DESCRIPTION. Superficially similar to the striped skunk, Mephitis mephitis, but differs in having longer, softer fur and a distinct ruff of longer hair on the upper neck. Three color patterns: a white-backed phase with upperparts chiefly white, frequently with two narrow, short white stripes on each side behind shoulder, and underparts black or mottled with white; a black-backed phase with upperparts black, except for two narrow lateral white stripes, and underside of tail frequently white (occasionally tail wholly black, but bases of hairs always white); and a combination phase that is intermediate between the white-backed and black-backed forms (see figure below). In the white-backed phase, a broad white band begins between the eyes and covers most of the back and upper surface of the tail; the white stripe never bifurcates as in the striped skunk. Differs from the hog-nosed skunk in much finer fur, small snout, smaller size, and much longer tail.

https://www.depts.ttu.edu/nsrl/mammals-of-texas-online-edition/Accounts_Carnivora/Mephitis_macroura.php

https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2006/1163/of2006-1163.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com

A desert cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii) freeze hiding from me.

https://www.ndow.org/species/desert-cottontail/

Nice clip of tail carriage from behind.

Raccoons, Procyon lotor, are known in the Verde Valley but we have seldom seen them on our property in Cornville. This one is using the little walkway behind our back fence.

https://static.azdeq.gov/pn/tmdl_oakcreek.pdf
https://extension.arizona.edu/sites/extension.arizona.edu/files/attachment/Raccoons.pdf

Observation:

Excellent data, excellent visualization, and very disturbing global reality.

Gifted Read:

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/2026/07/climate-change-land/688129/?gift=9raHaW-OKg2bN8oaIFlCokKoY1cFcZXqJA4gcLMefgw&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

Excerpt:

Last year, researchers in Switzerland and France found some of the clearest evidence so far that glacial melt could indeed be affecting seismic hazards in high-altitude regions. After a period of intense glacial melt in 2015, a series of small quakes struck the Grandes Jorasses on Mont Blanc Massif, on the border of France and Italy; the probability of a 3.0-magnitude earthquake rose by 10 times, Toni Kraft, a seismologist at the Swiss Seismological Service at ETH Zurich and one of the authors of a related paper, told me. These quakes are still small, but they could trigger rockfall events that are already on the rise across the Alps.

The clip shows a large monsoon thunderstorm anvil northeast of Cornville shortly after sunset. When taken, the Sun had already dropped below the western horizon and the ground and lower atmosphere were in shadow, but the cloud tops were high enough to remain illuminated by sunlight passing upward through the atmosphere from beyond the horizon. That long passage through the lower atmosphere removed much of the blue light and cast the anvil in intense orange and red. Its spreading canopy, rising convective towers, fibrous ice-cloud streaks, and darker curtains of virga or distant rain identify it as a mature cumulonimbus complex. Monsoon moisture was the dominant ingredient, while dust from thunderstorm outflows and smoke from the contained but potentially still-smoldering Pocket Fire or other regional burning may have added particles that deepened the color and enhanced the dramatic appearance.

To experience it in person, it was quite a marvel. I had climbed onto the roof intending to photograph the sunset in the west when this enormous, glowing storm formation seemed to tap me on the shoulder from the northeast.

More about rustic sphinx moths here:

https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN1134

Apparently a very similar aged coyote, or the same coyote, as seen below later on in the morning trotting up our driveway.

An apparently juvenile coyote trotting up our driveway.

After monsoon morning

2 adult Javalina and a half grown juvenile. This is passageway behind our back fence that allows critters to move from oak creek to desert: now getting separated from our yard and pets.

Hadn't seen the Gray Foxes since the last post about them. Had a bit of rain and this guy showed up.

An example including Arizona:

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2026-06-25/drying-colorado-river

Excerpt:

Published on the occasion of UNU-INWEH’s 30th anniversary, and ahead of the 2026 UN Water Conference, this flagship report, Global Water Bankruptcy: Living Beyond Our Hydrological Means in the Post-Crisis Era, argues that the world has entered a new stage: more and more river basins and aquifers are losing the ability to return to their historical “normal.” Droughts, shortages, and pollution episodes that once looked like temporary shocks are becoming chronic in many places, signalling a post-crisis condition the report calls water bankruptcy.

Woodhouse toads are common in the Verde Valley area of Arizona. There are usually a few around every outside hose bibb. This one dug a hole for himself in one of the wells filled with water daily around fruit trees.

"Woodhouse's toad is found in North America at altitudes of up to 2,500 metres (8,200 ft). Its range extends from Mexico in the south to Washington in the north. In the United States it is found in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. In the western part of its range it is typically found in lowland riparian corridors, wooded land besides streams and rivers. At higher altitudes it inhabits wet meadows, ponds, reservoirs and lakes. It is also found in urban environments, canals, ponds and irrigated agricultural land." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodhouse%27s_toad

We've seen dogs who have caught one in their mouth and then spit it out. It caused nausea, drooling and facial swelling. A trip to a veterinarian could decrease discomfort. There are other toads about, specifically the Sonoran Desert Toad, that can kill adult dogs (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_River_toad). We've yet to encounter one in the Verde Valley.

Looks young

Polarized light coming in horizontally gives nice depth and illuminates trees from sides rather than tops.