More friends at Dancing Turtle Tank

Black-necked Garter Snake, Thamnophis cyrtopsis

This handsome snake was found at Dancing Turtle Tank in July of 2008. Black-necked Garter snakes are generally found near permanent or semi-permanent water.


This snake likes tasty Green Toads, tadpoles, fish, and other aquatic critters. Black-necked Garter Snakes are found in a variety of habitats, from desert scrub to grasslands to Petran Montane Conifer Forests. This is equal to an elevation range of from 1000-7000 ft.

Like other Garter Snakes they bare live young. These snakes are usually active during the day, but may stay active on a warm moist summer night.


July being monsoon season Dancing Turtle Draw may look like this.

Friend of Dancing Turtle Tank

Western Green Toad
Bufo debilis insidior aka Anaxyrus debilis insidior




This beautiful toad was found on a log in Dancing Turtle Tank in August of 2008.
The photo was taken at 6AM so the wonderful green color of this toad is a bit dark.

Western Green Toads are found in Cochise County Arizona generally below 5000 ft in elevation. Their preferred habitat is grassland and desert scrub. They need a temporary water source to lay their eggs come spring.

I have found them in wet and dry places on my property. I have never heard them calling in the spring, but than again I don’t hear some sounds well.

The Green Toad is just one of the four toads that live on our property

About Dancing Turtle Tank

Dancing Turtle Tank is located on the eastside of the Chiricahua Mountains, in SE Arizona. At an average of 4500 ft in elevation, it is sandwiched between Chihuahuan Desert scrub and Oak grassland. Dancing Turtle Draw runs along the North side boundary with a string of Live Oak, Manzanita, Rhus, and some Beargrass. The draw gets diversity from the plants from the higher Oak, Juniper woodlands. Dancing Turtle Tank sits at the confluence of Dancing Turtle Draw and an unnamed wash that has the North and West slope as its watershed. This is also happens to be the driveway to our home.

The tank has lots of critter activity. Songbirds, Deer, Bobcats, Javelina, are just a few of the visitors. Two legged visitors are occasionally seen filling their water jugs at times. In winter it is one of the few sources or unfrozen water in the immediate area.

This blog will describe the daily activity Around Dancing Turtle Tank.

Oh Deer

The Mule deer have been jumping the fence into the yard lately. Last night the dogs were barking inside the house on and off all night. I have been taking the pan feeders into the barn after all the birds are asleep. This morning I went out and a finch feeder was on the ground and smashed into a couple of pieces. Also a stump that a feeder sits on was knocked over.

I really am not encouraging the deer, because they are also stripping, pines and cypress of their needles.