A series of six programmes Across the Cactus Desert
The expedition camps for a month in an extraordinary desert where the world's highest temperature was recorded.
Morning, noon and night the animals respond differently to the problems of high temperatures and scanty water. In the early morning black-tailed hares are active. As the sun gets higher curious lizards appear, like the regal horned toad. At noon there are few creatures to see beside the soaring turkey vulture and grazing pronghom antelopes. At night the desert comes alive: elf owls pursuing beetles, rattle-snakes after kangaroo rats, poor wills catching moths, scorpions and tarantulas waiting by their holes for unwary insects.
Producer JEFFREY BOSWALL BBC Bristol