Critters

The following critters have been discovered somewhere on our property. So far all of the photos have been taken by Jeanne (sometimes at Paul's urging) and the web page was created by Paul.

Javalina (Tayassu tajacu) (also called Collared Peccary)

Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Tayassuidae (also called Dicotylidae)
Genus: Tayassu
Species: Tajacu

The largest critter to frequent our property is the javalina. There is a pack of 6 of them which come by from time to time. The count appeared to reduce to 5 about the same time as one showed up dead along a nearby road so we fear we have lost one to an automobile. While it is in the same Order (Artiodactyla) as pigs, so are Hippos, Giraffe, Deer, Cows, etc.

Don't Call Me Pig - A children's book on javalina
 

Spiders

Tarantula

Very occasionally we come across a tarantula. We photographs of one but they haven't been developed yet. We also haven't been able to identify the species yet.

Scorpions

There are 30 kinds of scorpions in Arizona and only one of them is seriously poisonous, the Arizona Bark Scorpion. Unfortunately, the Bark Scorpion is all we appear to get on our property. I look forward to actually seeing some other kind.

Arizona Bark Scorpion (Centruroides exilicauda)

We initially started killing every one we saw, but once we got used to their existence we decided that was a bad idea. Now we just kill them when we find them in the house. They aren't really that poisonous, if you called poison control they would just tell you to wash the bite to prevent infection, I understand it isn't a pleasant experience though. One interesting thing about scorpions is that their exoskeleton glows under ultraviolet light. This makes them very easy to find at night. The one in this photo is dead so it doesn't make for the best photo.


 

Bats

Most evenings at sunset you'll see bats flying around our house. Since the light is bad when they come out and they are always moving, we haven't figured out how to photograph or identify them yet.

Lizards

Lizards abound. We've seen them, anywhere from an inch long to over a foot long. Unfortunately, they're hard to photograph since they won't sit still if you approach them. For the same reason we haven't really been able to identify different kinds. We'll keep working on this one.

Birds

House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)
These are males. They can be red, yellow, or orange. I expect we have females too but as with many birds the females are gray so they're harder to identify.

White Winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica)

Phainopepla (Phainopepla nitens)
This is probably a female, the males are dark black.

Other birds which we have around here but haven't photographed yet:
Phrrhuloxia (Cardinalis sinuatus) (also called Grey Cardinal or Mexican Cardinal)
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
Gila Woodpecker (Malanerpes uropygialis)
Hummingbirds (various)
Gambel's Quail (Callipepla gambelii)
Cactus Wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus)
Thrasher (specific type still unknown)
American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis)

Cats (Felis Cattus)

Missy and Tigre (pronounced tea-grey) are outdoor cats who came with the house. In this picture Missy is on the left.