HikeArizona.COM

This afternoon I was wandering out in Tucson Mountain Park and stumbled upon a small bunch of javalina in a little wash. Made me think about the wildlife I've been lucky to see over the past few years ... bear, elk, bison, eagles, bighorn sheep, a bobcat, a gila monster, etc, etc, not to mention various unfriendly crawling critters. Never seen a mountain lion, but I heard one bringing down a deer one time, off in the woods. I was also stalked by a griz a couple years ago, up in the Tetons. I was never so petrified in my life.

So I'm curious ... what wildlife have you guys seen?

Hayley

Any suggestions on good locations in AZ to see wild horses?

Sun Ray wrote:Any suggestions on good locations in AZ to see wild horses?

Turf Paradise with a mint julep

There is a herd of wild horses up around the area between Willow Springs lake and Heber. They have been complaining and trying to figure out what to do with them for awhile. Articles alot in Payson paper.

There are no true wild horses in America. Only feral horses. They are very destructive to various landscapes around the west, although they are enjoyable to watch.

There are also feral burros near Yuma and all along the lower Colorado River.

I hear that there's a white one roaming around the McDowells right now....

desert spirit wrote:I saw a desert tortoise yesterday in the Sonoran Desert Nat'l Monument, out by the Tabletop Mt. trail. And a couple of weeks ago I saw something up in Pima Canyon ... I just caught the quickest glimpse of it, and I'm not sure what it was. It looked to be about the size of a large house cat, and all black. A young fox, maybe?

Sure sounds like a fox. I've seen quite a few in the Catalinas.

One thing about around here in Yuma--you don't see as much wildlife as I am used to seeing. I have seen a coyote, and a lot of birds. However, down along the river there are a lot more animals, plus an incredible number of water birds.

It is easier to list the ones I have not seen:

mtn lion, jaguar, sasquatch, wolf

Animals I have seen:

Many bears (a few up close as in yards away, and one sow w/ cub, rim country, White Mtns, Chiricahuas), bobcats (Supes, desert), javelina (all over), coatis (Aravaipa Canyon), skunks (including mex spotted, everywhere), porcupines (rim country, White Mtns), badgers (rim country), turkeys (rim country, White Mtns), deer (mule and Coues, all over), antelope (rim country, White Mtns), many, many elk (some very, very close, rim country, White Mtns, Mazatzals), tarantulas (all over), desert tortoises (varios desert locales), gila monsters (ditto), eagles (rim country), condors (Grand Canyon), grouse (scarier than quail, rim country, White Mtns), coyotes (everywhere), foxes (ditto), one ringtail (Pinalenos), various snakes (everywhere, the coolest being a large blacktailed rattler near 4 Peaks), feral burros (various desert locales), bighorn sheep (ditto), a vermilion flycatcher (possibly the coolest bird I have seen in AZ, Aravaipa Canyon), chuckwallas (White Tanks), collared lizards (Grand Canyon), bats (all over), hawk chicks in a small cave in a cliff face that acted like they wanted to rip me to pieces (rim country)...probably a few more I can't think of.

Do illegal aliens count? Sorry, that wasn't very PC, was it...

pc sucks. carry on. bless the terrier pissing in the water tank that illegals use to drink from.

Yeah, I'm not really sorry, I guess the sarcasm didn't come through... ;)

Here are some of my alltime favorite close encounters with wildlife:

- I came face to face with a bighorn ewe in the Eagletail Mtns. She was wearing a radio collar, and even though she was only a few yards away, she didn't run. I suspect she had spent some time in captivity. Her friends were a different story. When they looked up and saw me, they practically tripped over one another as they ran past me to escape. She finally followed when she realized they were leaving her behind.

- I may have mentioned this in another thread, but I called in a bear once by yelling "Hey, Mr. Bear, c'mere!" He was only about 30 yds away when I finally decided I better shoo him away.

- My daughter and I were backpacking in the Chiricahuas when a Coues doe took a liking to our camp one night. She spent the entire night pawing at the ground and eating something, fungus maybe. She wouldn't even run away when one of us would get up to take a pee.

- My daughter and I were hiking around in the rim country, wearing leafy suits and carrying elk calls. We saw a herd of cows and calves, and started calling. One calf broke away from the herd and approached, and at one point was actually standing between us. Either of us could have literally reached out and touched it.

- I was in Jacks Canyon, east of Starlight Pines, and looked up at the canyon wall and saw two hawk chicks sitting on a small ledge. They quickly disappeared to the back of the ledge. I climbed up for a closer look, and when I peeked up over the edge, they were huddled in a small, shallow cave at the back of the ledge. When they saw me, they started hissing and lunging. I retreated before they ripped my face off.

- I have called in javelina a few times. They come in woofing, with their hackles raised, and get very close...a bit unnerving if you aren't ready for it.

big_load wrote:The thing that gets me most is when a flock of quail explode out of the brush right in front of me.

Ya I have had the living daylights scared out of me by those quail on sooo many hikes ><

azbackpackr wrote:There are no true wild horses in America. Only feral horses. They are very destructive to various landscapes around the west, although they are enjoyable to watch.

There are also feral burros near Yuma and all along the lower Colorado River.

Yes, the feral horses are a problem, but I hear T Boone Picken's wife is going to adopt them all. Let's see how that works out.

Within a year or two of moving to Ahwatukee, I was coming home one evening well after dark and a couple burro's ran across the road in front of the car. Later heard they lived on the rez to the south and wander up into civilization once in awhile.

The ringnecked phesant is known for sitting until you almost step on it, then exploding with a deep sound and lots of wing flapping, which will startle the bejeezus out of you, just like the quail.

I saw 2 cool animals within 20 min past summer. I was hiking to Tower Mountian in the Bradshaws. Im going along and a momma bear with 2 cubs ran by. It was awesome. About 20 min later a bobcat ran across the path and stopped 20 yards away and stared at me. I was surprised of how small they are. They had a short tail and pointed ears so i knew it was bobcat

The ringnecked phesant is known for sitting until you almost step on it, then exploding with a deep sound and lots of wing flapping, which will startle the bejeezus out of you, just like the quail.

Jackrabbits will do that, too. It's amazing how a jackrabbit can turn into a mountain lion to your hiker's eye when it explodes out of a blackbush inches away from you.

As an aside, I think I may have run into a living specimen of Aethiopithecus boisei on the trail the other day...

Jeff MacE wrote:As an aside, I think I may have run into a living specimen of Aethiopithecus boisei on the trail the other day...

I've dated some of those.

Today I saw a mink running through the snow along the bank of creek I was fishing in. I've never seen one of those before, but I'm glad I did, because I couldn't figure out what kind of tracks I was seeing in the snow. Sort of like a cross between a small raccoon and a rabbit.

I've dated women who I thought were minxes, but turned out to be australopithecus afarensises. Possibly gigantopithecuses.

so James, Rosie O'Donnel in other words...

I was walking around Squaw Lake the other day. Squaw Lake is this gorgeous reservoir formed upstream from Imperial Dam on the Lower Colorado River. It is on the California side of the river, pretty much. There were burro tracks and raccoon tracks all along the trail. We talked to someone who was staying there in a motorhome and he said sometimes the burros run through the motorhome camps. He said there are a lot of big muleys (mule deer) around there of a particular type called "burro deer." He was duck hunting with boat and retriever dog. He said he sees a lot of bobcats and coyotes around there.

We also met someone with kayaks there who let us use one of their tandem boats!

The wildlife we saw was entirely avian: egrets, ducks, coots, quail, etc.

To get to Squaw Lake, take Hwy 95 north from Yuma to the "big guns," and make a left. Can't miss the guns, they mark the entrance to Yuma Proving Grounds. Follow this road, drive across the river into California (where you can see Imperial Dam) and turn right on Senator Wash Road, and follow that until you can't go any further, following signs to Squaw Lake. You will pass Senator Wash Reservoir on your left as well.