Wildlife in Tucson

Now that it's finally cooling down (this is relative: the highs are still in the 80s), I've been on a few hikes recently, and I've been lucky enough to see some wildlife. While I also saw a large variety of lizards and a couple of roadrunners, mammals are always exciting in the desert. And they all posed rather cooperatively for pictures!

The most exciting was a ringtail, which I saw in Sabino Canyon. Ringtails (Bassariscus astutus) are also sometimes called ring-tailed cats, but they that's a bit misleading, as they are most closely related to raccoons and coatis. Ringatils are generally nocturnal, so it was a surprise to see one in the middle of the day. Fun fact: the Arizona state mammal is a ringtail!

This past weekend I went on a quick sunset hike up Tumamoc Hill, which is much closer to downtown Tucson. We saw at least four deer, and one juvenile came quite close to the trail. Based on the big ears, I think they were desert mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus eremicus).

And just for fun, here are a couple of sunset pictures from the top of Tumamoc.