蜜柚直播

Marana has lost one of its oldest and most prominent residents.

A towering saguaro nicknamed Strong-Arm collapsed and died along the trail at the on Aug. 4 after a long bout with a bacterial infection. Its exact age is unknown, but experts believe it was at least 150 years old.

鈥淚t was older than the State of 蜜柚直播, that鈥檚 for sure,鈥� said Jason Grodman, natural resources supervisor for the Marana Parks and Recreation Department.

Strong-Arm had its own sign and everything. It was one of several 鈥渘amed鈥� saguaros within the preserve, which sits on 2,400 acres of 蜜柚直播 State Trust Land that Marana maintains under a 99-year lease.

What made this particular saguaro special was its sheer size and its dense cluster of arms. Mark Johnson once counted 34 of them from his Dove Mountain home that used to look out on the cactus.

He offered his 鈥渟emi-scientific鈥� 鈥� and very specific 鈥� estimate for Strong-Arm鈥檚 age: 161 years, which would have had it sprouting around the time of Abraham Lincoln鈥檚 inauguration and the start of the Civil War.

Johnson is one of the founding members of the Tortolita Alliance, a nonprofit neighborhood group that advocates for the continued protection of the preserve. He announced Strong-Arm鈥檚 death in a blog post on the alliance鈥檚 webpage a few hours after most of the cactus collapsed.

One long arm and three small ones remained standing until Aug. 6, when they toppled to the ground, leaving only the saguaro鈥檚 broken, 8-foot stump.

鈥淔ortunately there are a lot more saguaros out there,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 another good reason why we need to protect that 2,400 acres. We have to give the smaller saguaros a chance to become Strong-Arms.鈥�

鈥業n mourning鈥�

Mark and Kathy Dobbels live two houses down from Johnson. Kathy was startled by the sound of the cactus crashing down at around 4:30 a.m. on Aug. 4, though she did not know what the noise was right away.

鈥淚 thought someone was trying to break into the house,鈥� she said.

The Dobbels said a lot of people on their street 鈥� themselves included 鈥� often took their visiting friends and family members to see Strong-Arm and pose for pictures in front of it.

Kathy broke the bad news to the snowbirds in the neighborhood with a group email that went out to 16 people.

鈥淲e鈥檙e really in mourning,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e lost a good friend.鈥�

Mark said they noticed something wrong with Strong-Arm last summer.

鈥淚t just started looking more brown and more brown,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really sad. (A great-horned) owl family used to make a nest in it every year.鈥�

This was the second big saguaro that has died at their end of the preserve in the past year. Last summer, they lost one even closer to their backyard that they called Pancho.

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鈥淲hat else is there to do in a pandemic when you鈥檙e in a lockdown? Name the saguaros behind your house,鈥� Kathy explained.

It鈥檚 been a bad couple of years for big cactuses around 蜜柚直播, according to .

A number of aging giants have been wiped out recently by the cumulative effects of extreme weather events, including freezes, heat waves and powerful wind storms. 鈥淚t鈥檚 happening more often with less time in between, and the plants don鈥檛 have time to recover,鈥� he said.

Peachey only needed a few seconds to determine Strong-Arm鈥檚 cause of death: The plant was filled with bacterial rot from top to bottom.

鈥淭his was in lousy condition when it fell,鈥� he said as he examined the plant on Tuesday. 鈥淭o have all of those arms infected, this cactus lost the battle some years ago.鈥�

Very big loss

According to Peachey鈥檚 measurements, Strong-Arm stood more than 33 feet tall, with six, closely bunched main stems, each over 20 feet in length. Based on its size and the growth rates of other saguaros in the 蜜柚直播 area, it was probably somewhere between 150 and 175 years old.

鈥淟ong arms is one of the signs of an old, old cactus,鈥� he said.

The saguaro was in such a weakened state that it could have been toppled by almost anything. 鈥淎 gust of wind could have done it,鈥� Peachey said, 鈥渙r the weight just got to be too much.鈥�

Whatever the cause, Strong-Arm lived up to its name to the end, he said. 鈥淚t was riddled with bacteria and at the very edge of death, and it still held its form until the very last moment.鈥�

Its death leaves a hole in the local ecosystem.

For more than a century, the cactus served as both a neighborhood grocery store and an apartment complex for countless desert creatures, including bats, insects and birds such as the now-rare cactus ferruginous pygmy owl. A saguaro this size would have been a 鈥渕ajor producer鈥� of nectar, fruit and shelter, Peachey said.

鈥淲here are the woodpeckers going to go? And (without their holes) where are the elf owls and purple martens going to go? There鈥檚 a whole cascade of badness that this exemplifies,鈥� he said.

The initial collapse of the cactus blocked the recreational trail that loops through the preserve, so Marana鈥檚 parks department sent a crew out to clear a new path around the downed plant.

Two days later, the last remaining giant arm dropped off, blocking the trail once again. This time, Grodman said, the crew cut a section out of the fallen arm so hikers and mountain-bikers could pass through without slowing down.

But people have been stopping anyway. A handful of people made special trips to the preserve to check out the grisly scene, snap a few pictures and pay their respects.

There has even been some talk among the neighbors and others about holding some kind of ceremony in honor of Strong-Arm.

Grodman said whatever they do should be respectful, particularly to the Tohono O鈥檕dham, who think of saguaros as people, the embodiment of their ancestors.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to call it a memorial (service) necessarily,鈥� he said. 鈥淐all it a celebration of life.鈥�