Chapter 4 Cliffrose and Bayonets Summary and Analysis

Abbey takes inventory of his garden, the plant life blooming among the rocks in the national monument under his care. Among these are cliffrose and Spanish bayonets, two strikingly different species. Mule deer browse peacefully on the cliffrose blossoms, while the Spanish bayonets repel all but the one species of moth that comes to pollinate and deposit eggs in a symbiotic relationship. The date is May 1, and life bursts from the garden profusely for a desert region. All is not well with nature, though. Natural predators, like coyotes, mountain lions and wolves, have been hunted down too much, resulting in overpopulations of deer and porcupines. The deer over browse areas and the porcupines kill pinion pine trees by eating the bark.

The author has a favorite juniper tree that grows close to the trailer. Part...