The historic plight of the saguaro cactus, in their chaotic flight from Mexico, was first discovered by Dr. Jose Welstud. Scoffed at and ridiculed by the scientific community, Jose spent countless nights in the desert. With night vision goggles, time lapse photography and probably a few bottles of his favourite red wine, he was able to catch the nighttime movement and migration of these mighty sentinels.
From Santa Pedro, a wizened aged saguaro in his final years, the sordid tale of desperate saguaro families fleeing first the Mexican Revolution and then the emergence of dangerous drug cartels came to light.
Forced to flee to Arizona at nighttime and encumbered by their snail-like, lumbering pace, saguaro familes became separated. Locating lost relatives and children from the thousands in saguaro refugee forests was akin to finding a needle in a hay stack.
Tales of younger saguaro who lacked loving parental guidance succumbing to local drug dealers with devastating, deforming results, plus...
....evidence of distraught, suicidal cacti, unable to locate beloved family members ...
... inspired Dr. Welstud to form Team SOS (Save Our Saguaros). Joining him in his efforts were Cacti Cathy, an intrepid desert hiker, and Jimmie Lensfeld, photographer and famous computer guru.
Team SOS were first tasked with providing medical assistance to saguaro injured during flight. Only after health issues were dealt with, could they hope to reunite families. Sorting the large number of wounded, plagued with broken limbs, frayed roots, and bodies gashed while flipping over border fences, was the task of Dr. Jose Welstud who set up highly efficient "tree-auge" units and care facilities.
Charged with the next, and definitely most difficult, step was Cacti Cathy. Working closely with Dr. Welstud ( some rumoured that they worked too closely), Cathy analyzed for DNA, fruit donated by saguaros in search of family members.
The intrepid hiker then headed into the desert, far too frequently with Jose and his red wine supply in tow ( that's for another blog ), following saguaro spoor, analyzing tracks, scents, and scat...
... in search of unique family signatures.
Renowned and self- proclaimed computer genius (?), Jimmie Lensfield, developed a homing device with which identified saguaro family members could be tagged.
Each honing device emitted a distinct signal that allowed tagged family members to slowly journey at nighttime towards each other. Team SOS members could follow the heartwarming movements of families on the bank of computer screens in their headquarters.
Remarkably, Team SOS seek no financial gain from their herculian efforts. In an effort to remind the public of this historic saguaro migration to Arizona, Jose Welstud continues to speak around the country ...
.... but freely admits that it is the joy exhibited by united family members, ...
...the nighttime smiles on their grateful faces, ...
... and the birth of new family members ...
... that has made his lifetime passion worthwhile.
This reporter would like to sincerely thank Team SOS for their compassion, tireless efforts, and for making a difference!
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