Early last year I wrote about the differences between the two sides of the road to the Verde River recreation area on the Tonto NF. The fenced area to the east was completely horse-beat and chewed up, not to mention trashed. The west side was relatively pristine, mature Arizona Upland with ironwood, palo verde and mesquite trees along with a dense population of large buckhorn chollas. The cryptobiotic crust was well-developed.
I returned this morning and found that the horses have learned to use the step-over gate on the east side of the road. Now they are converting that relatively pristine area into yet more horse-beat land. About 1/4 of the cryptobiotic crust has been turned into bare dirt. And to top it off, idiots dumped broken concrete, landscape debris and empty containers of god-knows-what off the single dirt road in the area.
[Expletive deleted].
Few Larrea in the area; this one had numerous A. apicata glls.
Galls aren't in good shape. Can't call the species - barbata or fabalis maybe?
Caterpillar (or larval stage of something else) on Prosopis velutina fruit
Pair in photo; note splits at distal ends.
Very comman and large plants in the area.
ID'd to species by call
Chichimoco
On Larrea tridentata
Large weevil on Larrea tridentata
Got this one photo before it flew.
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Story of all my favorite birding spots :(
Feral horses now have more protected status than most of the native wildlife. Someone at Tonto NF might be interested in knowing that they crossed the fence.
Good point, Rob. I'll be going by the Cave Creek ranger station some time this week and will drop in and let them know.
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