By Franklin Lane & Deborah Huie

On Saturday August 3rd, Deb Huie (cohort 1) and I made a trip into the wild, Huachucas to retrieve SD cards from our (4) cameras placed in support of the United States Geological Survey/University of Arizona Spotted Cat Monitoring Project.  The project (since 2013) is headed by Dr. Melanie Culver and has over (60) cameras in the various ranges along the Arizona border south of Interstate 10. We’ve worked this particular set of cameras since 2017. Access requires approval and coordination with Fort Huachuca Environmental and Natural Resources, Military Police and Weapons Range Control. The cameras are somewhat remote so require Deb’s off road driving skills to approach.

Photo: Franklin Lane

The back country roads and subsequent trailheads are off Garden Canyon.  This recreational area of the Fort is open to the public but does require a day pass available at the Fort Huachuca Main Gate.  Garden Canyon is very popular with ‘birders’ and a regular venue of Southwest Wings, a non-profit educational organization which hosts Arizona’s oldest Birding Festivals. The main road into the canyon, while not paved, does not require x4 wheel drive or high clearance. There are picnic areas and a pretty rare pictograph site.

Photo: Deb Huie

Our first set of cameras is still on the Fort and so access requires not only approval to monitor but a renewable permit to install. They are near a perennial spring so there is a tremendous amount of animal traffic. Everything from Coatis to a dozen different bears.

Now, how does this work?                                               Photo: Deb Huie

The second set of cameras is a little more challenging.to service and require a (6) mile roundtrip hike.  They are actually off Fort Huachuca in the Coronado National Forest. We exit the Fort boundary through Wilderness Gate 2 along the Crest Trail

Photo: Deb Huie

While a difficult climb from 6300’ to over 8400’ the trail is beautiful and offers some stunning views

In addition to wildlife these remote, higher cameras also capture a great deal of human foot traffic from heavily armed Border Patrol agents to recreational and non-recreational hikers. In March 2017 we retrieved snaps of a male jaguar from this set of cameras.  Unfortunately he eventually returned to Mexico and was subsequently poached.  The Project’s big cat experts identified the animal from its spotted coat; as unique as our fingerprints.

The Huachuca Mountains are a beautiful range.  They can also be accessed from the south and west without going through the Fort. Good information can be found at the Coronado National Monument Visitor Center. These mountains are, however, a lot “wilder’ in many respects than our local Santa Catalinas. Plan carefully!

Both Photos: Deb Huie

PCMN Spring Assessment – 31 July 2019
By Franklin Lane &  Jessie Rack

            Taking advantage of a beautiful (cloudy) morning, a team of Pima County Master Naturalists met at the Douglas Spring trail head to complete a ‘Monsoon’ cycle spring assessment for Sky Island Alliance (SIA).  The team was joined by an SIA intern; University of Utah graduate student Taylor Cunningham.  Taylor is involved in an exciting new field of study called Environmental Humanities.

             The target was Rock Spring, located about a 2+ mile hike into the foothills of the Rincon Mountains.  The spring is behind (and once fed) the cattle tank at the intersection of Three Tank Trail and Carrillo Trail.  Old timers might remember the tank when it contained up to a meter of water and dozens of Koi (a colored variety of Amur Carp) to control mosquitos.  The tank was drained sometime after 2004.

PCMN participants:  Franklin Lane (Cohort 1), Jean Boris (2), Jessie Rack (3), Peggy Ollerhead (3), Dre Hoerr (3).

Photos by Jessie Rack unless as noted.

The hike in was even more deliberate than last year when Cameron (Cohort 2) and Hank Verbais (1) assisted in the assessment. There were so many interesting things to examine along the trail plus we had our collective expertise to truly appreciate and discuss. Among the insects were a Cactus Longhorn Beetle (Moneilema gigas) and a Leaf Footed Bug (probably Mozena lunata).  The Longhorn is a pretty large, flightless beetle that feeds on both cholla and prickly pear.

We also spotted several Graham’s fishhook cacti (Mammillaria grahamii) in bloom. Including this one with a visiting honey bee!

Once at the spring it took the team less than an hour to sample water quality, measure the three distinct pools, capture flow data and record the saturation levels for each section of the 62m run. Another task was to record any new flora and fauna.  Everyone in cohort 3 already knows how passionate and enthusiastic PCMN resident herpetologist Dr. Jessie Rack can be. But all Tucson probably heard her whoop when she spotted the biggest Sonoran desert toad (Incilius alvarius – also known as the Colorado River toad) any of us had ever seen!

I. alvarius is the largest native toad in the United States. It can get up to 7.5”. This guy had to be close to that. They have paratoid (skin) glands that produce 5-MeO-DMT and bufotenin.  These are both toxic entheogens that can kill even large dogs.  Interestingly, raccoons have developed a cool method to flip them on their back and eat them from the belly side to avoid the glands.  Humans have been known to capture and dry the toxin for burning and inhalation.  Supposedly providing a “warm sensation”, euphoria and hallucinations.

The team also spotted some Spikemoss, (Selaginella sp.) not previously seen and reconfirmed a large stand of Southern Cattail (Typha domingensis) seen for the first time during the ‘pre-summer’ assessment in June.

Spikemoss

Cattails

                            Spikemoss                                                      Cattails

Photo:  Jean Boris

Thanks Peggy for expert record keeping and observations.

Photo:  Jean Boris

Jessie and Taylor use a field expedient depth gauge.

The sun caught us for the hike out so it did warm up. We still managed to spot some Arizona Blue-eyes (Evolvulus arizonicus) and Coues’ Senna (Senna covesii).

Critter Cam program hosted by the Coalition For Sonoran Desert Protection, Catalina State Park

The Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection conducts a citizen science project in which community members maintain wildlife cameras. This has helped us obtain important information about our wildlife using linkages between some of Tucson’s open spaces. Community school districts have become involved by incorporating our pictures into their curriculum, teaching their classes about how technology is used in wildlife management and field biology. Our critter cam day is a field trip in which we bring these school groups out into one of our open spaces, Catalina State Park, and they get to use what they have learned in class within one of our local state parks. Over 400 fourth graders participated in this year’s event held in early March.

Some of our fellow Master Naturalists from Cohort 3 volunteered for the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection (Peggy Ollerhead, Vicki Ettleman and Kathleen Sudano). For this event, our role was to conduct stations that students rotated through, teaching them about Sonoran Desert wildlife, our wildlife’s adaptions here in the desert, and ways to monitor or study them. I volunteered teaching identifying local fauna tracks and lessons on wildlife pheromones.

As part of the event, I helped with a fun nature hike. Our students made observations on the local fauna and flora while documenting their observations on a coordinate system. At the end of the hike we came across a critter cam and talked about how technology is important in field biology. We brain stormed ideas on how this might give a scientist an advantage with their research!

It was so much fun at such a beautiful location!”

Presenters:  Cecil Schwalbe, retired Arizona State Herpetologist and Dr. Tom Biuso, physician at TMC spoke, who about snake bite treatments.

Attendees:  Penny Miller(C2), Diana Holmes (C2), Dan Collins(C2), Vicki Ettelman(C3), Kathe Sudano (C3), Jenna Marvin(C3), Doug Hoerr(C3), Andrea Hoerr(C3), Carrie Barcom(C2), Sharon Overstreet(C2), Jessie Rack(C3), Jean Boris(C2), Josh Ruddick(C1), Peggy Ollerhead(C3), Kathy Carter McLin(C3), Meck Slagle(C3), Don Featherstone(C1), Marilyn Liss (C2)

Eighteen of us were gathered on the first Saturday in May (4^{th, 2019}) to attend a class titled Master Naturalist Rattlesnake Handling.  The setting was Penny Miller’s fabulous west side garage and we were all feeling a mix of excitement and curiosity.  The presenter,  Cecil Schwalbe, retired AZ state herpetologist, with a shock of wizardly white hair and eyes the color of the Arizona sky, told us outright that mistakes were made.  We listened and leaned forward.  He also told us that because of his experience (getting bit by a Gila Monster and being transported to the local ER) none of us today were going to make those same mistakes.  I watched individuals sigh with relief and smile.

As per numerous press releases,  Schwalbe, who is from Texas and studied mechanical engineering at Rice University, pursued ecology research at Washington State and the UA, earning a master’s degree and doctorate along the way. In 1984, he was appointed state herpetologist by Arizona Game and Fish.

For decades, Schwalbe has toured with his reptiles across Arizona. At his presentations, he lets kids pet his Gila monster which he has had since 1985, one of the world’s most dangerous lizards. In the wild, they spend up to 95 percent of their lives underground. While Schwalbe takes extra precautions, he tells us that the Gila monster bit him five times at a public show and his “finger was on fire.”

His passion for snakes, lizards and tortoises has led him to us.  He’d rather train people to safely remove the critters rather than see them destroyed.  He demonstrated with several of the animals that currently reside in his east side garage.  To say he made it look easy would be a gross understatement.  His calm demeanor and healthy respect for the critters (plus a close look at those blue eyes that are full of mischief!) had us transferring five-foot rattlers from one very large trash can using a 42-inch Pillstom metal tong.  We were instructed to grab the snake gently but securely about one-third distance down from the head and walk about ten feet and deposit the confused snake into another trash can.  Snakes can strike about one-half to two-thirds the distance of their body length so we learned to hold the tong with our arm extended.  If we see a snake out hiking, give it the same clearance as its approximate body length.

During the four-hour training, we passed collared lizards to each other by gently holding their front foot, learned how to “tube” the head of a snake and hold its body safely.  The Gila Monster, Pancho, got to use the glossy garage floor like a runway and show us his ears, mouth grip and how fat stored in his tail allows him to go long periods without food.  We also got to safely handle his two tortoises, each about the size of his fist.

To complement Schwalbe’s presentation, we got to hear from  Dr Tom Biuso, physician at TMC who spoke about snake bite treatments.  We learned there is wisdom, if you are able, to call 911 before proceeding to any hospital.  Not every facility has anti-venom on hand but if the individual is already nauseous, vomiting or losing consciousness- head straight to the closest ER.  If others have a chance to attend this class, it is highly recommended!  Thanks for organizing and hosting for us, Penny Miller!

Article written by Kathe Sudano, Cohort 3, Master Naturalist in Training

Photos below from Penny Miller (Cohort 2, certified Master Naturalist) and Kathy Carter McLin (Cohort 3, certified Master Naturlist)

Dendrochronology Lab Tour                                                                            November 2018
Cameron Becker, Cohort 2

On Saturday November 17, seven Arizona Master Naturalists took a tour of the University of Arizona Bannister Tree Ring Laboratory organized by the Advanced Training Committee. The Naturalists gathered in front of the (relatively) new building at 10am and were met there by the Laboratories Lead Docent, Randall Smith. Before even entering the Lab Mr. Smith proved to be a wealth of knowledge on a wide variety of topics. For example he informed us that the Lab actually consists of two entities, the Laboratory itself and the Archive, which have both been in the new facility for five years now. Named after the former Director, Bryant Bannister, the exterior of the building is surrounded by steel tubes which are meant to move slightly and resemble quaking Aspen leaves. The tubes originally moved more than they do now but were restricted after finding out that the noise they created was so loud it caused people in the building to be sick. Mr. Smith also informed us that he is a bit of a naturalist himself as he makes observations for Natures Notebook of two plants in the Krutch Garden on campus (a Jojoba and Wolfberry if you were curious!)

As we entered the front room of the building we were greeted by a massive ‘tree cookie’ cut from a giant sequoia tree from Sequoia National Park in 1931.  Dr. A. E. Douglass, who founded the Tree Ring Lab and the science of dendrochronology, was originally looking for a connection between solar activity, specifically sunspots, which have a 22-year cycle pattern to another natural cycle measurement on earth. Ponderosa Pine rings are the easiest tree rings to read and within 15 years of work Douglass had used 7,500 samples to create a master chronology. Many other fields of have made connections with the use of dendrochronology such as research in archaeology, fire ecology, as well as in the study of climate and precipitation trends. Geologists and physicist on the Universities campus use dendrochronology to calibrate their carbon 14 dating machines. Dendrochronology has also been used for less obvious fields including to help solve murder cases and determine the providence of musical instruments.

Mr. Smith gave us a presentation in their conference room passing around samples of tree rings ‘cookies’ and explaining some of the work that is done in the building. The last part of the tour was a visit to the labs on the third floor which smelled amazing from all the different sections of wood stored there. We were able to see the workspace of scientists actively working on a historic harbor site found in Istanbul called ‘Yenikapi harbor’ as well as samples from the site. Some of the wood piers found at the archaeological site were sent across the world to this lab for analysis. They have determined that some of the wood is from oaks outside of Turkey and the scientists are using the data collected to piece together ancient trade routes with connections to Northern Africa, Morocco and the Balkans.

The Bannister Tree Ring Laboratory is a truly unique gem that we have here in Tucson. It has widespread connections throughout our community and provides a wealth of knowledge about our world and a connection to our local history and sense of place. A big thank you to Randall Smith for the tour and the huge amount of knowledge he conveyed to our group. Looking forward to visiting again soon!

THE SANTA CRUZ RIVER WALK

Submitted by Diana Holmes, Pima County Certified Master Naturalist, Cohort 2:  Nov 2018

Curious to learn more about the ambitious vision by a collaboration of partners to restore flow to the Santa Cruz River and its tributaries in Tucson, I recently participated in a river walk sponsored by the Watershed Management Group (WMG) River Run Network. We met at Paseo De Las Iglesias Park (Silverlake Road and Cottonwood Lane) and walked in the river bed south to Julian Wash and back. The walk was led by Joaquin Murrieta, WMG’s cultural historian/ecologist.

As a kid in the 1950’s, I can remember the river before it was transformed into a soil-cemented barren channel which typically only flows during storm events. People have thrived along this river bank for thousands of years, and the area is known as the oldest continuously cultivated agricultural area in the U.S. The word Tucson comes from the O’odham word S-cuk Son, literally meaning “at the base of the black mountain.” In 1691, Father Eusebio Francisco Kino made the first of about 40 expeditions into Arizona following along the Santa Cruz River, and Juan Bautista de Anza traveled near the west bank of the river on his 1775-1776 trek to establish San Francisco.

Riparian Ecosystems:  In the western United States, riparian ecosystems occur on less than two percent of the total land area. In the arid southwest, riparian ecosystems are now designated as critically endangered. Originally comprising only one percent of the landscape historically, over 95 percent of that riparian habitat has been lost in Arizona.

The Paseo de las Iglesias Environment Restoration Feasibility Study:  The study by the US Army Corps of Engineers and Pima County, completed in 2005, evaluated ecosystem restoration, flood control improvements, and river park development along a seven-mile reach of the Santa Cruz River upstream from Congress Street. Planning objectives included increasing riparian wildlife habitat acreage and diversity, providing erosion protection where necessary, and providing passive recreation opportunities. The project was completed in mid-2015 and included gabion bank protection, rip rap and terracing. The river park features five miles of pathways and interpretive signage throughout the site.

This summer, WMG staff crafted their 50-year internal strategic plan for the River Run Network.  They state: “The typical three-year strategic plan won’t cut it; so we’re defining goals, strategies and metrics for 5, 10, 25, and 50-year timelines. Intermediary goals and measurable metrics will ensure we reach our long-term goal of restoring Tucson’s heritage of flowing rivers.”

Walking in the riverbed among healthy thickets of young mesquite, native grasses, arrow weed and wolfberry, and with a red tail hawk soaring over head, I was encouraged that a flowing Santa Cruz River would one day be a reality.

Credits:
US Corps of Engineers Environmental Impact Statement; Pima County Restoration Feasibility Study re Paseo de las Iglesias Park, July 2005

USDA Forest Service, Threats to Western US Riparian Ecosystems, Gen. Tech. Report, 2012

Watershed Management Group Action Bulletin, Nov 2018

Tucson Wildlife Center
Advanced Training
October 2018

If you have ever come across an injured animal on the road, or a baby animal with no mother in sight, you know the range of emotions and questions that flood through your head! Thankfully we have the Tucson Wildlife Center here to help us navigate these problems, and to help us decide how or even if we should intervene. This impressive 5103C nonprofit organization is celebrating a 20 year history of caring for wildlife received from 8 Arizona counties! Its annual operating budget is $500,000, raised from grants, donations and an annual fundraiser gala.

To learn more, 14 Master Naturalists toured the facility on October 20, led by Suzanne Benedict and Lou Rae Whitehead. The 5 acre facility receives 20,000 phone calls a year, takes in more than 3,400 animals treated by 2 full time vets, staff and volunteers. We were privileged to a behind the scenes tour which included indoor and outdoor holding areas, 3 huge flight cages, and a well-equipped hospital with an ICU and surgical suite.

Animal caretakers exercise great care not to imprint wildlife on humans. Handlers hide in ghillie suites while feeding baby animals, and use shift doors that let the animal in or outdoors without a person in view. Imprinted, or tame animals cannot be released. Some animals that have arrived at the center, unfortunately tamed by well-meaning citizens, are used as education animals and surrogates. We met Wilbur, the 13 year old bobcat and center mascot. His fellow bobcat companions, Rubie and Bisbee, serve as excellent surrogate parents to bobcat kittens brought in, teaching them natural bobcat behaviors and reducing the need for human contact. Young coyotes and javelinas also benefit from surrogate resident animals.

The center takes in almost all species except deer, bears, mountain lions, dogs, cats and rattlesnakes. Gila monsters and non-venomous snakes are accepted. Their busiest season is April through September and they are always in need of volunteers to assist with animal care, public education, and school and scout tours. The center’s wish list includes paper towels, white sheets and towels, unscented kitty litter, chicken thighs, Dawn dish liquid, baggies and trash bags, copier paper, fruits, vegetables, and turkey or banana baby food.

What can you do to help wildlife in your own backyard? Keep bird baths and feeders clean, empty hummingbird feeders that have black mold, or cloudy nectar; put baby birds back up in the nest or create an artificial nest with drainage holes for rain. Keep pet cats indoors at all times, trim hedges in the fall, not spring; don’t use glue traps; turn outdoor ceiling fans off at night to protect bats and don’t interfere with any wildlife without calling the center for advice first!

Learn more at tucsonwildlife.com or by calling 520-290-WILD (9453) which answers 24/7. Master Naturalists attending were Barbara Gaynor, Cameron Becker, Carrie Barcom, Deb Huie, Don Featherstone, Jane Davenport, Jean Boris, Julie Hallbach, Mack Consigney, Marilyn Liss, Penny Miller, Sharon Overstreet and Franklin Lane.

Our featured image has Master Naturalist, Carrie Barcom, dressed in one of TWC’s  camouflage ghillie suit!