Grateful Goodbye

Aspen Thies
4 days ago
2 min read

I am so grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to share and reflect on the amazing wildlife that call the Sky Islands home, and I am sad to be writing my final blog! I will be pursuing new opportunities in Tucson, and will dearly miss working on the Watershed Restoration Crew and checking wildlife cameras at Borderlands Wildlife Preserve. My time at Borderlands Restoration Network has been full of opportunity, challenges, growth, and my favorite, fun. I am so lucky to have met so many passionate, kind, fun-loving people, and to have them be my coworkers as well as my friends.

I wanted to take time and reflect on the highlights of our camera work since I began managing our fleet. One of the most rewarding moments came to us a couple months ago at Borderlands Wildlife Preserve. Last year, our Watershed Restoration Crew built a new Zuni bowl at BWP to help prevent a headcut from migrating further upland. With our recent monsoons, we have seen water filling in the bottom of the bowl, and many animals are already visiting the newly restored area! Including one of my favorites, the American badger.

American badger (Taxidea taxus) exploring the Zuni bowl at night

Coyote (Canis latrans) drinking water that collected after a recent monsoon

We also captured the first video of a mountain lion at BWP, and the first documented sighting ever of a black bear at BWP!

Mountain lion (Puma concolor)

American black bear (Ursus americanus)

Capturing Arizona’s elusive state mammal, the Ringtail, was amazing and adorable.

Ringtail (Bassariscus astutus)

To celebrate my time here, I am sharing some content of my favorite wildlife species. I spent my childhood obsessed with animals, whether it was riding horses, flipping over rocks and wood to find desert critters, or writing a report on Ocelots in my third grade class. My love and interest for wildlife and conservation is a lifelong passion that I don’t think will ever change! I hope to have inspired you to marvel at wildlife and the world around us as well.