The Sonoran Desert is the backdrop for many fascinating relationships between the spiky cactus some brave animals. Many birds call a Cactus home.  The Cactus Wren doesn’t seem to mind the sharp needles!
The birds make a home by digging with their beak into the green flesh of the saguaro and filling the hollow with nesting material. A scar forms around the hole creating a safe place for birds to raise their vulnerable young.
This is a cross section of a saguaro nest as a display in the Saguaro National Park East located in Tucson, AZ. When the saguaro dies the scar remains and has been named a saguaro boot or cactus shoe. The shapes are random but make excellent material to work with. The one below has been cleaned, sealed, mounted and adorned with copper, turquoise and and a saguaro carved from ironwood.
The texture is like thin wood. You can really see where the bird who made this nest pecked beyond it’s interior walls creating the spikes along the bottom. Saguaros are protected so finding a boot in tact in a collection area can be rare.  So happy to share with you.
