HikeArizona.COM

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.

Mammals:
Mountain Lion
Black Bear
Coatimundi
Javelina
Porcupine
Skunk
Grey Fox
Ringtail
Bobcat
Teva
Elk
Feral Horse
Burro
Bighorn Sheep
Fluffy sheep
Deer
Pronghorn
Raccoon
Otter
Beaver
Bison

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?

We saw 6-8 bighorn sheep on the side of the road at the high point of Gonzalez Pass today off the 60. Seems like an odd spot to see them. Not sure if they were up from Picketpost area, maybe Wood Canyon? White? Seems a bit far to travel from the safety of the steep slopes of the Supes, if that is where they came from.

friendofThundergod wrote: ↑Apr 11 2021 7:40 pm We saw 6-8 bighorn sheep on the side of the road at the high point of Gonzalez Pass today off the 60. Seems like an odd spot to see them. Not sure if they were up from Picketpost area, maybe Wood Canyon? White? Seems a bit far to travel from the safety of the steep slopes of the Supes, if that is where they came from.

The only ones I've seen anywhere in that part of the state were where @azbackpackr took me rafting on the Salt.

Fun topic. I once saw a badger while biking in reach 11.
I 've also seen most all on list. I missed a group of rattlesnakes on the ride home from an ML. Also missed the wooden bear on same ride.

friendofThundergod wrote:We saw 6-8 bighorn sheep on the side of the road at the high point of Gonzalez Pass today off the 60.

Woods Canyon
(Through the years I have seen many up on the cliffs along Hewitt Canyon Road from the Roblas Butte area to Byous Butte)

BobP wrote: ↑Apr 11 2021 8:30 pm Fun topic. I once saw a badger while biking in reach 11.
I 've also seen most all on list. I missed a group of rattlesnakes on the ride home from an ML. Also missed the wooden bear on same ride.

I've almost given up on seeing a badger in AZ. I've plenty of likely badger dens, but they don't keep good hiking hours.

Nice day of wildlife sightings in the Ancha yesterday. We saw bighorn sheep on the drive in, (which was a first for me in that area) and this guy.

Which route did you take ? Both Rocky Mountain and Desert Bighorn up there.

@Nighthiker Oh really? That’s cool. We actually saw them on the drive in, just before Parker Canyon. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure if they were in the Ancha until I saw them.

So in the middle of the day and then for a long period early one morning I have been serenaded (and at close range) by wolves out here in the Blue Range since last week, but the rain seemed to have knocked them down. I appear to be smack in the middle of a pack’s territory according to the pings on the wolf tracker page. Anyways, after deciding to relocate my camp due to some nasty weather just now, I saw my first Mexican Grey Wolf out here. It was way larger than I expected and fast, it moved across the road pretty quickly. I assumed it would only be a story to tell, but as I was nearly standing on top of my 4Runner for a better look it came back and ran by through the woods. My phone camera was on zoom because I thought I might catch a glimpse of its butt or something. I was not expecting it to come back and be so close. Anyways, here are two perfect first wolf pics to share, they are blurry use your imagination, lol.

@friendofThundergod
That's awesome. I've dreamed of seeing, or at least hearing, a wild wolf. There are now wild wolves in far northern California so perhaps I'll get lucky one day.

@friendofThundergod
That's wonderful. Unfortunately, I didn't hear any when I was in the area.

@friendofThundergod
That's great. Unfortunately, no matter how much I enlarge your photos I can't see anything that looks like a wolf.

@azbackpackr Top center, between the two big trees.

@LindaAnn
Okay, thanks, I see it.

@azbackpackr lol I’m more proud of the audio of them howling, that brush was thick and I didn’t expect him to come back, plus some excitement etc, not my best work...

A couple users asked me about sharing the audio of the wolves howling, someone suggested uploading them to YouTube as a means to share.

[ youtube video ]

[ youtube video ]

@friendofThundergod
That's great! I bet that made your hair stand up a little bit! Thanks for sharing.

@azbackpackr It definitely was attention getting lol, It’s also funny, because years ago, I convinced myself I heard them out there, I now know it was coyotes. I will never mistake a coyote howl for a wolf again! It’s just so much more guttural. Not even comparable. We heard some coyotes on the NM side a few days later and it made me chuckle lol, they sounded like house cats in comparison! lol

friendofThundergod wrote:A couple users asked me about sharing the audio of the wolves howling, someone suggested uploading them to YouTube as a means to share.

Awesome audio! I hope one day I'm lucky enough to see one.

@friendofThundergod
Definitely do not sound like coyotes!