Desert Kid and the Desert Animals

Desert Kid was walking alone in the desert area that was close to his home. Desert Kid lived just outside of Kelowna, BC. Kelowna is part of the Okanagan Valley. Parts of the Okanagan Valley are known as Canada’s only desert.

It was a warm autumn afternoon. Desert Kid heard the familiar sound of a rattlesnake. He was probably basking in the sun on some rocks just up ahead of him.

Desert Kid felt threatened by the rattlesnake. As a matter of fact, there were a few desert animals that he felt threatened by, such as coyotes and cougars.

“It would be nice if we could all get along,” said Desert Kid to himself. “We all have to live in this desert together.”

Desert Kid thought about the three desert animals that he felt the most threatened by. He knew the rattlesnake could bite him so what he did was always listen for the distinctive rattling sound that a rattlesnake makes. He always carried a stick with him and that way he could poke the stick into the grass and sage brush. Usually a snake would run away.

Desert Kid thought about the coyotes that live in the desert. He did feel threatened by them because they do have very sharp teeth and claws. However, coyotes usually go after small prey such as mice and moles. They don’t normally attack humans.

The one desert animal that he was the most threatened by was the cougar. Cougars are big wild cats. They have very sharp teeth and very sharp claws. There is an old saying, “never trust a cat”.

For the most part, cougars will hunt at night and sleep during the day but Desert Kid would not want to come across a sleeping cougar. He has heard stories of cougar attacks and sometimes those attacks do not end well.

“I try to stay as far away from cougars as I can,” said Desert Kid to himself. “They are the one desert animal that I feel the most threatened by.”

Desert Kid continued walking through the desert. He saw a rattlesnake basking in the sun. He went over to him and started talking to him.

“I am not threatened by you,” said Desert Kid as he approached the snake.

“You’re not,” said the rattlesnake, surprised.

“No,” said Desert Kid. “You and I must live in this desert together so we must learn to get along.”

“I agree,” said the rattlesnake. “There are only two desert animals that I feel threatened by. One is the coyote and the other is the cougar.”

“I don’t feel threatened so much by the coyote,” said desert Kid. “But the cougar, that is a different story.”

“You are right,” said the rattlesnake. “The coyote is a much less threat than the cougar.”

“So,” said Desert Kid. “Let’s go find a coyote and tell him we are no longer threatened by him.”

“Good idea,” said the rattlesnake.

Desert Kid and the rattlesnake walked through the desert together. They spotted a coyote off in the distance. He was out hunting for mice.

“We aren’t threatened by you anymore,” said Desert Kid to the coyote.

“You aren’t,” said the coyote.

“No,” said Desert Kid. “We aren’t. We all live in this desert together so we must all learn to get along.”

“That makes sense to me,” said the coyote. “Of all the desert animals, there is only one that I am threatened by and that is the cougar.”

“We feel threatened by the cougar too,” said the rattlesnake.

“Let’s go talk to the cougar,” said Desert Kid. “If we go as a group, maybe the cougar will understand that we just want to all get along.”

“Good idea,” said the coyote.

Desert Kid, the rattlesnake and the coyote walked through the desert. It took awhile but they finally found a cougar. It was sitting high up on a pile of gigantic rocks.

“We are not threatened by you,” said Desert Kid.

“Really,” said the cougar, kind of baffled by Desert Kid’s boldness. “I’m kind of speechless.”

“We all live in this desert together,” said Desert Kid. “We must all learn to get along with each other.”

“I think you have a very good idea,” said the cougar, once he was able to collect his thoughts. I would be so much happier if we could all get along.”

“Good,” said Desert Kid. “I believe we will all feel happier. The desert is a really great place to live and I think our new pact will make it an even better place to live.”

Desert Kid and he three desert animals all learned to get along with each other and they were all very happy.