Widely distributed in mountain and forest areas throughout western Canada and Alaska, brown (grizzly) bears ( Ursus arctos), are currently listed as a threatened species in the lower 48. Black bears (Ursus americanus) are found widely distributed in mountain and forest areas throughout the U.S. and Canada. Brown/grizzly bears are found from the islands of southeastern Alaska to the arctic. Black bears inhabit most of Alaska's forests.

Telling the difference between the two species can be tricky. Simply looking at color doesn’t help. Black bears can be black, brown, blonde, and even blue/gray -- as is the case of the rare color phase found in Southeast Alaska called the “glacier bear.” Brown bears can be any shade from honey blonde to black.

Black Bears have a straight facial profile, lack of a shoulder hump, prominent ears, and short, curved claws, are 3 feet at the shoulder and weigh 125 to over 300 pounds. Brown Bears (also called “grizzlies” in Interior Alaska) have a “dish-shaped” facial profile, prominent shoulder hump, long, straight claws, are 3.5 feet at the shoulder/up to 9 feet when standing on hind legs, and weigh an average 500 to 1000 pounds. Some have white-tipped hairs, giving it a grizzled appearance.

Grizzlies are omnivorous. Their diet varies by the season and includes grasses, roots, berries, nuts, insects, fish, rodents, and sometimes small and large mammals. Brown bears can conceal themselves remarkably well in the low brush along hill sides. Although they will normally not attack a human, they will defend their young or their food if approached too closely. They have an excellent sense of smell, good hearing, and are extremely powerful. Their eyesight is as good as ours. A fast runner, they are able to cover 180 feet in just three seconds! The grizzly enters its den in November to hibernate until spring. They are naturally curious, and caution should be taken when in their presence. Visitors planning to hike, bird watch, or travel across country should get information on traveling though bear country before starting. Life expectancy is up to 30 years.

Black bears, which are more common in the southern-forested regions, have similar food habitats and behavior. Black bears are creatures of opportunity when it comes to matters of food. Upon emergence from hibernation in the spring, freshly sprouted green vegetation is the main food item, but black bears will readily take anything they encounter. Things such as winterkilled animals are readily eaten, but carrion is apparently taken only if little else is available. As summer progresses, the feeding shifts to salmon if they are available. In areas without salmon, bears rely primarily on vegetation throughout the year. Berries, especially blueberries, are an important late summer-fall food item. Bears are cannibalistic on occasion. An "average" adult male in summer weighs about 180-200 pounds. Black bears can have poor eyesight but their senses of smell and hearing are well developed. They are also a fast runner. The black bear hibernates throughout winter, generally from about October or November to some time in April or May.

Grizzly bears mate in early summer. One to four cubs, each weighing about one pound, are born mid-winter. Black bears mate in late spring to early summer. Gestation is 220 days with an average litter size of two cubs, born in January to early February.

Photo Wickipedia

The Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) is a medium-sized woodpecker, 7-9 in (19-23 cm) long with an average weight of 2.29-3.18 ounces (65-90 g). It is native to coastal California, southwest US and south to Columbia. The adult has a black head, back, wings and tail, white forehead, throat, belly and rump. The eyes are white. The adult male has a red cap starting at the forehead, whereas females have a black area between the forehead and the cap. The white neck, throat and forehead patches are distinctive identifiers. They are often referred to as having “clown faces”.

They live in large families and all seem to share in the raising of the young. Acorn woodpeckers also have one of the most interesting strategies for ensuring a food source for themselves. These woodpeckers hoard large amounts of acorns and other nuts in “granaries,” 1-2 snags (standing remains of dead trees) or pines located centrally in family territories. Up to 50,000 acorns may be stored in a single tree. Acorn woodpeckers aggressively defend their territories, and hammer the nuts tightly into holes in the trees to make it difficult for potential robbers including Steller’s and scrub jays to remove the acorns without being detected, or to remove them from the holes at all. The granaries provide an essential source of surplus food to the acorn woodpeckers. The acorns represent a significant part of their diet, but they also eat insects, picking them off tree bark or catching them in flight, as well as fruit, seeds and sometimes tree sap.

It is easy to spot their antics and cackling, “wheka wheka” calls while walking through the woods or other areas they populate. Occasionally they will put acorns into spaces where they can not get them out, like a water tank. They also have several females laying eggs into one nest. The female tends to destroy any eggs found in the nest before she lays her eggs until all the females are laying and then they stop pushing eggs out of the nest. There have been as many as seven males to three females for breeding purposes.

The spadefoot toads are not true toads, but belong to the primitive family. Spadefoots resemble true toads in body form, but have smoother, thinner skin. The spadefoots are named for their large, sharp metatarsal tubercles that are used to dig backwards to depths of several feet. We are going to look at two species, Couch’s spadefoot and New Mexico spadefoot. They can be found in several national parks including, Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

These interesting toads are burrowing toads, referred to as fossorial. They are round, with short legs and protruding eyes. As suggested by their name, this frog has hard, keratinous protrusion present on their feet, which helps them to dig. Like most fossorial frogs, they will dig backwards into the ground.

 Couch's Spadefoot Toad

The Couch's Spadefoot Toad, (Scaphiopus couchii) is a species of North American spadefoot toad native to the southwestern United States and the Baja region of Mexico. The epithet couchii is in honor of American naturalist Darius Nash Couch, who collected the first specimen while on a personal expedition to northern Mexico to collect plant, mineral and animal specimens for the Smithsonian Institution.

The adults can grow from 2 1/4 - 3 3/5 inches long. They vary in color from greenish yellow to brownish yellow or bright green and have dark irregular markings. The tadpoles’ appearance is an iridescent coppery bronze with golden spots or sheen, growing up to 1.8 - 2.4 cm. in length.

These toads can be found throughout the Sonoran Desert, including Arizona. True toads have horizontal pupils but the spadefoots have vertical pupils (like cats). At the sole of a hind foot you'll find the hard, dark "spade" that gives a spadefoot its name. Amphibian skin secretions can be quite toxic; they probably won't affect your hands, but you won't want to get them in your eyes, nose, or mouth. So, if you ever pick one up you will want to be sure and wash your hands.

Spadefoots are truly adapted to life in a desert, taking advantage of the short-lived ponds created by summer thunderstorms in order to breed. It is believed that sound or vibration, such as might be caused by rainfall, cues the spadefoots to emerge from underground and congregate at the ponds. Males engage in loud choruses to attract females and rush the breeding process before the ponds disappear. It is thought by some to sound like bleating lambs.

Spadefoots breed quickly in order to take advantage of favorable breeding conditions and to allow the eggs and larvae as much time as possible to develop. Their tadpoles must hatch, grow, and change into toadlets before the pool evaporates in the summer sun. That's why they do most of their mating the first night the pool forms. Couch's spadefoot toadlets sometimes leave the puddle only nine days after the eggs are laid!

The warmth of the water speeds up the tadpoles' growth. Meanwhile they devour everything even remotely edible. They scrape algae off rocks. They filter microorganisms from the water as they pump it over their gills. They gather in wriggling masses, stir up the muck on the bottom of the pond, and filter that. And unlike most tadpoles, which are exclusively herbivores and filter-feeders, spadefoot tadpoles are omnivores (they eat anything). They also eat dead insects and tadpoles, and they prey on fairy shrimp. They can sometimes eat enough to last them a whole year.

 New Mexico Spadefoot

The New Mexico Spadefoot Toad or Mexican Spadefoot Toad (Spea multiplicata) is a species of American spadefoot toad also found in the southwestern United States and Mexico. Some sources also refer to the species as the Desert Spadefoot Toad or Southern Spadefoot Toad. The New Mexico Spadefoot Toad is the Official State Amphibian of New Mexico.

The New Mexico Spadefoot Toad grows from 1.5 to 2.5 inches in length, and has a round body, with relatively short legs. They are green, to grey, to brown, usually reflecting the soil color of their native habitat, often with black and orange colored speckling on their back, and a white underside. They have large eyes, with vertical pupils.

Like all species of spadefoot toad, the New Mexico Spadefoot Toad is nocturnal and secretive. Spending most of its time buried in the ground, emerging during periods of rainfall to feed on insects and to breed. Breeding is the same for Couch’s spadefoot. Eggs laid in large masses, often hatch in as little as 48 hours.

The American bison (Bison bison) is a bovine mammal, also commonly known as the American buffalo. 'Buffalo' is something of a misnomer for this animal as it is only distantly related to either of the two "true buffaloes", the water buffalo and the African buffalo.

The American bison is a relative newcomer to North America, having originated in Eurasia and migrated over the Bering Strait. About 10,000 years ago it replaced the steppe bison (Bison priscus), a previous immigrant that was much larger. It is thought that the long-horned bison may have become extinct due to a changing ecosystem and hunting pressure following the development of the Clovis point and related technology, and improved hunting skills.

The bison originally inhabited the Great Plains of the United States and Canada in massive herds, ranging from the Great Slave Lake in Canada's far north to Mexico in the south, and from eastern Oregon almost to the Atlantic Ocean, taking its subspecies into account. Its two subspecies are the plains bison (Bison bison bison), distinguished by its smaller size and more rounded hump, and the wood bison (Bison bison athabascae), distinguished by its larger size and taller square hump. Wood bison are one of the largest species of cattle in the world, surpassed in size only by the massive Asian gaur and wild Asian water buffalo, both of which are found mainly in India and Southeast Asia.

A bison has a shaggy, dark brown winter coat, and a lighter weight, lighter brown summer coat. Bison males, called bulls, can weigh upwards of 1,800 pounds. Females (cows) average about 1,000 pounds. The biggest specimens on record have weighed as much as 2,500 pounds (1,130 kg). The heads and forequarters are massive, and both sexes have short, curved horns, which they use in fighting for status within the herd and for defense. Both stand approximately six feet tall at the shoulder, and can move with surprising speed (up to 35 miles per hour) to defend their young or when approached too closely by people.

Bison are polygamous (have many mates). Dominant bulls maintain a small harem of females for mating. Individual bulls "tend" females until allowed to mate, by following them around and chasing away rival males. Bison breed from mid-July to mid-September, and bear one calf in April and May. A single reddish-brown calf is born the following spring, and it nurses for a year. Bison are mature at three years of age, and have a life expectancy of approximately 15 years in the wild and up to 25 years in captivity. Juveniles are lighter in color than mature bison for the first three months of life. One very rare condition is the white buffalo, where the calf turns entirely white. White bison are considered sacred by many Native Americans.

Bison are herbivores, grazing on the grasses and sedges of the North American prairies and even the high-elevation, and forested plateaus of Yellowstone. Bison are nomadic grazers. They eat in the morning and evening, and rest during the day. In winter, they use their large heads like a plow to push aside snow and find winter food.

Due to its size and the protection afforded by living in a herd, the bison have few enemies besides humans. Grizzly bears and wolves may attempt to attack young calves or subadults, but only in the dead of winter when the herd cannot expend the energy to protect stragglers. A wolf pack can also take down an adult bison. Wolves frequently test even the largest bison for weaknesses; usually several wolves may pursue a bison and attempt to bring it down after the bison has succumbed to exhaustion or wounds from the wolves' bites.

Yellowstone is the only place in the lower 48 states where a population of wild bison has persisted since prehistoric times. Numbering between 3000 and 3500 now, this herd is descended from a remnant population of 23 individual mountain bison that survived the mass slaughter of the 1800s by hiding out in the Pelican Valley of Yellowstone Park.  Fewer than 50 native bison remained there in 1902. Fearing extinction, the park imported 21 bison from two privately-owned herds, as foundation stock for a bison ranching project that spanned 50 years at the Buffalo Ranch in Yellowstone's Lamar Valley.

Bison were a keystone species, whose grazing pressure was a force that shaped the ecology of the Great Plains as strongly as periodic prairie fires and which were central to the lifestyle of Native Americans of the Great Plains. There is some dispute as to when bison were prevalent in the United Sates and what the Indians had to do with regulating them. When Hernando De Soto's expedition came through the southeast in the early 16th century there was no mention of bison. The Indians had for centuries used a controlled burn to produce and maintain the prairies that were ideal grazing areas for bison. With the introduction of Europeans and their diseases that the Indians had no resistance to, many Indians died. There were fewer people to have controlled burns and herd management and the bison herds grew to large numbers that stretched across the horizon. Bison were the most numerous single species of large wild mammal on Earth.

The Indians hunted bison for food, clothing and tools. Almost every part was used. The bison provided meat, leather, sinew for bows, grease, dried dung for fires, and even the hooves could be boiled for glue. Before horses, the bison were herded into a narrow area and forced over cliffs to kill them. The animals were than slaughtered and any extra meat was traded among other tribes. After horses came into the picture, a good horseman could easily lance or shoot enough bison to keep his tribe and family fed, as long as a herd was nearby.

Bison were hunted almost to extinction in the 19th century and were reduced to a few hundred by the mid-1880s. The main reason they were hunted was for their skins, with the rest of the animal left behind to decay on the ground. Some speculated that the government encouraged the slaughter of bison as they were the main food of the Indians and the Indians were causing them so much trouble. The railroads also wanted the bison slaughtered as they were inconveniently found on the tracks and had also caused damage to trains that did not stop in time. Bison skins were used for industrial machine belts, clothing such as robes, and rugs. There was a huge export trade to Europe of bison hides. By 1884, the American bison was close to extinction. There were a few attempts at saving the bison, but the government was slow to help.

The famous herd of James "Scotty" Philip in South Dakota was one of the earliest reintroductions of bison to North America. In 1899, Phillip purchased a small herd (5 of them, including the female) from Dug Carlin, Pete Dupree's brother-in-law, whose son Fred had roped 5 calves in the Last Big Buffalo Hunt on the Grand River in 1881 and taken them back home to the ranch on the Cheyenne River. At the time of purchase there were approximately 7 pure buffalo. Scotty's goal was to preserve the animal from extinction. At the time of his death in 1911 at 53, Philip had grown the herd to an estimated 1,000 to 1,200 head of bison. A variety of privately owned herds had also been established, starting from this population.

Simultaneously, two Montana ranchers, Michel Pablo and Charles Allard, spent more than 20 years assembling one of the largest collections of purebred bison on the continent (by the time of Allard's death in 1896, the herd numbered 300). In 1907, after U.S. authorities declined to buy the herd, Pablo struck a deal with the Canadian government and shipped most of his bison northward to the newly created Elk Island National Park.

An isolated bison herd on Utah's Antelope Island has also been used to improve the genetic diversity of American bison. The current American bison population has been growing rapidly and is estimated at 350,000, compared to an estimated 60 to 100 million in the mid-19th century. Most current herds however are genetically polluted or partly crossbred with cattle. Today there are only four genetically unmixed herds and only one that is also free of brucellosis: it roams Wind Cave National Park. A founder population from the Wind Cave herd was recently established in Montana by the World Wildlife Fund.

Photo NPS

Sources: NPS, Wikipedia.com

The Sagebrush Lizard, a narrow lizard, is common in mid to high latitudes in the Western United States. It belongs to the genus Sceloporus (spiny lizards) in the Phrynosomatidae family of reptiles. There are 3 recognized regional variations of the sagebrush lizard; The Southern sagebrush lizard lives in Southern California, and the Western and Northern sagebrush variations are found in many western states including Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, and Arizona. There are isolated populations in North Dakota and in the mountains in Southern California, Sutter Buttes, Mount Diablo, San Benito Mountain, and Telescope Peak (Panamint Range).

It typically lives in elevations between 500 to around 10,500 ft. As their name implies, Sagebrush Lizards are predominately found in sagebrush cover, but they can also be found in greasewood and other desert shrubs and sometimes on small rocky outcrops. Specifically, they like manzanita and ceanothus brushland, pinion-juniper woodland, pine and fir forests, and along river bottoms in coastal redwood forests. West of Great Basin it lives chiefly in mountains, generally occurring at higher elevations than the Western Fence Lizard, but often overlapping in range at intermediate altitudes.

They spend most of their time on the ground basking in the sun or searching for unsuspecting insect meals. They are active mostly during the daytime in the warmer months. Requirements seem to be well-illuminated areas of open ground and scattered low bushes. It is chiefly a ground dweller that is usually found near bushes, brush heaps, logs, or rocks. The lizard uses rodent burrows, shrubs, logs, etc. for cover. Sagebrush lizards will hibernate through the cold winter months using rock piles or rodent burrows for cover. The duration of the inactive period varies with local climate (in Idaho, adults are active from mid-April to September, while activity of juveniles peaks in August.

It is the most common lizard on Idaho sagebrush plains. In Washington, this lizard is primarily associated with sand dunes and other sandy habitats that support shrubs and have large areas of bare ground. Typically, they can be seen on the ground at the edge of shrubs or other vegetation that provide cover from predators. When ground temperatures become hot, Sagebrush Lizards move into the low branches of shrubs or under vegetation. At night, on rainy days and on cool cloudy days they move underground or shelter under debris.

Sagebrush lizards eat a variety of insects, such as ants, termites, beetles, grasshoppers, flies, caterpillars, aphids, and arachnids, such as spiders, mites, ticks and scorpions. They are known to primarily eat ants. Sagebrush lizards are important prey items for a variety of vertebrate species in the Western United States. Snakes, especially striped whipsnakes and night snakes, are the main predators of the lizard but birds of prey also consume the lizard in large quantities. Smaller carnivorous mammals and domesticated cats also prey on the Sagebrush Lizard.

The species is easily disturbed and immediately seeks refuge in crevices, in rodent burrows, and under surface plants when alarmed. When frightened the lizard retreats to rocks, thick brush, or occasionally climbs trees. Because it is shy it does not commonly stick around when humans are about.

Sagebrush lizards mate in the spring. Females lay a clutch of approximately 4 eggs between mid-June and mid-July and bury them in loose soil about 1 inch deep, usually at the base of a shrub. Eggs hatch in about two months. Females in the northwestern range may produce two clutches. Hatchlings begin to appear in late July until early August. Young lizards have orange on neck, blue markings below are subdued or absent. Juveniles appear to be active later in the autumn than adults. The lifespan is generally around 6 years.

Males defend territories both during and after the breeding season. An area with a length of up to 25 ft is vigorously defended from rival males. Territorial defense is accomplished by posturing and physical combat.

Photo by wdfw.wa.gov

The term “beaver” often leads people to imagine a large rodent living in ponds and building dams. This is not the case with the mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa). Mountain beavers are an unusual and primitive species of rodent. They are about the size of a muskrat, 10-12 inches (27-30 cm) long. However, they have a very short tail, less than one-half inch (1 cm) long. They don’t seem to be able to retain body heat as efficiently as other rodents. They do not hibernate either.

Mountain Beavers have an unusual projection on each molar and premolar which is unique among mammals and allows for easy identification of teeth. This projection points toward the cheek on the upper tooth row, but points toward the tongue on the lower. The cheek teeth lack the complex folds of other rodents and are instead comprised of a single basin. They are hypsodont and ever-growing.

Mountain beavers live in underground burrows typically dug in dense thickets or in forest openings. The burrows have separate chambers for excrement, food storage and nesting. The presence of burrow openings is often the most obvious evidence of mountain beaver activity. Typically, there are multiple openings, 6-7 inches (15-18 cm) in diameter, in an area of about 150-170 square feet (14-16 square meters). There may be clipped or drying vegetation lying around the openings that might help you recognize them. It is uncertain if these mounds are for food or nest building. Other animals known to use their burrows are Long-tailed Weasels, Ermines, Minks, Fishers, California Voles, Dusky-footed Woodrats, Botta's Pocket Gopher, American Shrew Moles, Coast Moles, and Pacific Giant Salamanders.

Charles Camp described the burrow system in 1918 as follows:

"Wherever the aplodontia lives it digs extensive underground tunnels that in a populous colony form a network of passages a few inches beneath the surface of the ground. Each burrow system has many openings to the surface, but excavated dirt and rubbish is pushed out usually at only a few of these holes."

Mountain beavers are seldom seen because they feed mostly at night. They eat a wide variety of vegetation, some of which is inedible to other animals, including coyote brush, sword fern, cow parsnip, blackberries, poison oak, California nettle, foxglove, and thistle. They also eat their own excrement apparently to conserve nutrients. A mountain beaver needs 1/3 of its body weight in water every day because its kidneys are simple and inefficient at conserving water. This means an adult needs to consume 1-2 cups (295-450 ml) of water daily, by drinking or from food. Because of this, mountain beavers are restricted to areas near water or with extensive summer fog along the Pacific coast.

Mountain beavers range from the southwest corner of British Columbia south through western Washington and Oregon. In California, their range extends through the Sierra Nevada Mountains and barely into Nevada. Along the California coast, mountain beavers are found south to near Cape Mendocino and then in isolated coastal populations at Point Arena and Point Reyes. There are seven subspecies of Aplodontia rufa that are recognized.

The subspecies of mountain beaver found at Point Reyes, the Point Reyes mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa phaea), is endemic to the area - found nowhere else. It is only known to occur in western Marin County, almost entirely within Point Reyes National Seashore. There it is found on cool, moist, north-facing slopes in moderately dense coastal scrub. This scrub vegetation typically includes coyote brush as well as sword fern, bracken fern, poison oak, California nettle, and cow parsnip, which tend to grow in the moister areas.

Most of the area occupied by the Point Reyes mountain beaver was regularly burned by Coast Miwok Indians who once occupied the Point Reyes peninsula. In the last 100 years, however, fires have been far less frequent and routinely suppressed. This fire control has resulted in a buildup of highly combustible fuels.

The Vision Fire of October 3-12, 1995 burned 12,354 acres (5,000 ha), with 94% of the burn area within Point Reyes National Seashore. The fire consumed mostly coastal scrub, but also some Bishop Pine and Douglas fir forest, grassland, and riparian habitats. The fire burned 40% of the known range of the Point Reyes mountain beaver, including the majority of what was believed to be prime habitat. The post-fire survival rate of mountain beavers throughout the burn area was very low. It is expected to take up to 20 years post-fire for full recovery of the population.

The Point Arena mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa nigra) is also found in a small area in California and is listed on the Federal Threatened and Endangered list. It is interesting to note that they abide in a small area even though there are more suitable living areas.

Known predators include Bobcats, Coyotes, Cougars, Golden Eagles, and Owls. Among the parasites of the Mountain Beaver is the largest flea known to modern science, Hystrichopsylla schefferi. Females of this flea can be 8 mm long.

The breeding season is between January-March with 2-3 young born February-April. The young are born hairless, pink, and blind. They live 5-10 years, fairly long as rodents go. They are not social, though home ranges can overlap. Mountain Beavers are capable of climbing trees, but rarely travel far from their burrows. The thumb is slightly opposable and the animals will sit on their hindquarters and manipulate food with their forelimbs and incisors.

They are named for the fact that they have white tails all year long. In the winter, they are all white except for their beak and eyes. During the summer they have a mottled and barred brown head, ***, and back with white wings, belly, and tail. They also have feathers on their legs. Adults are 12 to 13 inches long, with males only slightly larger than females. The average weight is 12 to 15 ounces. They make soft, low hoots and low clucking noises and drag their feet when they walk.

Males return from their wintering areas to establish territories on spruce-willow timberline breeding grounds in April. Females arrive in early May and pairs are formed. Four to eight buff, faintly spotted eggs are laid in a hollow on the ground lined with a small amount of grass, leaves, and feathers. Males remain with the females until the eggs are hatched after an incubation period of 23 days. The chicks grow very fast and can get off the ground at only 9 days old. They get their first full set of flight feathers at 8-10 weeks and fly very well by then.

They tend to form groups in autumn and winter, the males by themselves in higher altitude areas and the females in lower brush forests. In both seasons they wander from place to place, never staying all season in one spot. They stay close together in the winter, but the males become territorial as they migrate back to the breeding areas.

In the winter, the White-tailed Ptarmigan eats buds and catkins of willow, birch, and alder in varying amounts. As the weather warms, their diet changes to insects, berries, new leaves, and flowers. They especially seem to like caterpillars and beetles.

They are hunted in many places, especially Alaska. Since the populations tend to be cyclic, in that one year there are abundant birds and the next year they may be scarce, this is an uncertain sport at times. Experienced hunters use snares and take advantage of the fact the birds drag their feet in the snow.

Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) once numbered in the millions in western United States and were an important food source for humans. By 1900, the sheep were reduced in great numbers due to avid hunting. Today, thanks to the National Parks and less hunting, the numbers are bouncing back. There are several places to see Bighorn sheep, but our favorites are Great Basin National Park and Rocky Mountain National Park.

To survive the bitter winds and chilling temperatures of winter, bighorn sheep have developed thick, double-layered coats of hair. These rich, tan coats which grow anew late each summer are shed in spring. Sheep range in color from light brown to grayish or dark, chocolate brown, with a white rump and lining on the back of all four legs. Rocky Mountain bighorn females weigh up to 200 pounds, and males occasionally exceed 300 pounds.

 

During the mating season or "rut", occurring in November and December, the rams butt heads in apparent sparring for females, clashing together at speeds of 40 mph (64 km/hr). The resulting crashes of horns can be heard up to one mile (1.6 km) away. Rams’ horns can weigh more than 40 pounds, and frequently show broken or "broomed" tips from repeated clashes.

Lambs, usually only one per mother, are born in May and June. After 4-6 months, they are completely weaned from the mother. They graze on grasses and browse shrubby plants, particularly in fall and winter, and seek minerals at natural salt licks. Ewes are very protective of their young for several months.

Bighorns are well adapted to climbing steep terrain where they seek cover from predators such as coyotes, eagles, and mountain lions. Their keen eyesight, highly developed sense of smell, and sharp hearing enable bighorn to detect potential dangers at great distances. Specialized hooves, soft and flexible on the inside, aid sheep in precarious jumps and breath-taking climbs on sharp cliff faces, as they seek shelter and escape from predators in their rocky habitat. They stay together for safety.

Sources: NPS, Desertusa.com

       Snowshoe Hare

There are two species of hares in Alaska, both of which turn white in the winter. The snowshoe, or varying hare (Lepus americanus), is the most common and widespread of these. It is distributed over the state except for the lower Kuskokwim Delta, the Alaska Peninsula, and the area north of the Brooks Range. It is sparsely distributed along the southeastern mainland except for major river deltas. The Alaskan hare (Lepus othus), also called the tundra hare, populates much of the western coast of Alaska, including the Alaska Peninsula, but has a spotty distribution along the Arctic coast and the north slope of the Brooks Range.

Hares are often called rabbits, and both are members of the family Leporidae. However, hares are born fully furred and with eyes open, while newborn rabbits are blind and hairless. Newborn hares are soon able to hop around and leave the nest, but the helpless baby rabbits do not even open their eyes for 7 to 10 days.

Snowshoe hares are somewhat larger than cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus spp.). They average around 18 to 20 inches (.5 m) in total length and weigh 3 to 4 pounds (1.4-1.8 kg). In summer the coat is yellowish to grayish brown with white under-parts, and the tail is brown on top. This coat is shed and replaced by white pelage in winter, but the hairs are dusky at the base and the under-fur is gray. The ears are dark at the tips. The large hind feet are well-furred, adapting these animals for the deep snows of the boreal forests—hence the name “snowshoe.”

The Alaskan hare is larger—22 to 28 inches (.5-.7 m) in length and 6 to 12 pounds (2.7-5.4 kg) in weight. The winter coat of this large hare is long and the fur is white to the base. Edges of the ears are blackish. In summer the coat is grayish brown above and white below, with a whitish base to the hairs. The tail is entirely white.

Snowshoe hares breed at about 1 year of age and have two to three litters per year. The gestation period is 36 to 37 days. First litters are born around the middle of May in Interior Alaska and average about four leverets (young hares). The second litter, in years of increasing abundance, often averages six young, and occasionally there is a third litter. Females breed immediately after the birth of a litter.

The leverets are born in an unlined depression or “form.” They weigh about 2 ounces (57 g) at birth and can walk by the time their fur is dry. In a day or two they are wandering about the nest, and in less than two weeks will be eating green vegetation. They nurse for about a month. The color pattern of the young snowshoe is similar to the summer pattern of adults.

Breeding habits of the Alaskan hare are similar, but the reproductive season usually begins later, and there is probably only one litter per year. The leverets are darker than the adults with a black tinge to their fur.

Snowshoe hares are found in mixed spruce forests, wooded swamps, and brushy areas. They feed on a wide variety of plant material—grasses, buds, twigs, and leaves in the summer and spruce twigs and needles, bark, and buds of hardwood such as aspen and willow in the winter. The Alaskan hare is generally found on windswept, rocky slopes and upland tundra, often in groups. These big hares usually avoid lowlands and wooded areas. They feed on willow shoots and various dwarf arctic plants.

Hares are most active at dusk and dawn. They do not dig burrows or build nests but use natural shelters and depressions and rest under branches or bushes. The snowshoe hare travels about on well-established trails or runways which become deeply worn in the snow or forest floor. It is interesting that the winter trails through the deep snow follow the summer pathways.

Populations of snowshoe hares are subject to cycles of high abundance and scarcity. The population in an area will build up over a period of years to a peak of abundance, followed by a sudden decline to a very low level. During periods of peak abundance there are as many as 600 animals per square mile (230/km²) of range. The exact cause or causes for the decline are unknown. Some possibilities include over browsing their food supply, predators, and shock disease due to stress, parasites, or a combination of these.

Snowshoe hares are one of the more important food items of northern furbearers, particularly lynx. They are often an important source of food for Alaskans. The arctic hare is also important as a source of food and fur.

In times of great abundance the snowshoes may kill brush by over browsing. In “high” years they may compete with big game animals such as moose for forage.

The island fox (Urocyon littoralis) is the largest of the Channel Islands' native mammals. A descendent of the mainland gray fox, the island fox evolved into a unique species over 10,000 years ago. The island fox has similar markings to its ancestor, but is one-third smaller.

Environmental and ecological factors such as drought or food scarcity may have contributed to the natural selection for a smaller size. At 12 to 13 inches in height and 4 to 5 pounds, the island fox is about the size of a housecat. Island foxes have gray coloring on the back, rust coloring on the sides, and white underneath. The face has distinctive black, white, and rufous-colored patterns.

The scientific name of the Island fox is Urocyon littoralis. It shares the genus with its mainland ancestor the gray fox, Urocyon cineroargenteus. Littoralis translates from Latin as "situated or growing on or near a shore especially of the sea." Island foxes are distributed as six different subspecies, one on each of the six Channel Islands on which they occur. Foxes from separate islands are still capable of interbreeding, but are physically and genetically distinct enough to be recognized as separate subspecies. For example, the average number of caudal (tail) vertebrae differs significantly from island to island. Subspecies are named for their island of origin:

Island foxes communicate with one another through sight, sound, and smell. Visually, island foxes show signs of dominance or submission through facial expressions and body posture. They communicate audibly by barking and sometimes growling. Their keen sense of smell plays an important role in the marking of territories. Island foxes are known to scent-mark their territories with a few drops of urine and tend to concentrate scats in particular areas, often conspicuously positioned on well-traveled paths. Island fox tracks are similar to those of the gray fox only smaller.

Compared with the gray fox, island foxes are relatively diurnal (active during daylight hours) with peaks in activity occurring at dusk and dawn. Island fox diets consist primarily of fruits from plants like the sea fig, insects like the Jerusalem cricket, and one of the few small mammals found on the islands, the deer mouse. Occasionally, foxes forage along the shoreline for crabs and other marine invertebrates.

Island foxes are generally monogamous (mate for life), and breed only once a year. Pairs are seen together frequently beginning in January, and mating takes place in late February to early March. The gestation period is thought to be similar to the gray fox, which is around 52 days, and pups are born from late April through early May. Litter size ranges from one to as many as five pups, but two or three is considered average. Born in the protection of a den, pups are blind and helpless with short dark brown hair at birth. They emerge from the den at about one month of age, much furrier but still considerably darker than adults. They begin to resemble their parents by late summer.

It is believed that island fox pups undergo a period of extended parental care. In a recent study of island foxes, scientists found adults and pups in the same trap on 22 occasions. In 24 traps containing only pups, they found killed mice and other prey items outside the traps, apparently left by the parents for their young. As with most wild canids, males play an important role in the rearing of young.

Island foxes were probably brought to the southern Channel Islands of Santa Catalina, San Nicolas, and San Clemente by the Chumash native people who traded with the Gabrielino people of the southern islands. The Chumash considered the fox to be a sacred animal--a pet of the sun, and possibly a dream helper. The island Chumash performed a fox dance and probably used the pelts of foxes to make articles like arrow quivers, capes, and headdresses.

Get more information about the Channel Islands National Park.

Source:NPS