Monte Desert not only common, but tall cacti even appear in the more hospitable areas of the desert. The fauna of the area is also very similar to that of the Patagonian Desert, only in greater diversity and number due to the Monte's more hospitable conditions. Small mammals like mice abound and larger animals like the guanaco and burrowing owl can be found as well. Monte Desert The Monte Desert is a South American ecoregion, lying entirely within Argentina and covering approximately the submontane areas of Catamarca, La Rioja, San Juan, San Luis and Mendoza Provinces, plus the western half of La
Patagonian Desert known by name are those of the Tehuelche complex. Tehuelches lived as hunter-gatherers and did not practise agriculture in lush valleys found in the desert. In the 18th and 19th centuries the northern part of the desert came under Mapuche influence during a process of Araucanization. Mapuches came to practise horse husbandry in the northern part of the Patagonian steppe. Mapuche tribes came to control trade across the desert and traded with the cities of southern Chile as well as Buenos Aires and the Cuyo Region. From the mid-19th century onwards several Argentine and European settlements, some of them sporadic,