A winter storm cut loose from the mountains, the cold wind whipping around the creosote, rain dripping down through the swamp-cooler vent: 2025 came in like a Lion and it’s the Year of the Snake. We’ve got both out here, in the Mojave Wilderness. Mountain lions, or cougars. And snakes, too, although it’s still a bit early to see our reptile friends up here at 4,000 feet elevation. (Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver, written & hosted by Ken Layne.)

Desert Oracle Radio (c)(p) 2017-2025  DesertOracle.com

A winter storm cut loose from the mountains, the cold wind whipping around the creosote, rain dripping down through the swamp-cooler vent: 2025 came in like a Lion and it&rsquo;s the Year of the Snake. We&rsquo;ve got both out here, in the Mojave Wilderness. Mountain lions, or cougars. And snakes, too, although it&rsquo;s still a bit early to see our reptile friends up here at 4,000 feet elevation. (Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver, written &amp; hosted by Ken Layne.)
Desert Oracle Radio (c)(p) 2017-2025&nbsp; <a href="http://DesertOracle.com">DesertOracle.com</a>

Desert Oracle Radio is a weekly road trip through the weird American desert from the publisher of Desert Oracle, the pocket-sized field guide published in Joshua Tree, California. Hear tales of mysterious lights, missing tourists, lost mines, venomous creatures, weird history and weirder people. Hosted by editor Ken Layne and featuring a cast of intriguing mystics, oddballs, scientists and artists, Desert Oracle Radio is your soundtrack for a desert night. The program is broadcast on Friday nights at 10 p.m. on KCDZ 107.7 FM in the Mojave high desert, with field reports from around and across the desert lands, and is distributed by Public Radio Exchange (PRX).

Desert Oracle Radio

Mysterious lights, missing tourists, lost mines, strange apparitions, magical rituals, false prophets & sinister characters. Weird tales from the wild places. This is Desert Oracle Radio, by Ken Layne, broadcasting from a Mojave mountaintop since 20&17.

Mysterious lights, missing tourists, lost mines, strange apparitions, magical rituals, false prophets &amp; sinister characters. Weird tales from the wild places. This is Desert Oracle Radio, by Ken Layne, broadcasting from a Mojave mountaintop since 20&amp;17.

Surrounded in the Night

Here’s how the Channel 12 news in Phoenix began the story, Thursday night on the 10 o’clock news: “God sent that dog to rescue my son.” These words were spoken by the toddler’s father, Corey Allen, outside the family’s home on the west side of rural Seligman, Arizona. Corey Allen says he was working on the roof, Sarah Allen was inside with their youngest. And two-year-old Bodin Allen went outside to play.

But when Bodin Allen’s mom called for him, he didn’t answer. He wasn’t there. And after an hour of frantic searching beneath a darkening sky, the Allens called the Yavapai Sheriff’s Department and before long there were dozens of search-of-rescue volunteers and deputies searching the area. Helicopters with spotlights scoured the plateau, the pilots reporting two mountain lions prowling the territory. A rancher named Scotty Dunton discovered the blond-headed toddler, seven long miles away from home, deep into the backcountry to the west. The boy was coming up the driveway, along with Scotty Dunton's big ranch dog, Buford the Anatolian Pyrenees. This is EPISODE #141: THE VANISHING BOY with soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Written & hosted by Ken Layne.

Thanks for supporting this advertising-free program on our Patreon.com/DesertOracle page.

Here&rsquo;s how the Channel 12 news in Phoenix began the story, Thursday night on the 10 o&rsquo;clock news: &ldquo;God sent that dog to rescue my son.&rdquo; These words were spoken by the toddler&rsquo;s father, Corey Allen, outside the family&rsquo;s home on the west side of rural Seligman, Arizona. Corey Allen says he was working on the roof, Sarah Allen was inside with their youngest. And two-year-old Bodin Allen went outside to play.
But when Bodin Allen&rsquo;s mom called for him, he didn&rsquo;t answer. He wasn&rsquo;t there. And after an hour of frantic searching beneath a darkening sky, the Allens called the Yavapai Sheriff&rsquo;s Department and before long there were dozens of search-of-rescue volunteers and deputies searching the area. Helicopters with spotlights scoured the plateau, the pilots reporting two mountain lions prowling the territory. A rancher named Scotty Dunton discovered the blond-headed toddler, seven long miles away from home, deep into the backcountry to the west. The boy was coming up the driveway, along with Scotty Dunton's big ranch dog, Buford the Anatolian Pyrenees. This is EPISODE #141: THE VANISHING BOY&nbsp;with soundscapes by <a href="https://redblueblacksilver.bandcamp.com/">RedBlueBlackSilver.</a> Written &amp; hosted by <a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B004R8RY2S">Ken Layne</a>.
Thanks for supporting this advertising-free program on our <a href="http://Patreon.com/desertoracle">Patreon.com/DesertOracle page.</a>

The Vanishing Boy of Yavapai County

It's a cool & pleasant springtime in the Mojave High Desert. The hummingbirds are lingering on the branches of creosote and catclaw, looking around for the flowers. Where are the flowers? Well, that’s always the guessing game up here, isn’t it? Sometimes they’re evident by the end of March, sometimes it’s the beginning of May. Varies by terrain, by altitude, by a hundred little differences from spring to spring, in this forward motion of our lives. ALSO: Traveling Doc Holliday's West.

 

It's a cool &amp; pleasant springtime in the Mojave High Desert. The hummingbirds are lingering on the branches of creosote and catclaw, looking around for the flowers. Where are the flowers? Well, that&rsquo;s always the guessing game up here, isn&rsquo;t it? Sometimes they&rsquo;re evident by the end of March, sometimes it&rsquo;s the beginning of May. Varies by terrain, by altitude, by a hundred little differences from spring to spring, in this forward motion of our lives. ALSO: Traveling Doc Holliday's West.
&nbsp;

Spring Forward With the Desert Birds

Happy Ides of March, happy St. Patrick’s Day, and happy five-year anniversary of the COVID-19 lockdown — the beginning of it anyway: 15 days to slow the spread . . . not a great slogan, for what it cost, but that’s what we got. Much of the world is much the same as it was five years ago. Same iPhone, same president, same daylight savings time. Where did the lockdown time go? What did it do to us?

Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Thanks for supporting this advertising-free broadcast at Patreon.com/DesertOracle.

Desert Oracle Radio (c)(p) 2017-2024 http://DesertOracle.com

Happy Ides of March, happy St. Patrick&rsquo;s Day, and happy five-year anniversary of the COVID-19 lockdown &mdash; the beginning of it anyway: 15 days to slow the spread . . . not a great slogan, for what it cost, but that&rsquo;s what we got. Much of the world is much the same as it was five years ago. Same iPhone, same president, same daylight savings time. Where did the lockdown time go? What did it do to us?
Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Thanks for supporting this advertising-free broadcast at <a href="https://Patreon.com/DesertOracle">Patreon.com/DesertOracle.</a>
Desert Oracle Radio (c)(p) 2017-2024 http://DesertOracle.com

Surrounded in the Night

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