Another 'Tail' of Two Reptiles

Photo by Fred Heath 7/21/2012

Fred tells the tale of the tails:

We did the Sabino Canyon Butterfly Count on July 21, 2012. This count is carried out in a 15 mile diameter circle which includes all of Sabino Canyon as well as all the areas along the General Hitchcock Highway to the top of Mt. Lemmon. As has been my custom for the past few years, I lead a group into Sabino in the morning and then head up the mountain as the day gets hotter. This year because of threatening weather, the number of participants was small. In fact only Karen McWhirter [you'll remember her from this post] was able to join my morning foray into Sabino. As it was mostly overcast, the butterflies were not flying and we only managed to find a few individuals of a dozen species. However our rattlesnake count was phenomenal with three seen. The first was found by a couple who was right behind us on the Creek Trail. As we were looking at a Tiny Checkerspot, they mentioned that they had just seen a rattlesnake a few yards down the trail which we had missed entirely. We quickly doubled back and found a Tiger Rattlesnake (above) along the trail. As we proceeded to the area above the dam near the hummingbird feeders, Karen spotted a Western Diamondback. Below the dam we noticed a family looking intently at the base of scrub into which another Tiger Rattlesnake was heading. I guess the cloudy weather allowed the snakes to stay out and about later in the morning, even if the butterflies didn’t find the weather agreeable.

Yes, another Ornate Box Turtle  7/28/2012

More from Fred:

I noticed last week that your blog contained Mark’s sighting of an Ornate Box Turtle. I thought that was pretty exciting even though it had suspicious origins, especially since I had never seen one before. On this past Saturday, we did another butterfly count in the Chiricahua Mountains. Again it was somewhat overcast most of the day, but we still saw a good number of butterflies anyway. However, at the SW Research Station we were shown a beautiful Black-tailed Rattlesnake. I was starting to think I should be doing rattlesnake counts instead of butterflies. However, that wasn’t our best reptile of the day. As it rained heavily that afternoon, we ended the counting and headed west out of the mountains. As my wife, Mary, was driving about a mile west of the Chiricahua National Monument entrance in the grasslands, she saw something which she thought may have been a turtle on the road. Or maybe it was just a rock. She made a quick U-turn and sure enough it turned out to be an Ornate Box Turtle (above), the first we had ever seen! Mary helped it to the road margin before we drove off.

Thanks to Fred and Mary for making today's post a breeze!

Pincushion & Pollinator

Photo by Ned Harris 7/29/12

The Fishhook Pincushions (Mammillaria grahamii) are blooming (again)! Wonderful colors after some big rains. Look low and look under other plants. These are generally less than 6 inches tall.

Tail of Two Reptiles

Photo by Brigitte Kreigenhofer 6/24/2012

Same photo, cropped

Brigitte writes:

When we were photographing [the coachwhip], the gila monster walked out in front of me. They shared a few glances, but aside from that they ignored each other. The gila monster continued on her path to some brush on the other side of the snake and the coachwhip just stayed in the immediate area. It was quite the amazing experience!

Ratany

Photo by Matt Ball

Range Ratany (Krameria erecta) is also blooming in Sabino Canyon. It's a low shrubby plant and the flowers are smaller than they appear here. Actually, much smaller. The hot pink 'petals' are really the sepals. (Sepals are the - usually green - parts that protect the bud before the flower opens.) The flower is the greenish-yellow part in the middle. Three petals above, 2 below. Ratany photosynthesizes, as plants do, but it also taps into the tissues of nearby plants and steals water and nutrients. Like Desert Mistletoe (Phoradendron californicum), Range Ratany is a hemi-parasite.

Blooming now!

Photo by Matt Ball

Desert Senna (Senna covesii) is blooming now! All along the road to Bear Canyon. Go check out these beautiful members of the Pea Family.

Update on Box Turtle

From a wildlife specialist (Turtles' project) of AZ Game and Fish Department: 

Wild box turtles are rare in the Tucson area in general. Historically, they are native to just a few areas in the Tucson area - for example along the Tanque Verde, Aqua Caliente, and Rincon Creeks; the area around Sabino is consistent with these former populations. However, box turtles are kept commonly in captivity in Tucson, and I am not entirely convinced that this box turtle is a native "wild" turtle. It was seen in the residential area just south of the park the week before you saw it (it had moved about 2500 ft). It also had a little bit of "pyramiding" on the shell, which is something we see in captive turtles because of nutritional deficiencies. Even though we aren't sure about its wild or captive status, we are going to keep the data point nonetheless. Maybe it will be seen again!

And from David Lazaroff:

Looks like another box turtle has escaped from someone's yard, south of the Forest boundary, and stumbled into the Recreation Area. This one is just a few years old at most--a turtle toddler. Thanks for posting its portrait.

Thanks, Mark, for turning in a report and letting me post this update.

Unicorn plant

Photo by Carol Tornow 7/23/2012

Unicorn plants (Proboscidea althaeifolia) are in bloom. There's one along the road, about 1/4 mile into the canyon on your left. Another is in the 'circle' where we park for the elementary programs by the dam.