When the temperatures start to rise as summer comes to the Sonoran Desert, any water source becomes a critical lifeline for all the desert critters. Birds, reptiles, insects, and mammals large and small regularly visit these waterholes. In this case, over the course of a month, a mountain lion stopped by only once on her rounds through her territory. The water at this spot has since dried up, so hopefully there are more water sources to be found deeper in the canyon.
Common sonoran desert mammals
Javelinas, raccoons, ringtails, coatis, gray foxes, coyotes, bobcats, black bears, and mountain lions are regular, year around residents of the Sonoran desert region. The animals in the following video were captured on my trail cams in my yard and in Sky Island mountain ranges in SE Arizona.
A thirsty mountain lion
As the days get hotter and water sources begin to dry up a small pool of water can attract big wildlife. In this case a magnificent mountain lion stopped by for a long drink.
Black bears out and about
My trail cams have started catching black bears again. The first one this year was on April 4th at the bear wallow. In the following videos a bear marks a tree and another enjoys a wallow at the secret spring.
Nesting screech owls
This is year seven for the screech owls to use the backyard nestbox. They successfully fledged offspring the previous 6 years. Typical clutches started with three to four eggs with all nestlings fledging and hanging around the yard for a month or so, while learning the ropes from their parents before dispersing. Last year there were five eggs, but only one survived to fledge (I suspect secondary poisoning from rodenticide). In this video the male brings his mate a gecko snack while she incubates her eggs.
Four mountain lions
One of my cameras was lucky enough to capture a mountain lion family at a desert waterhole. The “kittens” are close to leaving mom and venturing off by themselves.
Mountain Lion Beast
This beast of a mountain lion stopped by a desert waterhole for a long drink last week. This summer’s monsoon rainfall in SE Arizona was well below normal, so water sources are few and far between. This spot not only provides water for top predators, but also mice, various bird species, deer, skunks, ringtail cats, and more… #waterforwildlife
Sleepy bear in the sonoran desert
This type of trail cam capture makes me happy because it shows an animal relaxed and comfortable in her own environment. Granted, she is a top predator and the only other predator around that would bother her is a mountain lion or human. The camera captured only about 11 minutes of video, but the bear was there for about one hour, sleeping, scratching, and resting. The water source she drinks from is a small pool left over from the summer monsoon rains. When I checked the camera, I dug out a bunch of sand, making more water available for the other desert critters who also visit this site. They include various bird and insect species, striped and hog-nosed skunks, gray fox, ringtail cats, coatimundi, and white-tailed deer.
Mountain lion romance?
First, a female mountain lion passed by the seep and scrape site. A few days later, a big male maintain lion passed by. Hoping for kiddoes next year!
A black bear and cub take a swim
After a few months away from this location, I recently returned and reset a trail camera pointing at the small seep-filled pool. Since it has been so dry, despite some monsoon rains, I was hoping this spot would attract wildlife like it had in previous years. This morning I checked the camera and as it turns out, just yesterday there was a fun visit by a sow and her cub. Notice in the first clip of them, the mother bear pulls her cub into the water, encouraging her to swim.
My Earth 