Unfortunately, as we’ve all heard before, it’s going to take more than one wet summer to get back to more normal precipitation levels. But we have enjoyed one of the wettest summer monsoon seasons in a long time. Although the “official” monsoon season doesn’t end until September 30, the totals so far are actually something to talk about right now. 

 Most White Mountain and Rim Country precipitation reporting stations are well above averages this summer, with Payson, Heber, Show Low and Pinetop receiving more than twice as much as normal as of September 9. A foot of rain has dumped on Show Low this summer, with saturated soils causing flash flooding and significant damages. And Payson is experiencing a wetter season!

 It was hard to tell it was actually raining early in the monsoon season, as every drop got soaked up by the talcum dry dirt and then was anxiously sucked down past the thin topsoil into the parched and cracked subsoil beneath. If shallow aquifers could sigh, the sound of contented recharge would have been heard all over our mountains. Since these water tables that are closest to the surface also continuously feed many of the local springs and seeps, continued precipitation is still needed to fully recharge them.

 One of the largest aquifers in our area, the Coconino Aquifer, fortunately has a semi-porous cap above it that allows some percolation of surface water to eventually reach over 1,000 feet in depth. Since the water is contained in a slanted sandstone formation, wells near Winslow can hit water at less than 100 feet whereas drillers have to go down 2,500 feet farther west by Williams. Long-term trends in less precipitation can definitely affect the recharge rates of this source of water which is needed to sustain all of us humans in northern and eastern Arizona. Fortunately, this water source is not experiencing shortages yet, like the Colorado River has been recently.

 So how has this magnificent moisture affected the local wildlife out there? For the most part, wild critters are benefiting from the extra rain, but it’s not always an obvious advantage. Mother Nature is never shy about providing too much of a good thing just to keep us wary of what we wish (and dance, sometimes) for! 

 Flash floods can scour smaller streams bare of vegetation, requiring years of growth to get back to something similar. Long, hard rains can also take their tolls on newborn turkey, grouse, quail, elk calves and deer fawns if it happens before young wildlife can regulate their own body temperatures. 

 However, monsoon precipitation has provided huge benefits by recharging soil moisture, allowing more lakes filling and runoff from future rain storms. Benefits to wildlife are way more than a source for a quick drink. Many predators get their moisture not from “free water” like in a pond or stream, but rather through the flesh and organs of their prey animals. And many prey animals can get much of their moisture needs from the vegetation they eat, if lush enough. 

 So, yesterday’s rain will provide the raw material for the new growth of the clover, bunchgrass, and oak trees that won’t be eaten by local herbivores for weeks, if not months. On top of that, it can be hard to notice even moderate changes in animal populations if they happen gradually. Therefore, any direct effect on most wildlife by this summer monsoon deluge will be difficult to observe.

 Animals that can respond quickly to monsoon rains obviously include mosquitoes, gnats, chiggers and almost all other creepy crawlies. They have short life cycles and are designed to be able to take advantage of ponds and puddles with short lives themselves. Bats and birds can feed more chick mouths with an abundance of high protein insect-flavored baby food. Some birds may even have a second clutch of chicks if they got started early and conditions for raising the young are ideal.

 The most amazing example of an animal adapting quickly to the arrival of unpredictable, and sometimes totally absent rainy season, has to be the spadefoot toads. A few different species inhabit different parts of Arizona but they all have a “spade” or shovel-looking protrusion on their hind feet which is used to bury themselves deep under ponds and wetlands, completely in reverse gear the whole way. They can remain buried commonly up to 10 months, only digging themselves to the surface when they sense the vibration of heavy monsoon rainstorms pelting the ground and pond above them. These are the “frogs” that sound like sheep, suddenly appearing in a normally dry pond that just recently filled with monsoon rains. 

 Since they put bear hibernation length to shame with their long underground estivation periods, and are “cold-blooded” with a lower metabolism, spadefoot toads don’t need to eat much. One study observed them eating a year’s worth of food in just a few minutes at an all-you-can-eat insect smorgasbord. Once that priority is covered, the next one is making sure that there is another generation of tadpoles that can metamorphose into adult looking toadlets before the temporary ponds and puddles dry up. When stressed with a drying pond, some tadpoles switch to the keto diet and become more carnivorous, develop “teeth”, larger jaw muscles, and grow quicker than their grass fed plant-eating litter mates. 

 Not only do these toads respond quickly to the arrival of monsoons rains, they are also adapted to deal with the temporary nature of the ponds and pools they need to lay eggs in. Spadefoot eggs can hatch in just over a day, with the tadpoles losing their gills and growing their legs within 10 days. Some pond shorelines can appear to be “boiling” with bouncing little toadlets as they emerge and disperse.

 Arizona Monsoon 2021 was probably the best news we’ve received in a long time. Fire danger was reduced in the area once the season started, but we still have a ways to go fill all of the local lakes, reservoirs, and wetlands. More precipitation will mean better water quality in our lakes, leading to longer fishing seasons and higher quality opportunities. Hopefully, this coming winter will follow with plenty of “objective-oriented exercise” using a snow shovel.