The photos of animals and reptiles in this Photo Gallery were taken mostly in the greater Phoenix area and submitted by local residents, or people who were visiting the area. If you took a great picture or two, and want to submit them for inclusion into the Phoenix Creature Photo Gallery, here's how you do it. When you send in your animal pictures, please tell me what kind of creature it is (if you know!) and the general area where you saw it.
Mexican Wolf
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Mexican Wolf Picture / Stephen J. Forbes,
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Rabbits
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Judy Hedding
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Lizard
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Judy Hedding
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Prairie Dog
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Judy Hedding
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Bobcats
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Terri
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Arizona Coyote
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Phil Pritchard
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Arizona Honey Bee
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Dee Kirkhart
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Remember--not all honey bees are killer bees!
Blonde Tarantula
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Dee Kirkhart
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The Blonde Tarantula is also known as the Desert Blonde Tarantula, the Mexican Blonde Tarantula, or the Arizona blond tarantula (Aphonopelma chalcodes). It is found in the Sonoran Desert, where Phoenix is located. It's large compared to most tarantulas, measuring between 3 and 4 inches. The Arizona blond tarantula is typically found around saguaros, and are seen most often during our rainy monsoon.
Sunspider
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Dee Kirkhart
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Sunspiders (or sun spiders) or also called Windscorpions, even though they aren't spiders and aren't scorpions. Sunspiders are arachnids, like the scorpion. Sunspiders are 1 to 3 inches long and are yellow or tan in color. They have no venom, but those pincers are pretty stoing and can hurt! Sun spiders spend most of their time underground and are active beginning in May and through the rainy Arizona monsoon months.
Gila Monster
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Dr. Brendan P. O'Connor
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A Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of Maricopa County will help you to learn more about and identify snakes that are found in central Arizona.
Spider
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Tone Garot
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Sun Spider
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Tone Garot
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Arizona Lizard
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Tone Garot
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Tucson Butterfly
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Tone Garot
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A Pair of Javelinas
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Brad Lawrence
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Those aren't pigs on this north Scottsdale golf course. They are Collared Peccaries, also known as Javelina. They like to feed on the prickly pear cactus.
Sonoran Collared Lizard
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Tony Perrino
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Desert Spiny Lizard
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Tony Perrino
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Tarantula
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Mike White
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Sonoran Desert Toad
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Derrick A. Denis
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Horned Toad
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Len Nowak
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Arizona Giant Centipede
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Len Nowak
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The Arizona Giant Centipede (Scolopendra heros arizonensis) is venomous, and can grow to up to about 8" long. It is commonly seen in our desert during the summer monsoon.
Horse Lubber Grasshopper
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Len Nowak
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Tarantula
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Brad Lawrence
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Ground Squirrel
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Kirk A. White
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Honey Bee
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Paul Brochner
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Sphinx Moth
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Elaine Barkl
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Bee Hive
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Derrick A. Denis
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Sun Spiders
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Levi Singleton
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Moth at DBG
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Cindy Alvarez
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Black Bellied Barbados Sheep
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Derrick A. Denis
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From the photographer: "Here's an animal you don't see wandering the Arizona desert every day. It has the body characteristics of a sheep, but is covered with hair resembling that of a deer rather than wool.It was a real challenge to identify, because as the name implies, its not from around here. This Black Bellied Barbados Sheep has lived behind my house on South Mountain Park for over a year now. It is a domestic species, so this individual must have escaped a nearby farm (further supported by the presence of a tag its' right ear). Apparently, this species is heat tolerant and able to thrive on poor forage. So, it should be able to live a long (albeit lonely) life frolicking in our enormous city park."
Gila Monster
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Brad Lawrence
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From the photographer: "We were hiking Go John out in Cave Creek Recreation Area and had an interesting afternoon. Halfway through the hike I noticed the cactus wrens were scolding something profusely, so I slowed and almost immediately spotted a diamond back smack dab on the trail in the coiled position. After 5 minutes I encouraging him to get off the trail and we walked another couple of miles and overtook a Gila monster. We had cell phone camera so I got up close to take his portrait. Cute little guy making his way down the trail walking awkwardly with his webbed feet; he was about 14”. We had to wait for him to exit before we continued."
Prescott Lizard
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Tony Perrino
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Regal Horned Lizard
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Marsha Caristi
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From the photographer: "He measured about 5 inches. He was a big guy. I live ... on the back side of the Catalina Mountains backed up to State Park."
Gila Monster
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Justin West
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Desert Tortoise
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Justin West
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Two Tarantulas in New River
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Eduardo Martinez
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Arizona Coyote
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Beverly Warembourg
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Arizona Javelina (Collared Peccary)
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Beverly Warembourg
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Coyote Pups
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P.T. Irish
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Coyotes in Scottsdale
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Denise
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Tarantula in Scottsdale
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Denise Hindman
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Arizona Blond Tarantula
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Brett Hall
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From the photographer: "Tarantulas have an interesting defensive capability in addition to venom. Some of the hairs on the top of the abdomen are specialized for defense. These urticating hairs, as they are called, are tipped with backward pointing barbs. If a tarantula is threatened in any way, it brushes these hairs into the face, paw or other body part of its attacker."
Ground Squirrel
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Jane Kostopoulos
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Round-tailed Ground Squirrels at Paradise Valley Community College in Phoenix, AZ (May 3, 2009).
Coyote in Chandler
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Mike Murray
From the photographer: "I caught some images of a coyote (he/she was hunting a jackrabbit in a vacant lot - I was unable to catch both in a single image - the jackrabbit won this round)....Taken on 06-11-2011 at Chandler Blvd and McClintock in Chandler AZ."
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Squirrel
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Nathan Ercanbrack
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Don't ask me where this squirrel finds acorns....
Palo Verde Bug
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Brad Lawrence
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These huge bugs are even more intimidating when you realize they can fly!
Chuckwalla in the White Tanks
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Carol Shaw
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White Tank Mountain Regional Park is part of the Maricopa County Parks system. There are about 25 miles of shared-use trails ranging in difficulty from easy to strenuous. Waterfall Trail is a popular easy hike in the area.
Male Chuckwalla in Peoria
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Isabel Theile Graves
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Peoria, Arizona is a city in the northwest part of the Greater Phoenix area. If you live in Peoria, tell us what it is like!
Pale Wind Scorpion
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Isabel Theile Graves
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Sonoran Desert Toad
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Isabel Theile Graves
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Red-spotted Toad
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Isabel Theile Graves
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Desert Tortoise
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Brad Lawrence
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Just north of Fountain Hills you'll find a popular hiking and recreation area, McDowell Mountain Regional Park. It is common to find all kinds of desert creatures there while hiking the trails. This photo was taken in October 2011.
Desert Tortoise
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Gary Wojton
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Grasshopper and Friend
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Melissa Landreth
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Bobcat in Scottsdale
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Werner Rodorff
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Eastern Cottontail
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Sheryl Huss Walker
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Rabbits are cute, and there are plenty of them in the Greater Phoenix area. Do you want to discourage rabbits from coming into your yard?
Pale Sun Spider
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Michael R Venokur
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Common Lizard
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Michelle Grieg
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Black Widow Spider
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Ryan Lamprecht
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The black widow spider is fairly common in the desert of the Phoenix area. You'll want to avoid being bitten by a black widow.
Greater Earless Lizard
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HeliosJournal.com
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Factoid: According to the National Park Service, the Greater Earless Lizard actually does have ears; they just don't have external openings for the ears.
Monarch Butterfly
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Michelle Cruising
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We have two places in the Phoenix area where you can enjoy butterflies, if you don't have them in your own backyard!
Javelina Mom and Babies
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Brad Lawrence
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From the photographer: "These guys are off the back patio in Carefree by the SkyRanch airport. They’ll stop by and see what’s on the ground to eat. We’ll put our salad trimmings out which they scramble to eat. Waste not want not. We can actually recognize a couple of them to which we have given names."
Gila Monster
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Dr. Brendan P. O'Connor
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A Field Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of Maricopa County will help you to learn more about and identify snakes that are found in central Arizona.
Desert Spiny Lizard
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Tony Perrino
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