I just encountered a grey fox running across Broadway Road in Tempe (my second fox sighting with a mile radius in the past 6 months) and it got me thinking of all the wild animals I've had the fortune of seeing on my many years of adventures. The fox in Tempe is probably the most unusual for its urban location, but others are memorable too.
Reptiles:
Western Diamondback
Black Tailed
Arizona Black
Speckled
Prairie
Mojave
Rock
Tiger
Twin-spotted
AZ Mountain Kingsnake
Gopher
Desert Tortoise
Gila Monster
Birds: Too many to list (plus I have no idea what most of them are. These are notable though.) Bald Eagle
Golden Eagle
Great Horned Owl
Condor
Turkey
It makes me realize that there are only a few creatures in this state that I haven't seen but would like to. I think
Ocelot
Chupacabra
Grey Wolf
Jaguar
What have you seen, or what is still on your wish list?
Last edited by chumley on Apr 29 2021 1:31 pm, edited 3 times in total.
I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies.
toddak wrote:If I don't see a gila monster one of these days, I'm gonna be ticked!
I up to two dozen in 12 years of active hiking in Arizona so one might think I'm pretty lucky. But I see it more as providing a better opportunity for luck to happen by lots of off-trail hiking in areas conducive to Gila Monster sightings.
I've seen most, but not all on these lists. I keep an Arizona list. Yes, I've seen moose, in the Tetons. I've also seen wild monkeys and capybaras in Costa Rica. But those don't go on the same list. Back to Arizona: I haven't seen an elegant trogan. Plenty of raccoons and beavers, since I live on the riverbank all winter.
A friend saw resident otters in the Colorado River near Bullhead recently, but I haven't seen them yet. I hadn't known they were there. I'll have to go kayaking down that section of river again.
I've seen two dead badgers, but no live ones. Wolves, bears, mountain lions, foxes and bobcats, yes. Jaguars, no. Plenty of coatimundis, ringtails, javelinas and bighorns. A few gila monsters. Only one golden eagle. Lots of condors at Grand Canyon and at Navajo Bridge. But I'm told there are tagged condors in the mountains east of Bullhead--I want to see those. Plus all the usual. I don't keep a list of reptiles, although I well remember the cute desert tortoise I saw in the Galiuros one time.
As for bison, they are taking over up on the North Rim in the Park, busily trampling water sources and archaeological sites, so head that way if you want to see them. Or, to be more accurate, beefalo. It's like a zoo over there.
There is a point of no return unremarked at the time in most lives. Graham Greene The Comedians
A clean house is a sign of a misspent life.
On a 7 day back pack in Wyoming’s Wind River Mountains some of the few people we encountered were a couple of hikers near a junction. They were engrossed in something on the trail, and when we got close we saw it was a small badger hissing and spitting at everyone. Another time in the Nebraska Sandhills I was walking a property boundary and saw dirt flying up over the brush. When I got close I could see it was a rather large badger. Neither one of these critters showed any fear or apprehension of the much larger animal (me); and I am sure had I gotten closer I would have come out on the short end of it. These are digging machines, well equipped with sharp long front claws. If only they could be trained to dig post holes!
I've seen several Gila Monsters on the AZT desert passages, 16 and 19 specifically. Saw a coti driving up to Rustler Park, and a slew of ringtails on Wilderness of Rocks Trail, also at Reavis Ranch one year. Saw my first and only AZ bear at the AZT/Bray Creek crossing. May have seen a mountain lion crossing the highway on the pass between Reno and Sacremento, and a wolf in northern Minnesota. That's my story for these two and who's to prove it wrong.
My son and I were in the Winds years ago, he got up early and was fishing. As I joined him we heard splashing and saw a moose grazing the bottom of the lake not far from him. Another time near Pinedale, WY I was driving around early waiting for things to open up, and saw a moose eating the tops of the willow bushes. What made that seem strange it that it was 10 below zero at the time. Golden eagles are common in WY, and when the migrating deer are getting slaughtered crossing the highways the eagles sit on nearby powerlines after lunching on road kill.
Shawn
The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see.
Seen a wolf by Greens Peak and a badger not too far from there. By far the huge red macaw in a sycamore at Sunflower was most impressive. Unfortunately our current four legged hiking companion is most efficient at keeping us safe from seeing anything that breathes.
There are badgers in Spur Cross Ranch Conservation area. If you don't already, you should follow them on Facebook as they post wildlife cam shots all the time.
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"It's not the mountains that we conquer, but ourselves"
I saw a badger walking along the north fence of Luke Air force base once. I pulled over to get a good look, the badger was not a happy camper. I wouldn't like to tangle with one.
This is an interstate raccoon. I took the photo in late November. They get into the dumpster at my RV park in Needles, CA, which is on the riverbank. We're only a few yards from the Arizona border, which runs down the middle of the river. Presumably this one grabbed someone's garbage and ran for the border. Interstate transport of stolen goods, a felony. It's why he's wearing that mask.
Saw a javelina at work yesterday, as I was exiting the backdoor, it was probably 20 yards away. We made definite eye-contact. Our parking lot opens right into the desert (McDowells), so it bolted into the desert as I fumbled in my pocket for my phone to take a pic
hippiepunkpirate wrote:Saw a javelina at work yesterday, as I was exiting the backdoor, it was probably 20 yards away. We made definite eye-contact. Our parking lot opens right into the desert (McDowells), so it bolted into the desert as I fumbled in my pocket for my phone to take a pic
Next time you make a GC trip, let me know...
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"It's not the mountains that we conquer, but ourselves"
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