I’m over in the southwest corner of the state, near where the Frisco and Gila meet. I figure those typically lower desert critters follow the river up from Safford. There are Gila Monsters that come up this way too.
You are a true desert rat. Yeah, I was never one to believe the experts. Animal populations and ranges are pretty much made up like global warming. I trust local folks and even anecdotes more.
Florida has more trouble with exotics that dumb people bring in as pets. We have a colony of Tegu lizards a few miles from my house now:
They can grow up to four feet and can bite your finger clean off. They sell them as pets, and when people can't afford to feed them...