The monsoon rain this year was hit or miss and so any water source, no matter how small, benefited the animals. Not just for drinking, but for attracting prey species including insects and small mammals. These water sources also offered an opportunity to cool off from the intense desert heat. This bear visited the spring several times over a week, drinking his fill of water and then laying in the water to nap and cool off.
Tag: Wildlife
Mountain lion flehmen response
Last week, this beast of a mountain lion stopped by the latrine area (a spot that multiple cats use for communication, like a big little box). You can see him first respond to the site with the Flehmen response, which helps him smell better, pheromones in particular. He then leaves a urine “scrape”, letting other mountain lions and animals know h was there.
Little bear antics
Bears are still out and fattening up in the Sky Island mountain ranges in Arizona. This sow and her cub visited the bear wallow for a swim several times over the last couple of weeks. It won’t be long before they find their cave and curl up for the winter.
Desert bighorn sheep over the city
This trail cam video capture was a really nice surprise! These bighorn sheep are part of the translocation of bighorn to the Catalina mountains by Tucson that started in 2013. I suppose it’s possible that some of these individuals are offspring of the original animals that were re-introduced at that time.
A new mountain lion
Recently, two of my trail cams caught this female mountain lion passing through a desert canyon. She’s recognizably different than the other lions that frequent the canyon. Specifically, the cuts in each of her ears and more broadly, her body condition, hip structure, and the tip of her tail all indicate a new lion. Also, you can see she has two noticeable open wounds, one on each side of her body. I wonder what her story is? Hopefully, the trail cams will catch her again.
Desert Tortoise Battle
Back at the desert tortoise den, the camera recently captured two tortoises battling, presumably, for territory. Although, these could also be a male and female interacting. I’m hoping the camera catches more action before the tortoises hibernate for the winter so we can better figure out what’s going on.
Bighorn sheep
Bighorn sheep were re-introduced to this mountain range about 12 years ago. Since then my trail cams have caught them, now and then, on the opposite side of the range they were released into. The video shows a mixed herd of males and females. The photo is an edited screen capture from the video.
Copyright: Desert bighorn sheep by Greg Joder
Desert Tortoise
A couple months ago, I set a trail camera at the entrance of a desert tortoise den. The tortoise came and when a few times, often during the heat of the day. Based on her morphology, she’s likely a female. She shares her den with a rock squirrel and a packrat.
Sleepy bear
This tiny waterhole in the Sonoran Desert is generally really popular with birds and small mammals. Recently, though, a bear has decided it’s a great place to rest and relax. He spent about an hour there, just hanging out. The spines in his muzzle are from prickly pear cactus and, based on the nearby bear scat, he was eating the cactus fruits.
Thirsty mountain lion
The Sonoran desert monsoon season has been a disappointment so far. Overall, not much rain. While some areas have had localized heavy downpours, other areas have been missing out and remained pretty dry. For a few years now, a couple friends and I have been hauling water to important dry waterholes that would otherwise be full from a decent monsoon season. The water this mountain lion is drinking is water hauled to the site. Thankfully, since this video was captured, there have been a few more rain showers that filled this waterhole and others in the area.
My Earth 