Q 01/05

Which piece of cowboy gear is believed to take its name from chaparral, the thorny brush riders crossed?

A) Spurs

B) Chaps

C) Lasso

D) Stetson

Answer · why

B) Chaps

Chaps is short for chaparreras, the leather leggings Mexican horsemen wore so that thorny scrub would not shred their legs. A rival theory ties the wo...

Q 02/05

Which bird, the state bird of New Mexico, is also known as the chaparral cock?

A) Bobwhite

B) Killdeer

C) Prairie chicken

D) Roadrunner

Answer · why

D) Roadrunner

Roadrunner flight is weak, so it spends most of its time on the ground and can sprint at about 20 mph. It belongs to the cuckoo family and eats young ...

Q 03/05

Which word for Mediterranean scrubland became the name of French Resistance bands in World War II?

A) Maquis

B) Garrigue

C) Bocage

D) Camargue

Answer · why

A) Maquis

Maquis comes from the Corsican word machja, the dense shrubland that covers most of Corsica. The label did not exist in January 1943, yet soon meant b...

Q 04/05

Western fence lizards of the chaparral carry a protein that rids ticks of the germ behind which illness?

A) Spotted fever

B) Tularemia

C) Lyme disease

D) Relapsing fever

Answer · why

C) Lyme disease

Lyme disease is rarer where these lizards live, because a tick that feeds on one is cleared of the bacterium and can no longer pass it on.

Q 05/05

What does the coast horned lizard of California's chaparral squirt from its eyes to drive off predators?

A) Venom

B) Blood

C) Tears

D) Musk

Answer · why

B) Blood

Blood can shoot up to 5 feet from the corners of the eyes, and it tastes foul to dogs and cats. The lizard builds pressure in its head until tiny vess...