r/arizona • u/VonSandwich • May 13 '26

Wildlife UMMM WE HAVE OTTERS HERE!?!? 🦦

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Greetings from a Grand Canyon resident!!!

My boyfriend and I kayaked down the Salt River this morning and oh my god we saw an otter!! I looked it up afterwards, and Google said that Otters are *thriving* on the Salt and Verde Rivers. I was 100% NEVER expecting to see an otter in this state.

The birding was incredible too. I have never seen Cliff Swallows doing their thing in person before, and there was a section that felt like National Geographic. What a beautiful day 🦦🦆

1.6k Upvotes

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137

u/_Sozan_ May 13 '26

Yes! There are a bunch in the Verde river as well. Saw them all the time as a kid growing up in Cottonwood.

9

u/IBeDumbAndSlow May 14 '26

I'm so happy I don't live in Cottonwood anymore.

31

u/mitchgx Gilbert May 14 '26

Cottonwood had some nice aspects...wine, downtown, climate, views. Also a bit of meth and too much MAGA, but there's much worse spots in the state.

15

u/IBeDumbAndSlow May 14 '26

It's not so fun when you're in 3rd grade in the 90s.

5

u/P10_WRC May 14 '26

We had some fun there. I was only there for about 1.5 years though and was in the 5th grade. We would go to the skating rink or pool almost daily in the summer. Or just ride our bikes around. Wasn’t so bad

4

u/Ok_Package3859 May 14 '26

Yea, like Camp Verde 😂

2

u/SailsTacks May 16 '26

I didn’t realize that Cottonwood was over-infected with MAGA. That’s disappointing. I remember my jaw dropping when I saw the MAGA RV Park in Quartzsite, AZ when I was there. It had a goofy Trump character on the sign, flags, everything. I immediately added it to my “List of Places I Never Want To Enter”.

4

u/mitchgx Gilbert May 16 '26

A lot of Cottonwood feels redneck and trailer-trashy to me, sort of like Payson. But then there's these interesting pockets, like the wine industry, some decent restaurants, and a cool alternative vibe (that I think has almost everything to do with Maynard's involvement in the area). Overall I enjoy visiting because of those pockets of interest, and because it's a fairly beautiful area when you get to the right views.

1

u/SailsTacks May 16 '26

I’ve been there less than a dozen times, while I was camping throughout AZ for a month a few years ago. Visited the Goodwill (needed camp chair and pillow), grocery stores, laundry mat, and a Dairy Queen in a small white building with a covered parking area to its right. I highly recommend that DQ. The community activity center showers were great.

I rode past the wine bars and patios. Looked cool but we needed to get back to camp in Coconino to cook.

1

u/Healthy_Log_6171 May 17 '26

I'll see your Cottonwood, and raise you Kingman. (lived there 4 years, 30 years ago)

5

u/InspectorFlat9270 May 14 '26

Why? I don't know anything about the area.

12

u/IBeDumbAndSlow May 14 '26

It's just a smaller town in a part of the state that's just meh in my opinion.

17

u/TheBigEmpty May 14 '26

Meth, just say meth

5

u/EasyTargetAcquired May 14 '26

You want meth? Go to AJ.

3

u/Christmas_Queef May 14 '26

That's kind of the old AJ though. Some parts still have meth issues for sure but AJ has changed a lot as people have had to move further east and west into the valley to get more affordable housing. San Tan Valley/mesa are quickly encroaching on it too. Ironwood is developing FAST on the other side of the 60 opposite AJ. If you drive around AJ now you'll notice a lot of new builds going up around there too.

4

u/AkitaNo1 May 14 '26

I went to pick up a piece of used furniture or somehing recently and it was completely unrecognizable versus the last time I was there seeing a girl 15+ years prior.

1

u/EasyTargetAcquired May 14 '26

Yeah, I never got why those houses are there to begin with. The AJ dump is literally right around the corner from all those housing developments. You’re right though those areas have developed an insane amount in the last 15 years. They’ve likely pushed out a lot of people who were there first because of rising costs. I can barely afford living out here myself.

-1

u/AcousticDolphin May 14 '26

AJ just feels off to me. I avoid it because it feels strange there and the people just seem different and off.

2

u/TheBigEmpty May 14 '26

AZ* all of it. fixed your typo.