Death Valley is known as one of the hottest, most inhabitable places in North America. Yet against all odds—there is life in the tortoises, roadrunners, and coyotes that call the desert their home.

From a coterie of black-tailed prairie dogs just beyond the ranch fences, to a black widow spider in the barn stalls, there is much more to a Texas ranch than meets the eye.

From the looming peaks of the Chisos Mountains to the unforgiving Chihuahuan Desert below, see how this Desert’s Edge is teeming with life.

As the sun sets, head inside this Bat-nado to uncover an underworld bursting withlife. Bracken Cave is home to a Mexican-Free- Tailed bat maternity colony, currently forty million strong. Despite somuch life, death looms on the cave edges.

Travel down the Sabine River and uncover all the life, from American alligators to leafcutter ants, residing in the Gatorlands along the Texas-Louisiana border.