Moving to AZ - research thread

Excellent strategy,!

 

I’ve seen more mountain lions than raccoons and we have plenty of both.

You should find the news story of the 3 lions that ate a guy at the top of Ina road about 8-9 years ago.

 

https://www.kgun9.com/news/local-ne...rt-on-trail-died-then-eaten-by-mountain-lions

 

If that's the one I'm thinking of, it wasn't that long ago. He was murdered before that happened, though.

Edit- yup, that's was the one I was thinking of. Guess he was left to die, not dead at the time.

 

Welcome! If you're into the occasional off road/camping "SOAZ Off-road" on the ol' Facebook is a bunch of pretty cool people. Goes for everyone interested! Very active with all sorts of vehicles. Yes some jeep too but we keep them in line. I live NW Tucson area and love it here. Came here 20 years ago from CA. Not by choice but choose to stay because I loved it.

 

Fun mt lion story - i grew up with direct access across the street form our house that went up a wash to the Coronado National Forest boundary behind Immaculate Heart. We always had indoor/outdoor cats growing up to keep the mice/rats in check. Of course we’d lose a cat every now and then to coyotes or some other predator.

I was about 10 years old when I heard a cat fight outside on the side of the house. I grabbed my dad’s Red Rider and went to find what was messing with our cat. I’m walking though a little drainage ravine between our house and the neighbors and pass under a 30 foot eucalyptus when this lion jumps down out of the tree over my head from behind landing right in front of me. I popped off 2 shots before he disappeared around the back wall. Shine the light up the tree and there is our cat Buffy - at the very top clinging to the tree. We tried to coax him down for about 30 minutes before my brother climbed the tree and pried him off it.

Welcome to the desert @Breathing Borla

 

I think you like trying to scare me or something

 

Not really anything scary about it - the two legged creatures are always more dangerous than the four. Just affirming what has been said about mt lion encounters not being super rare. Wait until you see a coatimundi. I did have to pull a baby tarantula out of the living room the other day.

 

Just to add to the wildlife of Arizona, I remember seeing my first Roadrunner in the flesh. I had no idea they were so small. My only experience with them was cartoons as a kid, so I always assumed they were large-ish birds related to ostriches or something...

 

That's pretty crazy, haha! And scary, too!

 

Everything in arizona is either trying to kill or mame you...

 

Speaking about the Coatimundi, I thought one was going to get me at Sabino Canyon. Sabrina and I were eating pretzels or something and one came over to us. I got up and moved and the damn thing kept coming after me. No matter where I went it was chasing me and fast, too. It only stopped when the bees attacked him/her and me. I got lucky I wasn't stung. I don't know what would've happened if it wasn't for those bee's.

 

Rabid or really hungry for the pretzels. I may have thrown it a pretzel or two. So, yeah, don't feed the wildlife.

 

sounds like Chicago, lol

 

Those guys are very anti devils lettuce; but get waisted around the fire playing with guns…..
our group of local runs is way more fun, no stick in the muds

 

Bee's already got their quota last month in Scottsdale https://www.azcentral.com/story/new...bout-fatal-scottsdale-bee-attack/84512274007/

 

or a gang of coatimundi's.... bizzare creatures

 

Definitely scarier than any snake, spider, or scorpion.

 

had a visitor on the patio last night, Colorado River Toad according the chatgpt

and no I didn't lick it, ha!

 

It's a recon scout scoping the area for the myriad of snakes slithering over...

 

you bastard

 

I tell you what this chat GPT thing is super handy for learning all this stuff fast.

 

it also taught me, hey don't eat these, ha!

I did get one of those auto drip line things, I have no fucking idea but set it to 30 mins every 4 days

 

They make a mess but can provide a good privacy wall once they’re mature. In Phx I’ve seen ones that have been well manicured into lolly pops with 7” trunks

 

Fucking hate oleanders. I've almost killed all mine. 1.5 left of the 4 that were here when I bought the house.

 

how big do these get? I don't want some big overgrown shit, I'll just let them die

they are going to be inside the wall anyways, the old owners I think didn't want a wall but were going to use these things on the one side there is a neighbor

I just put the drip line thing while I figure it out what the hell they were

 

I'm not sure if you have any Palo Verde trees on your property but they tend to have branches and trunks that split. You don't want any too close to your house.