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Summer in the Tucson, Green Valley, Oro Valley, Catalina, Saddlebrooke Ranch, Picture Rocks, and other areas of the Sonoran Desert is a time when bats by the 10s of thousands help reduce the insect population and keep homeowners, visitors, and pets, pretty much protected from mosquitoes. We are blessed to have over 2 dozen species of bats that help us in the summer. In the evening, if you have the time to park and watch the area around major bridges-over-washes, you will see

The Sonoran Desert Toad-aka, Colorado River Toad, is found extensively across the Southwest and particularly in Tucson and the surrounding areas. It is extremely dangerous due to the poison it expresses from glands behind its eyes. This poison has been developed to protect these toads from predators and is fatal to small animals and reptiles, with a very negative effect on bigger animals. These toads also can deliver their poison when they bite their intended prey, you or y

Gila Monsters in action Gila Monsters (Monstruo de Gila) are one of only a few venomous lizards in the world and the largest lizard native to the United States. They are protected and, you should observe but not bother them or try and capture one. They have a mild neurotoxin but, do not have fangs. Rather the venom is released through grooves in bottom Jaw. Their teeth point backward so that, when they capture their prey, it is extremely hard for that animal to get away. Wh

Gila Monster in My Yard in Tucson? Here's What to Do Of all the animals I get called about here in the Sonoran Desert, few make people as wide-eyed as a gila monster (monstruo de gila). If you've spotted one lumbering across your patio and then Google searched gila monster in my yard Tucson, take a breath. You've come across one of the most remarkable native lizards in Arizona, and the good news is that a calm, respectful response is almost always all it takes. I'm Josh, and

If you have caught that unmistakable whiff drifting through the yard at dusk, you already know a skunk has been by. I get calls about skunks all year long here in Tucson, and I understand why. They are shy, mostly harmless animals, but a skunk under the house or wandering the patio at night makes people nervous. My name is Josh, and I run 1st Response Wildlife. I have spent more than ten years doing humane skunk relocation in Tucson and across southern Arizona, catching these

Of all the animals I get called about here in the Sonoran Desert, the ringtail might be my favorite surprise. Most Tucsonans have lived here their whole lives and never laid eyes on one, and that makes sense. Ringtails are shy, they come out at night, and they are experts at staying out of sight. So when a homeowner calls me a little rattled because something with huge eyes and a long striped tail slipped through their attic, I completely understand the confusion. Let me tell

If you live anywhere around Tucson, there's a good chance you've spotted a bobcat slipping along a wash, walking calmly across your back patio, or perched on a back wall at dusk. I'm Josh with 1st Response Wildlife, and bobcats are one of the animals I get called about most here in the Sonoran Desert. Most of the time these cats are just passing through and doing their own thing, but every so often, one settles in a little too close for comfort, and that's when folks reach ou

Few desert animals catch my Tucson neighbors off guard quite like the raccoon (mapache-Spanish name). Most folks picture raccoons as a back-east, wooded-creek kind of critter, but here in the Sonoran Desert, they're right at home along our washes, your attic, in crawl spaces under your home, in your chimney and, they're clever, curious, and a lot stronger than they look. When one settles into your attic or chimney, you tend to figure it out fast: the scratching overhead, the

Border Badger Trapped and Relocated by 1st Response Wildlife

The most common rattlesnakes you will encounter in the greater Tucson area are the Western Diamondback, the Mojave (also spelled Mohave), the sidewinder, possibly the Black Tail, and, depending on your elevations, even a few of the 13 species of rattlers in AZ.

Learn how 1st Response Wildlife safely and humanely relocated a hog-nosed skunk from a Tucson home while protecting both the homeowner's property and Arizona wildlife.

Wildlife Removal Tucson: When to Call a Professional Wildlife Removal Service If you live in Southern Arizona, wildlife sightings are simply part of life. From bobcats and javelina to packrats, skunks, bats, owls, and rattlesnakes, Tucson homeowners regularly share their neighborhoods with a wide variety of native animals.