Nature in the Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area

What sort of flora and fauna can one see along the Oregon Desert Trail?  On a recent walk on the ODT through the Wilderness Study Area known as The Honeycombs we observed a few animals and plants.  It may have been a little too early for some of the creatures, but in the desert the plants usually don't flower for very long, and the animals are usually hiding because it's too cold, or too hot.  So our observations were strictly limited to the three days we were hiking the Trail.

Allium lemmonii.  Lemmon's onion.

Phlox longifolia.  Long leaved phlox.

Phlox hoodii.  Hood's phlox.

Taeniatherum caput-medusae.  Medusahead wildrye. 
Not native anywhere in North America.

Trifolium macrocephelum.  Big-head clover.  
The only native clover that has more than three
leaflets, usually five to eight.

Fritillaria pudica. Yellow Bells.
In the lily family it is also known as yellow fritillary.

Balsamorhiza hookeri.  Hooker's balsamroot. 
One of two species of balsamroot we saw.

Castilleja species.  Paintbrush.
Lots of species with variations of flower color.

Purshia tridentata.  Bitterbrush.
The scent of bitterbrush perfumed the air reminiscent
of sweetness and licorice.

Amilanchier utahensis.  Utah serviceberry. 
The smell of this flower is disappointing compared to
the smell of the Saskatoon serviceberry (A. alniflolia).  

Paeonia brownii.  Brown's peony.

Balsamorhiza sagittata.  Arrowleaf balsamroot.

The remains of a pronghorn.

Not quite a full curl from a bighorn sheep.

Side-blotched lizard.
One of the most common lizards in eastern Oregon.

Black widow arachnid.
Found in a springbox.  Just don't 
look in there.

Gopher snake.  Note the remains of medusahead
wildrye.  The small forb in the lower right is Alyssum
alyssoides, a common non-native spring annual.

Rumour had it that there were feral (or wild) horses in the area.  We never saw any, but they left their calling cards in big piles throughout the area.  A few mule deer were seen, as well as some lagomorphs such as cottontails rabbits.

All in all, a fine trip.  But not recommended if you are going to do that stretch anytime we might be doing it.  Stay away!  Thanks.