By Dan Groebner

From the perspective of us folks in the White Mountains, it doesn’t much matter which phrase we use to describe this summer’s rains! They both will apply as we have had way more than normal amounts of moisture during our monsoon season, and sometimes it has come down with force and enough machismo to flood out small meandering streams and rut up lots of roads making them continuous speed bumps. However, abundant monsoon moisture is always appreciated by us local residents since it reduces the risk of catastrophic wildfire, closures, and limits on our ability to enjoy the outdoors - like no smores over a campfire. These are obviously the most noticeable benefits and certainly nice to have.

According to the National Weather Service, east-central Arizona has received from 100-200% more moisture than normal. On top of that, once it started, it kept raining at least 0.01” for 75% of the days during the season in some areas. Storm intensity has also been impressive with locations northeast of Heber-Overgaard getting dumped on by more than 3” on July 28. The Show Low Airport has reported 4” of rain above their normal 6.1” during the monsoon season so far.

So is that why Mother Nature recently created about a billion different shades of green in the White Mountains and Rim Country? There are too many shades to describe so it’s much easier just to take a photo sometimes.  

Obviously, the rain creates more than just near iridescent young blades of grass, as those fresh salads provide a high protein meal for growing insects and mammals both big and small. Growing vegetation includes fruits such as pinon nuts and acorns.

Bats have more flying bugs to catch and eat. Birds, such as flycatchers, have swarms of insects to glean from the ground or branches. Raptors, in turn, have flocks of small birds and mammals to fill out their diet. Large ungulates, like elk, deer, and antelope, welcome the fresh new growth of grasses, as well as broad-leafed ground plants called forbs, along with the tender new growing branches of some shrubs and trees.  

Streams that are full of runoff provide nutrients for all of those larval-stage aquatic invertebrates which feed the brown, rainbow, and native Apache trout. The osprey, also known as the fish hawk, probably doesn’t mind the rain showers they have to weather from their nests perched at the very tops of many dead snags if it means fatter and more fish to eat. Since the rains started early and maintained their consistency, the wildlife of the White Mountains were able to put on some weight and raise more of their offspring to a point where they can survive on their own.  

As you could imagine, the monsoon season brings out of hiding many different kinds of amphibians. This is the time of year people report finding frogs in their homes, schools, and businesses as these critters wander through moist grasses and backyards looking for a new home.  

A common visitor is Arizona’s State Amphibian, the Arizona tree frog, with its distinctive dark stripe extending from its nose through its eye and down along the side of the body. It can be almost a fluorescent green but is also more drab-colored. If you look closely, you’ll see their toes end in small suction cups allowing them to crawl on smooth rocks and tree branches. They can sound like a small duck quacking when they call during the summer. They usually don’t hang out in large groups as the chorus frogs do early in the spring when their calls can be impressively loud.  

Unfortunately, this is also the season when the invasive and destructive bullfrogs are dispersing overland, looking for new ponds to invade and conquer. If they didn’t have such a voracious appetite or had a few more predators out there they might not have such a negative impact, but since they have been here just decades, the resident wildlife has not had time to adjust yet. That’s why there are laws that ban bullfrogs as pets or even moving them alive, even though you can gig and eat as many as you want with a fishing license.

Not all herps (frogs and snakes collectively) are doing well though. Northern leopard frogs which used to inhabit areas around Heber-Overgaard were pretty much wiped out by the Rodeo-Chediski fire and the subsequent filling of ponds with fire debris. Narrow-headed garter snakes rely on stable populations of small minnows in permanent streams, which are becoming harder to find with the ongoing drought. Unfortunately, this water-dependent species of garter snakes had to be listed as a “threatened” species under the endangered species act due to its declining numbers and limited habitat. Efforts surrounding the northern leopard frog are meant to prevent it from becoming less common and head off any listing as an endangered species and the red tape that would then come with its management.

So with the abundance of moisture, state and federal wildlife management agencies and the Phoenix Zoo are actively involved with efforts to re-establish and bolster populations of rare frogs and snakes in Arizona. Although the Phoenix Zoo maintains animals from around the world, they also participate in conservation efforts for local wildlife in peril. The Arizona Trail at the Zoo is open to the public and features some charismatic Arizona wildlife. Behind the scenes is the Arthur L. and Elaine V. Johnson Conservation Center where imperiled species as diverse as spring snails and topminnows to black-footed ferrets and Mount Graham red squirrels have been propagated for eventual release to the wild or other breeding facilities.

This past summer the Phoenix Zoo produced 39 new baby “neonate” narrow-headed garter snakes from 4 different females, more than ever before, so they were able to provide 24 snakes for release to the wild in Canyon Creek on the Tonto National Forest and 5 for the Pinetop wetland breeding refugia at the Game and Fish headquarters. The Pinetop wetland refugia have been producing young narrow-headed garter snakes for the past couple of years so the Phoenix Zoo also provided 2 adult breeding snakes to add to the genetic diversity within the fenced refugia.

Although northern leopard frogs are not listed as an endangered species, their numbers are declining so efforts are being made to make them more common. A couple of spring-fed ponds on the House Rock Wildlife Area, north of the Grand Canyon, have been used to breed these frogs for release into other areas. Recently, these ponds provided a couple of hundred frogs for release into some ponds in the Black Mesa District of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests. These House Rock W.A. ponds have also provided frogs for release into other nearby areas in previous years, but either dry summers or winters have thwarted any large-scale successes of re-establishing leopard frog populations so far.

But who knows, maybe our generous monsoon moisture will be followed by a normal winter of snowfall and the wildlife of the White Mountains can enjoy a reprieve from scarce resources found during our recent dry periods. That should make it a little easier if we have to shovel a few feet of snow this winter - just remember that we need every flake these days!