Diverse Arizona Wildlife on and around our Property

Growing up in Colorado I have spent a lot of time in the mountains and looking for wildlife was always a fun hobby while out hiking or fishing. I did not necessarily consider that living at around 3000 feet in the Mojave Desert in Arizona would offer wildlife watching of its own. Of course the actual animals are different but we have been fortunate to encounter a wide variety of Arizona wildlife on our off-grid property.

Spiders and Insects in Arizona

Spiders and Insects make up a good portion of the wildlife we see and encounter around our property. What makes these animals so interesting to me is how foreign so many of them seem to me. It almost seems unbelievable that I live in a place where these seemingly exotic creatures live in the wild.

Tarantula

Huntsman Spider

Tarantula Hawk

Ghost Ants

The photo below is something I found when I flipped over a rock. What I believe I encountered here are Ghost Ants. They were pretty crazy looking and I do not think I have ever seen ants like these. Of course once again here is an insect that looks like it should be from another planet.

Birds

Flickers

The birds in the following photographs are Flickers. Flickers are similar to woodpeckers as we hear the “knocking” on the Ocotillo and other structures. I am thinking these are called Gilded Flickers. Anyhow, the photos below capture a really cool moment where there were five Flickers in the same Ocotillo at the same time.

The photo above is cool because you can see a couple of the birds landing on the Ocotillo. The color and pattern in their wings is really beautiful.

I think I was only able to capture four of the Flickers at a time in these photos. I am not 100% sure because the birds blend in well. Look closely, and you may be able to find five of the birds in one of these photos.

Mourning Dove

House Finch

These birds come in the spring and when they show up in the mornings they show up in the hundreds. They hang out in the Ocotillo or they poke around on the ground looking for seeds.

Gambel’s Quail

Once again I am not 100% sure about the exact species of quail we get on our property, but I think they are Gambel’s Quail. Either way we get tons of them. Sometimes they show up in groups of 50 to 75 birds. The quail especially love to show up right after I have raked an area. I suppose I stir up seeds or insects or something they like. Whatever type of quail they are, we love having them around, they are sort of like desert chickens.

Reptiles

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

We get a few rattlesnakes pass through our property each year. For the most part they are Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes, which fortunately are not as aggressive as other types of rattlesnakes.

The snake in the photo below was set up in a small vegetable garden. The garden had stepping stones throughout that I would use for watering the plants. Well one morning I was out watering and I did not notice this snake in the garden. It laid there completely silent until I was just about seconds away from pouring water out of my watering can on to the snake.

This means I was within striking distance, probably only 18 inches away. At that moment, just before I was about to accidentally pout water on the snake, it gave me a pretty quick and concise rattle of its tail, and I jumped a mile away. It just about scared the life out of me.

But the point is they live out here and for the most part they do not want anything to do with people. In this case, the snake was just hoping I would pass by, and did not even rattle its tail until the last possible second and fortunately it did not strike. It also goes to show how camouflage these animals are when they are just coiled up around a bunch a rocks.

Horned Lizard

This is one of my favorite Arizona wildlife photographs from our off-grid property. Can you tell what it is at first glance?

Of course once you see it, you will be able to tell there is a Horned Lizard laying in the gravel. I just love how this photo demonstrates the animal’s camouflage.

Whiptail Lizard

We have several types of little lizards that we see running around but these Whiptail Lizards are actually quite big. They probably measure about 12 inches long from nose to end of tail. The two you see in the photo below are about to go through a pretty intense mating ritual.

As you can see in the photo below, the Whiptail Lizard is another reptile that is equipped with camouflage to blend in with the desert.

Final Thoughts about Arizona Wildlife on our Property

We love our encounters with the amazing Arizona wildlife on our property. We are so fortunate to have a spot where the Mojave Desert meets the Sonoran Desert. We are also in a transition zone where the desert meets the mountains, so we get a wide variety of wildlife. In addition to the wildlife listed above we have encountered several other animals. We have had many coyote come through. We have seen Kit Foxes running around. We have even spotted a couple deer near our property.

In addition to the wildlife we have spotted on our property, we have seen several others within a 10 mile radius of our land. Javelinas and Roadrunners, for instance. And, there are a ton of birds in this area that we have yet to identify.

In short, it has been fun spotting and identifying new species of Arizona wildlife, and we will do our best to update this page as we identify new species!!