In just 9 days a spadefoot toad to can grow from egg, to tadpole, to fully formed adult toad.  These toads, commonly found in Arizona deserts, have adapted to our arid conditions.  The pools the toad’s eggs are laid in are usually temporary and can dry up in a few days after a heavy rain.  The frogs transition from egg to adult form must happen rapidly.

  During the winter of 1967 a series of back-to-back snowstorms smothered Flagstaff with 150 inches of snow. Almost 70 inches fell within just a few days. The deluge of snow collapsed roofs and stranded many residents.

At one time the city of Jerome was Arizona’s third largest city. A booming mining town, it was home to over 15,000 residents. After years of prosperous mining, the mines were eventually exhausted. By the 1950s, Jerome’s population had dwindled to less that a thousand. Although the current population is still meager compared to the town’s heyday, it has experience somewhat of a rebirth. No longer a mining town, Jerome is a home to many artisans and is a popular tourist stop.

Photo courtesy of NPS.

Zane Grey, part-time Arizona resident and prolific western author, penned 64 novels in his lifetime. Grey loved Arizona, owned several homes in the state, and even honeymooned at the Grand Canyon. He used Arizona as the setting for 30 of his novels.

One would have assumed at the time that he would be a life-long resident. However, this was not to be. In 1930, Grey decided that he wanted to hunt bear out of season. When the Arizona Game and Fish Commission refused to grant him a waiver to do so, he packed his bags, left the state, and never returned.

Although the “bear hunting” incident was the catalyst for his departure, many believe that he was becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the way Arizona was being managed. In a published explanation for his departure, he proclaimed: “The glory and beauty of Arizona is being sacrificed to the lumbermen and sheep and cattle raisers.”

Who was Ed Shiefflin? He was an Arizona prospector who left the safety of a southern Arizona fort to search for silver ore. At the time, the area was controlled by hostile Chiricahua Apaches. According to legend, as he left the fort, someone shouted the warning, “The only thing that you will find out there will be your tombstone.” Shiefflin survived and in 1877 and found a valuable silver lode worth 19 million dollars. The town that grew up at the site was named Tombstone, the now famous western town and location of the Shootout at the OK Corral.

Photo courtesy of USGS.

Arizona’s pronghorns are capable of sprinting up to 61 miles per hour for short distances. They are even  more impressive over distance. They can maintain speeds in excess of thirty five miles per hour for almost thirty miles. Their swiftness starts early. They can outrun a human when they are only four days old.

Many people called them pronghorn antelopes. In fact, there are no antelopes in North America

Pick up a handful of  desert soil and it appears barren and lifeless.  However a square meter of desert soil can contain as many as 200,000 plants seeds. All of them waiting for the right condition so germinate.

Arizona experienced its deadliest storm in September 1970. Twenty-three people were killed when the remains of tropical storm Norma passed through through the state.

Fourteen of the deaths occurred in Tonto Creek near Kohl’s Ranch. Sycamore Creek, near Sunflower  rose to a depth of 36 feet.

The odds of getting killed by a tornado in Arizona in any one year is is  1 in 26,630,985. That is about 7 1/2 times greater than the odds buying a Powerball ticket and winning the Jackpot.

Photo: OAR/ERL/National Severe Storms Laboratory

The Giant Hairy Scorpion, one of the three most common types of scorpions found in Arizona, can burrow as much as 8 feet underground.