Easy Ways You Can Offer Relief to Arizona’s Heat-Stressed Wildlife

Yesterday, I got a frantic call from a friend.

"I just saved three baby quail in the road," she told me. "they were all heat-exhausted, needed water, and couldn't get off the pavement on their own!" my friend was trembling.

"I helped them off the road," she told me, "but there's got to be a way we can help them and other wildlife when it's so hot out!"

READ: Extremely Rare or Impossible to See Animals in Arizona

We began looking into ways we can help Arizona wildlife find scarce water in our desert during the hottest months of the year. Not only is it possible to help in urban and suburban areas, but we learned that people across the state help keep Arizona's wildlife hydrated.

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How Arizona Game & Fish Help Wildlife

The Arizona Game and Fish Department maintains around 3,000 water catchments throughout Arizona that help keep wildlife hydrated.

• Wikipedia explains, "Water catchments are strategically placed reservoirs or artificial water sources in the desert landscape. They are essential watering holes for wildlife, especially during dry seasons."

These special water systems are located throughout the state and provide water to wildlife year-round.

The catchments are vital during Arizona's hot, dry summers. The Arizona Game and Fish maintains the catchments, which deliver water with trucks and airlifts when rain and other precipitation do not fill them naturally.

READ: Discover the Amazing Biodiversity of Arizona’s Sky Islands

Arizona Game & Fish created this YouTube video to spotlight their project to build and maintain wildlife water catchments across Arizona.

How You Can Help Wildlife

Helping our wildlife stay hydrated is important as the temperature rises in Arizona. With the ongoing drought, it's even more necessary that we do what we can to give them a little extra assistance.

1. Install Water Catchments: Consider building or installing water catchments on your property.
2. Provide Shallow Water Dishes: Around your property, leave small, shallow dishes with fresh water. Make sure they're shallow enough to keep small creatures from drowning.
3. Create Ground-Level Water Sources: Help reptiles rehydrate through their skin by pouring a thin layer of water into a shallow tray on the ground.
4. Use Misters and Bubblers: Enhance your garden with water features like misters and bubblers. The fine water spray helps to hydrate birds and pollinators like bees during extreme heat.
5. Plant Hydrating Vegetation: Grow plants that retain water, such as succulents and native shrubs. They serve as natural hydration points for animals and insects when water is scarce, and the extra shade will help keep them cool.
6. Become a Wildlife Hero: Volunteer with Arizona Game and Fish and help create and maintain water catchments.

Together, we can help wildlife stay hydrated through the hottest Arizona months.

[ SOURCES: Wikipedia | ABC15.com | Popular Science | Arizona Game & Fish | NWF.org ]