 miles. The crater, 800 ft deep and 1-l/4 miles across, is a worthwhile and awesome sight. My thanks to Maris Valkass and Elden Hughes for assisting ably. --RON 1985 DPS MEMBERSHIP ROUNDUP - CONGRATULATIONS AND WELCOME TO THE FOLLOWING NEW AND RE-INSTATED MEMBERS: R. E. AGNOS, JOHN GIBBA, STEPHEN BRYANT, TOM NEELY, DENA ROSS, JOHN RIPLEY, BOB WATSON, BOB FERGUSON*, JIM FARKAS, JOHN SARNA, ANNA LEONG, BARBARA RAUB, DOROTHY CALLISON, TERRY & SUSAN MOORE, JUDY WARE, JOHN CONNELLY AND MEL LEES. *DPS SECRETARY DOES NOT HAVE ADDRESS FOR BOB FERGUSON. ANYONE KNOWING THIS ADDRESS OR AWARE OF ANY OTHER ERRORS OR OMISSIONS PLEASE COMMUNICATE WITH SECRETARY.

The Kangaroo Rat is actually quite attractive as rats go. Its back is soft gray or pale brown, crossed by white hip stripes on its lower back; its stomach is white. Long-tailed, its overall length is between 8 and 16 inches. Found in the dryer regions of the west, the Kangaroo Rat is a solitary, quarrelsome fellow who will fight other Kangaroo Rats to the death except at breeding time. Spring is breeding time. Two to five to a litter, blind at birth, and born with very short legs and tails, the little ones are weaned at about 3 weeks of age. Each Kangaroo Rat lives in its own individual burrow, where it stores seeds carried there in external cheek pouches. It seldom drinks water. Like a kangaroo, the Kangaroo Rat hops and jumps on its hind legs, using its slender tail to keep its balance. It can leap up to 8 feet in a single bound!

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