Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This was my first chance to hike in the burned area - it was actually kind of interesting. There was a metal sign laying on the ground (the wood post was mysteriously missing!), so I checked underneath to find two lizards who scampered away but had no place to hide. I put the sign back down and they quickly ran back underneath.

Rabbits appear to be the hardest hit. There were about 12 burned that I could see from the 1/4 mile trail I walked. Most were under the remains of bushes that I'm sure offered safety in the past - it was a little sad.

There was actually a gopher snake out and about in the burned out canyon. The pattern almost hid it better against the black than the normal grass/dirt they're in. I'm not a biologist or anything, but I decided to move it another 1/2 mile to a not burned section. I'm sure I upset some balance of nature, but it seemed like the right thing to do.

The majority of the land was not affected at all - and there were plenty of snakes there. I found two more gopher snakes (one that was over 4 feet) and tons of tracks. The road there is covered with a silt that always shows were they've been.

Anyway...here are a few photos.

....Good for you, a bit o mercy tempered w/ good observation skills...Id sure like to get jpgs of those burned rabbits as well as healthy herps on the burns. Here in central Az we have ~ 6" of leader growth on interior chaparral on a major 1 month old burn w/ zero precip. !!!
It looks like your jpgs are of coastal chaparral.....analagous....but somewhat different from ours due to May-June Pacific fogs....& w/o mexican monsoons....

Beers. JG

Hey John, how's it hangin? I suppose you've already seen this pictoral review of the burns:
http://www.sloanmonster.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5856
I hope you don't blame TAMU Burn zones are interesting.
Shane

...thnx for posting that link & while Im quite familiar w/ that particular burn...I hadnt seen those jpgs...

Remember the old Neil Young tune...dont let it get you down..
...well its only our deserts burning....& yes Shane...the aggies are still largely to blame...

Those photos Ken posted are really graphic examples of just how badly our public deserts have been mis-managed. Heres some txt I sent the AZ Republic a few years back...

Editor,

I read with dismay, the recent series romanticizing Arizonas ranchers. Yes they have a unique and for some, envious lifestyle, however the fact remains; we are losing our special mojave and sonoran deserts as a direct result of their past and recent practices. If another group of people were to wreak an equivalent havoc on our public land resources that our cowboys have and still do, a virtual army of government agents would quickly cart them away. By their own admission ranchers are going broke. What sense is there in the public losing what remains of our deserts to perpetuate a dying industry?

The recent fires burning away our once lovely upland sonoran desert should give us pause. How did veritable forests of these ancient giants live to be 350 years old, only now to be burned every few years?

Where once there was a diverse paloverde-ironwood-saguaro ecosystem, with scattered native bunchgrasses, there is now a solid carpet of introduced old world grasses (the irritating burr seeds you find in your socks were imported intentionally to "increase forage" & stuck in the hides of the old world livestock). These non native grasses and other exotic annuals allow fire to race through and incinerate our native desert plants that have never evolved with fire, and thus do not recover from it. After the fire suppression effort is over, the non native tumbleweeds, mustards and grasses can then colonize the newly disturbed ground and stimulated by the absence of competition from other plants, spread prolifically and set the stage for yet another fire. Soon the view is one of a horribly damaged ecosystem, one of endless standing corpses, ghosts that remind us of what once was. Where a few catclaws and jojobas vainly crown sprout up through the sea of invaders only to be burned again.

Look at the new views from Troon North or Desert Hills. Get used to the blackened landscape. This look is coming soon to a hillside near you! Those holding the financial bag on these and other rural developments had better hope this new look sells as well as the old views that soon are to be seen only in back issues of Arizona Highways. Perhaps they might be able to offset some of their losses by buying stock in fire equipment companies? Maybe the cowboys can help the developers figure out a way for the public to take the hit for them?

Our developer-turned politicians are poor listeners and therefore slow learners. It is quite simple; with mother nature, you can't have it your way, all the time. She is a most complex lady and requires respect. We are at the crossroads; this is one of those occasions where decision makers need to decide soon and choose between our having what is left of a fine cake or being dealt a cowpie.

John Gunn
Mesa

Well, I feel for ya, but my perspective on fire is perhaps very different than yours. In my backyards (~post oak savannah), fire control is the culprit. Even gross pastures of exotic fodder can be largely replaced with native bunch grasses, but only if they are given the chance, via fire.
Laying blame on some entity is a short term solution, that eventually leads to nowhere. What's done is done, cooperation is what makes things better! I can certainly see your point with the feedback you gave to that magazine?, but it seems to me that your forte is burning bridges, rather than coming up with positive solutions. Of course, forgive me if I've jumped to conclusions.
Shane