Melissa Crytzer Fry
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crytzerfry.bsky.social
Melissa Crytzer Fry
@crytzerfry.bsky.social
2K followers 390 following 1.3K posts
Writer, citizen scientist, conservationist, naturalist. Sharing a love of nature & the Sonoran Desert thru photos, camera traps. Married to an awesome man. Board Chair, Lower San Pedro Watershed Alliance. Fighting to save the Galiuros from copper mining.
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crytzerfry.bsky.social
Melissa Crytzer Fry @crytzerfry.bsky.social · Aug 4
Fighting to save H20 & wildlife in AZ’s Sky Islands (my home). On June 30, BLM approved 67 exploratory drill sites for Canadian Faraday Copper.

Please help! By Aug. 18, 2025, email state and Safford BLM offices. Find easy copy/paste suggestions here: tinyurl.com/3ene6wa6.

What's at stake:
Collage includes images of an ornate tree lizard (turquoise belly); a ringtail (of the raccoon family with a striped tail, but looking like a small cat); the Copper Creek Valley filled with mature cottonwoods, saguaro and ocotillo; a mountain lion walking through lush grass at Copper Creek; a red-tailed hawk landing on a saguaro; a night-blooming cereus; a Lucy's warbler eating from burst, bright-red saguaro fruit; a young hooded skunk, tail erect; and the life-sustaining Copper Creek drainage basin of green foliage among an otherwise brown setting.
crytzerfry.bsky.social
AZ Pima and Pinal county residents ... November is BioBlitz on the San Pedro. Join us to document plants/ wildlife on iNat. Had a blast at Adobe (SRP) mitigation property Sat. See flyer/QR code for more events upper & lower San Pedro!

#Cottonwoods, beaver pond, #beaver track.
Foreground - desert cacti, brush. Mid-ground: giant cottonwoods. Background: rolling desert hills dotted with palo verde and mesquite. This pooling water is the result of a beaver dam that got a bit washed out during recent monsoonal activity. Hard to make out, but this is a beaver track: long toes, long heel. Flyer with QR code indicating all the November BioBlitz events.
November 10, 2025 at 3:39 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
Fascinating great-horned #owl and common #raven interactions on #cameratrap. After fleeing to the tree, it swoops down for more drinks.
An owl lands at the shallow pond in daylight, looking to the right of frame. The owl is ambushed by two Common Ravens. In pic, owl is sandwiched between the two, whose beaks are open and wings are flapping. In the pic, the owl has transformed itself into a bowling ball (wrecking ball) and faces off against one raven on the left. Not pictured, the owl flew up into the tree beyond the pond and waited for the ravens to leave (they did). Here he has swooped back down and is sitting at the pond, enjoying it all to himself.
November 9, 2025 at 4:57 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
It's #Caturday... A two-for-one video: Squeezy pawing at his #bobcat brother.
November 8, 2025 at 2:41 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
Who wins? Cooper's #hawk or rock #squirrel? Caught on #cameratrap. 🔊 up.
November 7, 2025 at 2:39 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
This is how lil reds are made (I spared you the next shot in the sequence 😆😆). #TeamJavelina
At the watering hole, a male collared peccary is on three legs behind a female. Naughty, naughty.
November 6, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Reposted by Melissa Crytzer Fry
pitbool.com
This is our local tailless #coati that we have lovingly named Eeyore 💙

#wildlife
#nature
#photography
#videography
#trailcam
#coatimundi

@ajshilko.bsky.social
@crytzerfry.bsky.social
November 5, 2025 at 7:22 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
#Bird friends at our cactus cam! #doves, #quail, #jays, #sparrows, #hawks, #vultures, #ravens, #warblers 🔊 up! www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kH6...
Birds at the Cactus cam
YouTube video by The Fry Ranch
www.youtube.com
November 5, 2025 at 3:40 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
OMG, squee! We have only ever gotten western screech #owls in the mountains, but look who arrived at our cactus #cameratrap - two different nights. 😍 (Mouse size gives you a GOOD idea of how tiny they are)
November 4, 2025 at 3:33 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
🔊🔊Volume up for this adorable Harris's antelope #squirrel and its love song to the camera.

The lips! The lips make me laugh. #cameratrap
November 3, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Reposted by Melissa Crytzer Fry
bhallapple.bsky.social
flew the drone down to the St. George River behind the house. There are at least three beaver damming up the river. Ambitious
October 21, 2025 at 10:28 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
The other things my sister is finding on #trailcam at Denni Moore the #beaver's pond in NW PA (She's still there, too): #raccoon, #fox (y'all - is it possible this is a gray fox? I didn't think they were in NW PA), #opossum, #buck.
Raccoon stands on two legs staring off to the right of hte camera, bushy tail pointed toward the cam. This fox runs past the cattails on the pond, fabulous tail trailing behind. A bit blown out in the face, but this opposom is looking right at the camera. This critter, obviously, has a very scrawny tail - sticking straight out like a flagpole. Through the brush, a buck appears, glowing eyes the only giveaway that someone is in the cattails watching.
November 2, 2025 at 2:28 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
It's #Caturday and Squeezy is the best little trooper. We have been training him for RV camping, and he went on his first 3-day trip. Amazing how he handled this wash-boarded road!

(He is zipped into a giant playpen when we enter/exit the RV, and goes outside ONLY in backpack).
November 1, 2025 at 5:35 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
Happy Halloween! These nectar-eating #bats (Mexican Long-Tongued) are still hanging around our feeders! Saw a half dozen on a video with another fox last night!
This bat, wings spread, approaches a hummingbird feeders from the ground up. The spread legs show a skin membrane that helps with identification. Mexican Long Tongued wear "skirts," whereas Lesser Long Nosed wear Pants. This one is wearing a skirt. This bat's Alf-like snout hovers maybe an inch from a hummingbird port, ready to insert its long tongue into the nectar. This bat's wings are held high above its head, like a shoulder shrug, as it pulls up from sipping hummingbird nectar, which they use to supplement their diets.
October 31, 2025 at 2:28 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
The unmistakable shape of an American #badger - even when blurred: squat, low-to-the-ground, armored, and tank-like. #cameratrap
Black-and-white photo of a badger blurring by. Uppermost body ligher, squat dark legs noticeable. As other pointed out, very ottoman-shaped.
October 30, 2025 at 2:47 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
#Javelina vs. western diamondback #rattlesnake caught on #cameratrap (best viewed full screen to end).

Hint: rattlers get a bad rap for aggression. #TeamJavelina

(Longer/better video over on X, with snake coiling up, then taking a drink, for anyone over there as well. Too large for BlSk).
October 29, 2025 at 6:54 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
My Dad and Mom's 25-year old RV (gifted to us) means even more now that my dad is gone. We take him, in spirit, with us everywhere we go. Here, Sonoita, AZ (in a gorgeous riparian area).
The trusty little motorhome (class C style) sits behind a tree that features a starburst from the sun, filtering through the branches. Sunset - a grapefruit-colored hue - behind mountains and budding trees in the foreground. A large tree on the hilltop fascinated me -- not even sure what it is due to sheer height. Seems large for a riparian desert tree. Here it has purple sunset hues behind it. Another tree - some kind of desert willow - stands in foreground with pink and cream stripes across the sky in the background.
October 28, 2025 at 2:03 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
Look at these delightfully chonky #saguaros. They are storing up all that late-monsoonal rain we got... they look so healthy right now! 😍🥰
This mature saguaro has at least 25 arms coming from it -- looking a bit Medusa-like! All of the saguaros have really thick trunks and arms now, having stored up all that rain. This one is almost two saguaros in one -- with two trunks conjoined at the base and two uppermost tips. This lone saguaro stand atop a hill with wispy white clouds and a light blue sky. It sports several holes that the birds have pecked at to make their homes.
October 27, 2025 at 4:51 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
More #SonoranDesert sights near my home amid the Sky Islands of #Arizona. Red-tailed #hawk, greater earless #lizard.
Tawny-chested red-tailed hawk sits on top of reddish rocks, with another peak of red rocks behind it. This lizard blends in with its surroundings, doing an over-the-shoulder look. Tail is striped black and tan. When flipped, these guys sport skittles-colored throats.
October 26, 2025 at 4:16 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
It's #Caturday and Squeezy doesn't seem all that impressed with Buc-ee the #beaver! 😆
October 25, 2025 at 7:08 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
More from the "OMG - everything is emerging so late" files (with our delayed monsoonal rains). American Snout #moths (zoom in!), itty-bitty hand-stand #beetles (armored stink beetles), and trans-pecos #MorningGlory.
This butterfly has some white spots and orange blots as its coloration. It's most notable for its elongated mouthparts (labial palpi) which, in concert with the antennae, give the appearance of the petiole (stem) of a dead leaf. The armored stink beetle looks just like what you'd expect - a black, armored tank - shaped like a teardrop. They are most amusing due to standing on their front legs, butt in the air, when threatened. One of my cats can attest to the "stink" part... Being from PA, I think of morning glory in a lavender shade, with much larger flowers. But this is a small, red-vining plant (here is looks orange due to camera settings) that stands out in a brownish-desert.
October 24, 2025 at 1:43 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
Arizona's state mammal is the #ringtail cat. Here, the nocturnal animal is in its Sky Island habitat in the Galiuro Mountains (threatened by foreign copper mining). Despite being called the "miner's cat," it is not a feline, but is related to raccoons & coatis.
October 23, 2025 at 10:04 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
I continue to be surprised seeing these things around my #desert home in late October... Desert #tortoises are usually holing back up by now & #SacredDatura blooms (usually) in July.
A cereal-bowl-sized desert tortoise peeks out from beneath a bush, side face and shell profile. Sacred Datura sits in the foreground with the sun lighting its bright, undulating continuous flower (no petals, just a gorgeous skirt of white).
October 21, 2025 at 2:17 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
#Bobcat with some #insect and #winged friends. Best viewed full screen. #cameratrap

Hint: giant #cockroach scuttles by and a #bat is what causes kitty to jump! (Much better/longer/captioned/slo-mo video at X. Though short, too large to post here).
October 20, 2025 at 6:55 PM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
It's been a rough couple years for #saguaros at our place. A month ago, one was struck by lightning. This one, admittedly, has been leaning/was propped up by two giant stumps for 20 years. Poor fella, with rain/wind, lost the battle.

I am going to plant more for the ones we've lost over the years.
Mighty, mature saguaro fell on its side due to heavy rain and an already-leaning disposition.
October 20, 2025 at 4:19 AM
crytzerfry.bsky.social
So, I deliberately keep this #PaloVerde as its own little #desert microcosm (translated: I don't weed desert #tobacco & other flowering plants beneath it). Two weeks ago, all that desert tobacco + #marigolds were brown/not flowering. Look, now!
The mature green-trunked, lime-colored palo verde tree has branches reaching down to the ground so wildlife can eat leaves. It also has loads of flowering plants beneath - also for the critters. Deliberate non-weeding! Waited MONTHS for desert marigolds to bloom. It finally happened. A bit late, but I'm seeing insects on them, still. The deer love to eat them, as well.
October 19, 2025 at 6:04 PM