Busy tourist season expected as Osoyoos Desert Centre opens
Osoyoos' Desert Centre has opened its doors for the season.
The staff and volunteers are dusting off the shelves to prepare for another busy tourist season.
One winter visitor to the centre – a packrat – helped himself to a few pelts from one of the display tables, but the remainder of the exhibits are in place and ready.
The antelope brush has just started to bloom, and a special discovery was made a week ago.
Desert Centre staff recovered approximately 1,000 tiny Great Basin Spadefoot Toad tadpoles from a pond on site. The tadpoles, most still in their transparent egg sacks, were removed for fear of losing them to salamanders who share the pond.
The tadpoles are being kept in an aquarium at the centre and are on display to the public.
The recovery ensures that these tadpoles will develop and add to the numbers of this vulnerable species of toad.
The Spadefoot Toad gets its name from the spade-like appendages on its back feet, which enable the animal to kick into the sand and burrow away from the hot sun.
Environmental science student Laura Machial is looking forward to taking visitors on the boardwalk trail and educating them about the Osoyoos desert, which is one of North America's most fragile and endangered ecosystems.
The Desert Centre is now open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., with a guided tour at noon. Special group tours can also be arranged.
Hours and the number of tours increase in the summer season, and each year under a full summer moon, the Desert Centre holds an evening fundraiser event called Romancing the Desert. This is a chance for the public to see the desert night life and support the Desert Society's efforts to rescue, restore and preserve this important ecosystem.
Membership in the Desert Society is only $15 per year and includes a newsletter, reduced entrance fees and a vote at the annual general meeting.
Volunteers who wish to join the Desert Centre team should call Joanne Muirhead at 495-2470, or long distance at 1-877-899-0897.
The centre is located just north of Osoyoos and off Highway 97.
Its website is www.desert.org
