Desert Love Spirit Animals

🌵

🌞just a couple of desert animal inspired necklaces that will be part of my upcoming Desert Love Collection...a Desert Cottontail & a Donkey.... both are amazing desert dwellers but here is some amazing information about Donkeys & one of their techniques for desert survival...⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

“A new study shows donkeys are also friends to other desert animals and plants, as they dig deep wells that can provide a vital source of water...especially at the height of summer.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Biologist Erick Lundgren had read about African elephants digging wells that were the only source of water for other animals during the dry season, and wanted to know if donkeys might play a similar role in America.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

The idea was intriguing, "especially since donkeys and also horses are considered agents of biodiversity harm" as they are not native species in the region, he said.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Over the course of three summers, he and his team surveyed sites in the Sonoran Desert that stretches across Arizona and California.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

They found that wells dug by the donkeys to depths of up to six feet (two meters) increased water availability for many native desert species, and decreased the distances between important water sources during dry periods.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

The wells were especially important during the hottest and driest parts of summer, when they provided the only available water source at some sites.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Lundgren and his colleagues said in their paper that the wells will be increasingly important as human activity and climate change reduces the number of perennial streams in these regions. “—From phys.org article ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

How donkeys digging wells help life thrive in the desert -by Issac Ahmed

🌵🌞Here I am with one of my rescued donkey friends that I have made over the years ...I’ve honestly never met a donkey that I didn’t feel an instant bond too...they are so beautiful, inquisitive & kind!! So of course they are the animal inspiration for my Desert Love Collection & I will be giving a portion of the proceeds to this collection to Long Hopes Donkey Shelter www.longhopes.org to help with their rescue, rehabilitation & rehoming of donkeys... please check them out and donate if you can🌞🌵

🌵🌞Desert Love Collection release day Sunday, September 12,7 pm CDT