In fall, winter and spring, we, in Southern Arizona, live the Life of Riley (see link). Summer, however, is a different story entirely.
The Monsoon Season
• Southern Arizona has two Summers. The hot dry one and the humid, wet one. The hot, dry one is roughly May and June. and the wet, monsoon season is July and August, culminating in August with some fantastic, light and cloud shows, followed by rain.
• We also have two rainy seasons. 6″ in the winter and 6″ in the monsoon season.
• When it rains, stay OUT of flowing washes. Tucson has a stupid motorist law where you will pay for your rescue if you and your car get caught in one. That is: if you are still alive to talk about it.
Hiking
• Hikers should also beware when the monsoon season is upon us. Two hikers died in Bear Canyon, Seven Falls area in 2007 when the monsoon rains sent a 15 foot wall of water down the canyon. The rains were actually up the mountain. It was not raining at Seven Falls. Be aware that water can travel fast and far in a monsoon rain. It may not be raining where you are, but if you are downhill in the path of the water, be careful.
• Lightning strikes during the monsoon account for many of the forest fires that destroy much of the forest each year. For every 5 seconds between a lightning strike and Thunderclap, think 1 mile distance.
• Hikers should always bring more water than they count on drinking, especially when it is warm.
• Wear a hat and sun screen.
• Oh, did I mention to bring water?
Critters
• Formerly known as the Colorado River Toad, Sonoran Desert Toads are poisonous. At least their mucus is. Dogs like to catch these critters that come out after a monsoon rainstorm. Unfortunately, the toad’s defense mechanism is to secrete this mucus. The dog begins to salivate voraciously, foaming at the mouth. The cure is to run a hose in the dog’s mouth for about 10 minutes, flushing out the poisons. Fun huh.
• Snakes have been known to visit inside houses. Check your dryer vent and this article.
• Gila Monsters, we got um, although you might consider yourself lucky to see one. They are one of the two species of poisonous lizards and the largest in the United States. They are most active February – April when you might catch a glimpse of one. Check out this Smithsonian Fact Sheet on the Gila Monster.
• According to the Smithsonian, more Americans die of bee and wasp stings than snake bites every year.
• You may want to try vaccinating your dogs against rattlesnake bites. Snake aversion training may only serve to show them how to find the snakes. Works for some dogs, not for others. If you vaccinate your dogs with regular boosters, you increase the odds of your dog surviving without a massive bill. Ask your vet.
Around the Home
• When we first moved in we had lots of scorpions and cockroaches. Thanks to a regiment of spraying the perimeter every season, we now, rarely see them, either inside or outside of the home, and if we do they will be dead within hours. You can call a pest service or go to the DIY Pest Control store.
• Keep your doors and windows tightly sealed. Scorpions can get in through a 1/4″ slot, but if you use perimeter control, they will die soon thereafter if they do get in.
• Snakes can climb. Just because you have a walled-in yard might deter them, but it won’t keep them out. I saw one in my Lady Banks once. It was a harmless critter, harmless to me anyway.
• Rattlesnakes, being reptiles, a cold-blooded creature, move slowly in the morning. I often find them curled up under a bush or shady corner in the morning, waiting for the sun to warm up their body. In the afternoon, you might see them moving from shady spot to shady spot, depending on how hot it is. In late spring you may find them sunning themselves. In mid-summer, you won’t find them in the sun too often, unless they are making their way from one shady spot to the next. I often see them in summer making their way across our patio. They are gone soon enough, or, so it would appear.
• June – September are the most active months for the Cone nose bug or “Kissing Bug”, so named because they wait until you are asleep to anesthetize your lip before sucking the blood out of it. They have a symbiotic relationship with packrats, living alongside them in the packrat middens. Keep the vicinity around your home clear of packrat middens and kissing bugs. Clear out large prickly pears which invite the critters to nest. Keeping these critters from making a home where you don’t want them is an ongoing ordeal. Make sure the screens on your windows are tight.
Some Of My Favorite Things About Summer
For those of you who are Snowbirds or just cannot take the summer heat and escape to the cooler mountains in the summer, You miss the best part. Sure it is hot, But what beauty to be discovered.
• Aside from the fantastic monsoons, brought on by magnificent clouds, there is the once-a-year blooming of the “Queen of the Night” sometime in late June or early July. Tohono Chul Park celebrates this event every year with BLOOM WATCH. Become a member anticipate the date and celebrate with them.
• The smell of creosote after a summer rain.
• Other things I love about summer in Southern Arizona; Bats, yes bats. Those bug eaters come out when it gets hot. Fun to watch at sunset and daybreak.
• Night Hawks are not hawks at all but a kind of dove. They also come out in the evening and then again in the early mornings and flit around and eat bugs.
• Dragonflies, butterflies, and roadrunners are all harbingers of summer. Prickly Poppies is another favorite.
• I love the arrival of the pyrrhuloxia (Southern Cardinal) and the familiar greeting, tweet, tweet, tweet.
Unfortunately, you have to be here in the summer to enjoy all this. Despite the heat, these things make summer worthwhile. At least to me.
