When we moved to Tucson, the first several people we met were super nice. They also had lots of advice for new comers. You might think that would include the best place to grab a pizza or where the closest Post Office is located. Nope. The first 7 people I met were full of information about the natural dangers of living in Tucson.
I'm a city girl. I've seen enough episodes of Gilligan's Island to appreciate civilization and realize that I prefer experiencing nature from a distance. Apparently, that distance in Tucson is much closer than I had prepared myself.
The first danger I was told about was Gila monsters. These little guys are the only venomous lizard in the USA and they are native to this region. Yay! Plus they live in burrows close to water. So when I saw a big hole in our backyard which just happens to be on the other side of a pond, I freaked. I tried to cover the hole with a big rock but my aim was off and I was only partly successful. Then I was afraid to move it in case whatever was in there tried to escape and realized that I was the one who put the rock there. Yes, it's completely illogical which is probably why Damon wouldn't help me put an even bigger rock over that hole.
We unknowingly coordinated our arrival to coincide with Tucson Rattlesnake season. Our handy man Dave told me that a lady a few doors down had one in her front yard that he helped send to snake heaven. He then showed me where he had been bitten by one on his hand a few years ago. Our sweet neighbors Bill and Hilda also shared a charming tale about the one they had in their backyard. It was apparently just "gorgeous" and over 4 feet long. They also told me they're known in the neighborhood as the crack snake dispatching team. Needless to say that earned them a spot at the top of my speed dial list. A rattler was even found on the playground at Sidney's school during her first week. Fortunately, the kiddo that first spotted it recognized the diamond pattern and got a grownup before any of the children got too close. Now granted rattlesnakes are common in Texas, I just never saw one in my yard or felt that I needed to have a plan for when I encountered one.
Other things to worry about include:
Javalina pigs - They like to run around town and recently a pack had to be put down after attacking a woman who was walking down a busy street. We even had one stop by our front door and gnaw on the plastic pumpkin I put out for Halloween.
Coyotes and bobcats - They live in our area. I can hear the coyotes wailing at night and have even heard them turn one of the ducks in our pond into dinner. I may or may not have started singing "The Circle of Life" from The Lion King to Damon while it was happening.
Bears - They sometimes walk around the parking lot of our local Safeway.
Scorpians - big, black, nasty scorpians.
Pack rats enjoy making their home in your bar-b-que pit or your car engine. You should check at least once a month to make sure they haven't started a nest. Our friend Joel recently had to have a family of them evicted from his car.
I woke one morning to the screeching of a pair of Harris hawks (shout out to the Desert Museum for helping me identify them) off our balcony. I looked out and saw a great horned owl leisurely hanging out in one of our trees while the hawks tried to ruffle his feathers. I showed Bill and Hilda the birds. Bill told me that the owl was probably 2 feet tall with claws as big as his hand. My excitement of having natural snake and rodent control was quickly tempered by fear of having my face slashed off.
Bats fly around the neighborhood and will drink all of your humming bird food if you don't take it in at night. They also took a bite out of the first orange on our tree to ripen. Stupid bats!
Speaking of trees, mesquites are the most prolific trees in our area. We have several in our backyard which provide a lot of shade. Imagine my surprise when I was walking across the yard and almost stepped on a branch that had fallen during the night. It was covered in 2-3 inch thorns just waiting to go through my foot. The thorns can even puncture your tire if you drive over one. Dave calls them Satan's tree after he had to trim them last year and I think that is a pretty apt name. I placed a few next to our back gate as a surprise for intruders. Actually, most of the plants outside are covered in thorns. Several even look like they came out of a Dr. Suess book or were dropped off by aliens.
We are slowly adapting to this new habitat. The heat will probably be the most challenging thing. A few hours in the sun wipes me out. Time to buy new hats, water bottles and stock up on sun screen.
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