Animals In The Desert That Eat Cactus

A number ofinsects are parasites on these cacti.

Animals in the desert that eat cactus. The Cactus Wren is found in arid deserts of the Southwestern United States and Mexico. These insectivores then fall prey to the most dangerous carnivores in the desert the snakes. Many small animals such as bats and mice eat cactus in the dessert.

Although the Coyote eats other animals it can also survive on the prickly pear cactus and its fruits. What can a desert animal eat. The collared peccary a type of hog eats the prickly pear cactus.

The plants are adapted to live in extremely dry desert climates and store large quantities of water in their stems. The collared peccary a type of hog eats the prickly pear cactus. Some of the animals that can eat cactus are Camels Ground Squirrel Jackrabbits Gophers Prairie dogs Galapagos Land Iguana Horses Packrats Woodpecker Eastern Cottontail Collared Peccary some cows and horses Alpaca etc.

Camels can feed on the entire cactus plant including its fruits and thorns. The fruit is eaten by jackrabbits peccaries deer squirrels birds iguanas tortoises and beetles. During drought animals will often go for the most common type of cactus prickly pear.

Some rodents rabbits andhares. Ranchers burn off the spines so that cattle can graze on them. The jackrabbit normally eats grasses but it will eat cacti during droughts.

Javelinas a piglike animal like a small version of the wild boar of european forests eat prickly pears too spines and all. Usually the wrens will build nests in the prickly spines of a cactus such as a cholla see picture at right. The collared peccary a type of hog eats the prickly pear cactus.