A presentation of general information on many of the mammals most commonly seen in Yellowstone, illustrated with drawings of many of the species described.
by
Harold J. Brodrick
Yellowstone Interpretive Series
Number 1
YELLOWSTONE LIBRARY AND MUSEUM ASSOC.
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone Park, Wyoming
1954
Reprinted March 1959
This booklet is published by the Yellowstone Library and Museum Association, a non-profit organization whose purpose is the stimulation of interest in the educational and inspirational aspects of Yellowstone’s history and natural history. The Association cooperates with and is recognized by the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior, as an essential operating organization. It is primarily sponsored and operated by the Naturalist Division in Yellowstone National Park.
As one means of accomplishing its aims the Association has published a series of reasonably priced booklets which are available for purchase by mail throughout the year or at the museum information desks in the park during the summer.
| YELLOWSTONE INTERPRETIVE SERIES | |
|---|---|
| Number | Title and Author |
| 1 | Wild Animals of Yellowstone National Park by Harold J. Brodrick |
| 2 | Birds of Yellowstone National Park by Harold J. Brodrick |
| 3 | Yellowstone Fishes by James R. Simon |
| 4 | The Story of Old Faithful Geyser by George D. Marler |
| 5 | Reptiles and Amphibians of Yellowstone National Park by Frederick B. Turner |
| 6 | Yellowstone’s Bannock Indian Trails by Wayne F. Replogle |
| 7 | The Story of Man in Yellowstone by Dr. M. D. Beal |
| 8 | The Plants of Yellowstone National Park by W. B. McDougall and Herma A. Baggley |
Orders or letters of inquiry concerning publications should be addressed to the Yellowstone Library and Museum Association, Yellowstone Park, Wyoming.
Copyright 1952 by the
Yellowstone Library and Museum Association
Revised 1954
Visitors to Yellowstone have for many years found the larger mammals of the region of unusual interest. The demand for some printed information in general terms and at a reasonable cost have prompted the preparation of this handbook.
The aim of this publication is to provide those interested with a few facts about the more commonly seen mammals of Yellowstone. People want to be better informed on the variety of animals found here; this handbook should be helpful. It is hoped that the statements concerning locations where certain species are most apt to be seen will assist many people to enjoy the pleasures of watching these animals and observing their interesting behavior. The illustrations and descriptions of the various species are intended to aid in the identification of animals seen for those not familiar with wildlife. If the book fulfills these needs it will have served its purpose.
The assistance of Dr. C. Max Bauer, Chief, Geology Branch (retired), National Park Service and of Chief Park Naturalist David de L. Condon in making criticisms and suggestions on the material presented here is acknowledged. The cooperation of the Yellowstone Library and Museum Association in publishing the book is appreciated and I wish to thank Yellowstone National Park for the use of copies of original paintings by E. J. Sawyer for some of the illustrations. I also wish to acknowledge the aid rendered by all others who participated in the editing and completion of the manuscript for publication.
The scientific names used were taken from A FIELD GUIDE TO THE MAMMALS by Burt and Grossenheider, and where subspecific names are used, they were checked in the Journal of Mammalogy for current usage. The authorities for each name are omitted here as not having any particular interest to the non-professional. Those study specimens available in the Yellowstone Museums were used as reference material. The title “Wild Animals of Yellowstone National Park” is used, even though this book treats only the mammals and omits dealing iv with other animal life forms. The average person thinks of mammals as the animals and usually thinks of other life forms by more specific names.
Harold J. Brodrick
April 1952 and
May 1954
This second edition of WILD ANIMALS OF YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK has been revised by the Naturalist Staff at Yellowstone. The revisions consist mainly of a revision to the scientific names of the animals to bring them into conformance with more recent scientific nomenclature, and also to bring some of the text material into conformance with preferred American usage. These additions, corrections and deletions have been made in accordance with either the United States Government Printing Office Style Manual or Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary (1950). All of the generic and specific names have been changed to agree with those in A Field Guide to the Mammals by Burt and Grossenheider. Where subspecies are concerned, the Journal of Mammalogy has been used as the authority.
May 1954
“I’LL TELL THE WORLD!”
THE ANIMALS ALONE
ARE WORTH YOUR TRIP TO
YELLOWSTONE
Yellowstone National Park was established on March 1, 1872 by an act passed by the Congress of the United States of America. It is a mountainous area mostly in the northwestern corner of Wyoming, with small sections extending into Montana and Idaho. The area set aside as a National Park is 3,471.51 square miles. It provides within its boundaries environmental conditions which make it possible for many of the mammals representative of the Rocky Mountains to carry out their complete life cycle without fear of persecution by man.
The men that first conceived the idea of preserving the Yellowstone area as a great National Park were primarily concerned with the preservation of the natural wonders such as the geysers and hot spring phenomena, the canyon and waterfalls, and the lakes. In those days little thought was given to the need for preserving our wild animals. However, it soon became apparent that the wild animals, once thought to be unlimited in numbers, would have to have protection if they were going to be preserved for future generations. Yellowstone soon became known nearly as much for its wildlife as for its natural wonders.
The wild animals of Yellowstone National Park are widely distributed over the park area, some of them being restricted to limited areas due to the difference in elevation and the availability of the certain types of habitat which they require, while others range over a wider part of the park, especially during certain seasons of the year.
The higher mountain meadows are ideal summer ranges for the larger mammals. These animals would normally work down into the lower country outside of Yellowstone to the north for the winter. Since that area is now mostly under fence they have been forced to do the best they can up in the winter snows of the lower sections of the park. Bears and several of the smaller animals go into hibernation as soon as or even before the first snow squalls of winter appear so the long winter in the high country holds no terrors for them.
It is the policy of the National Park Service to present these animals to the visiting public in as near their natural environment as possible, each species being left to carry on its normal existence unassisted wherever possible. Unfortunately the lack of sufficient winter range within the park for unlimited numbers 2 of animals has made it necessary that the numbers of bison, elk and antelope be controlled and management practices be put into effect in order to hold the number down to the carrying capacity of the range. So far these three species of animals have presented the only problem as far as overpopulation is concerned.
Predatory animals, especially the coyote, wolf and mountain lion were at one time controlled by hunting. The present policy is to let the predators carry on their own normal life as it is believed to be best for them and all other animals concerned and only in unusual circumstances will any control measures be carried out.
The Pronghorn or American Antelope was almost as well known as the buffalo to the early settlers of the West. In fact it has been estimated, by some, to have been present in nearly as large numbers as the buffalo but never to have concentrated in such large herds.
It once ranged the territory from eastern Kansas, western Iowa and Minnesota westward to the valleys of California and northern Mexico northward to southern Saskatchewan and Alberta. It is a typical animal of the plains and open rolling country—few animals are more fleet or wary than the pronghorn. Unfortunately their curiosity in regard to any object that they do not recognize or understand helped make them a fairly easy mark for the hunters. Many are the tales of the pronghorns being coaxed into gun range by their curiosity in a handkerchief or strip of bright cloth waving in the breeze.
The pronghorn is the only antelope in the world with branched or pronged horns and has the unique characteristic among all hollow-horned ruminants of shedding the outer covering of the horns annually. In the Yellowstone area this horny sheath sheds from the permanent bony core usually during November or December. The core is covered with a blackish skin, at first, then finally by the horny material that forms gradually downward from the tip.
Another characteristic of these animals is a conspicuous rump patch composed of white hairs, longer than any found elsewhere on the body. Through development of certain muscles it is possible for the animal to erect these white hairs until they stand out stiffly forming a dazzling white rosette. This is done in times of excitement and is usually considered a danger signal.
The tiny antelope kids are born in late May or June, usually twins but sometimes one or three. During the first several days after birth they remain carefully hidden in the grass but soon gain their strength and are able to keep up with their mother. It is interesting to note that antelope does occasionally seem to act as baby tenders for other does. Observers have reported upon a number of occasions seeing from four to six or seven kids following one doe without any other doe being visible in the immediate vicinity; or sometimes two does may be together with eight or ten young. The same practice has been observed with the bighorns.
Pronghorn
Enemies are principally coyotes, bobcats, and eagles in the case of the young.
General description: A little smaller than the average deer, with simple horns slightly curved and with one lateral prong. Horns present in both sexes though smaller or sometimes lacking in the female. Color reddish-brown or tan with darker brown to blackish mane, white rump and whitish or creamy underparts. Males about 54 inches in length, height at shoulder 34 to 36 inches and weight 100 to 125 pounds. Females smaller.
Terms: Male—buck; female—doe; young—kids.
Where found: Near Gardiner, between Gardiner and Mammoth, Swan Lake Flats, Mammoth to Tower Fall, along Yellowstone River below the Canyon and in the Lamar River valley and Slough Creek area. The park antelope population fluctuates over the years from a minimum of about 200 animals to a maximum of 800.
The Yellowstone Park Bison or Buffalo is one of the remnant groups of the former millions that once roamed over the country between the Atlantic Ocean and the Rocky Mountains.
Gradually pushed backward or killed by the advancing line of the settlements they were finally confined to the plains areas west of the Mississippi, where, in the period shortly before and after the Civil War, great numbers were slaughtered yearly until the seemingly countless herds were thoughtlessly reduced to a straggling few. In fact, they were almost exterminated before a relatively small group of persons became conscious of the condition and through continued efforts were able to bring about the preservation of a few small herds, herds that through careful protection and management have now increased to possibly 25,000 head, mainly in Canada. With the exception of the beaver, the bison played a more important role in the life of the Indian and the settler than any other animal in the country.
The bison, while doing well under management practices, has fortunately resisted domestication. They are of very uncertain disposition and it is dangerous to approach them closely on foot.
Protected by a coat of thick hair, quite shaggy on the foreparts, the bison is able to withstand the severest weather of winter. He doesn’t seem to mind as long as it is possible to paw or root down through the snow to reach the grass beneath.
Bison
The single bison calf is usually born between April and June, and at first is red brown in color, short necked but without the noticeable hump of its mother. They are hardy and playful and soon able to follow the herd. Mother very carefully watches her calf and protects it at all times.
General description: A large, ox-like animal with large head and short curved horns, a high hump at the shoulder and very heavy forequarters. Dark brown in color, hair very shaggy on the foreparts. Bulls total length about 11 feet, height at shoulder 70 inches and weight 1800 pounds or more. Cows about 7 feet in length, 60 inches height and 800 to 1200 pounds in weight. Both sexes have horns but those of the cows are smaller.
Terms: Male—bull; female—cow; young—calf.
Where found: East of Tower Junction along the Lamar River and northward. A herd on Pelican Creek, one ranging in Hayden Valley, and another in the Lower Geyser Basin. During the summer months small numbers may occasionally be seen along the Gibbon River, Madison River, in the Lower Geyser Basin, in Hayden Valley and along the east shore of the lake between Fishing Bridge and Lake Butte. The larger herds go into the higher country during the summer and are seldom seen.
An attempt is made through management operations to maintain a park population of from 1000 to 1200 of these animals.
The American Elk or Wapiti is, with the exception of the moose, the largest member of the deer family in North America. Once widely distributed over much of North America it has now been eliminated from most of its former range until now the Yellowstone region has the largest number of wapiti to be found in the world. There are smaller numbers in scattered places in the Rocky Mountains from northern New Mexico to Montana, Idaho, Washington and Manitoba, with small introduced herds in other places.
The elk is the most polygamous of the deer family. In the fall each bull tries to collect the largest harem he can and many spectacular fights result from the clash of rivals that may try to rob each other of a part of the herd. It isn’t long, however, until the bulls forget their rivalry and, leaving the cows, they get together by themselves until the next fall.
Elk
In the past elk were in the habit of feeding up into the mountains during the summer and migrating to lower country for the winter. The westward-moving settlers gradually took over the winter range for agriculture and forced the elk to remain in the mountains throughout the year. Winter hardships have been severe and many of them have died of starvation. This lack of winter range has always been a serious problem in caring for both the northern and southern Yellowstone herds. They depend more upon grass as food than the other members of the deer family.
The cow elk has one, rarely two young at a time, which are born in May and June. At first they are weak and so are kept hidden for several days until able to keep up with their mother. The young are spotted for the first few months, but lose their markings by late summer.
General description: A very large deer with a shaggy mane and short tail. The males with widely branching antlers which are shed annually; females do not have antlers. In color the sexes are slightly different. The males have head and neck a dark chestnut brown, sides and back a yellowish to brownish gray. 9 Females less strongly marked but both with a large straw-colored rump patch. Males much larger than females. Total length. Males 115 inches, height at shoulder 60 inches, weight 700 to 1000 pounds. Females 88 inches in length, 56 inches in height, and 500 to 600 pounds in weight.
Terms: Male—bull; female—cow; young—calf.
Where found: The elk migrate to the higher meadows during the summer but some are usually to be seen in the meadows along the Madison River, the small meadows between Mammoth and Old Faithful, between Norris and Canyon, and from the Lake to the East Entrance. The over all summer park population usually equals or exceeds 15,000 animals.
The Moose is the largest of our North American deer. The Shiras Moose which is found in Yellowstone and surrounding areas is slightly smaller than the typical American moose, which is found in the northern states east of the Rockies and north to the Arctic. In Europe the moose found there is commonly called elk. This has of course resulted in some confusion between it and our animal known as the elk.
The large, ungainly and grotesque appearing moose is very unlike the graceful deer. The ugly face with its long nose, high and heavy shoulders and much smaller hindquarters, and the long legs all tend to make its appearance seem a caricature. But in spite of his size, appearance, and his mighty spread of antlers, the bull moose can, if he chooses, drift through the woodland as quiet as a mouse; then again he may give the sound effect of a herd of elephants on a stampede.
Marshy meadows and the margins of lakes or streams are the favorite summer haunts of the moose. His usual summer diet consists of the various aquatic plants and his long legs are of great assistance in wading for the plants as well as helping him get through the deep snows of winter. The moose is better fitted to withstand the rigors of winter than the deer and elk and is accustomed to remaining in higher country during the winter. During such times his food is made up of the foliage, twigs and bark of trees and shrubs. Moose are powerful swimmers and dive for aquatic plants if the water is too deep for wading.
The moose calf is born late in May or June, usually one the first year and frequently twins thereafter, but rarely triplets. They remain with their mother during the first year. She is 10 very protective and does not hesitate to attack any animal or human that she thinks may harm the calves. In fact, any moose has a very uncertain temper and it is not wise to approach one too closely.
Moose
General description: A large, dark-colored animal with heavy humped shoulders, a large head with broad, pendulous muzzle, large ears; throat with a hanging growth of skin and hair called the “bell.” Males with broad, heavy, palmate antlers which are shed annually; average spread 52 to 58 inches; females do not have antlers. Total length of animal about 9 feet, height at shoulder 66 to 78 inches and weight 900 to 1400 pounds. Females about three quarters the size of males. Color blackish-brown with pale brown along the back and pale ears; legs washed with tawny gray.
Terms: Male—bull; female—cow; young—calf.
Where found: Most likely to be seen in Swan Lake Flat and Willow Park between Mammoth and Norris; in the Dunraven Pass area; along Lewis River above Lewis Canyon and between Fishing Bridge and the East Entrance. Active all day but they are best seen early in the morning or in late afternoon and evening. Moose are also numerous in the Falls River Basin, Pelican Creek, Slough Creek areas and along the Yellowstone River above the Lake. These animals are thought to number between 500 and 700 for the entire park area and seem to maintain a rather constant level.
The Rocky Mountain Mule Deer, or Blacktail Deer, is a popular animal in the park. The Whitetail deer also was sometimes found in the lower elevations in earlier times but has not been seen in the park for some years. The mule deer gets its name from the family characteristic of the very large mule-like ears.
Rocky Mountain Mule Deer
Mule deer are generally distributed over most of the park during the summer but do not tend to go above timberline as much as do the elk. In the winter they drift down to the lower, more protected ranges, but, not in migratory herds as the elk do.
Their food consists of grass, twigs, foliage of trees and shrubs, plants and fruits. They especially like leaves and buds and sometimes prove destructive to the shrubbery about the developed areas where the landscaping must be protected.
The fawns, one, frequently two and occasionally three in number, are born in late May to July. They are beautiful little 12 spotted creatures that are kept hidden for a time until able to follow their mother. Quite frequently people, upon finding a fawn hidden in the bushes, take it away thinking that something has happened to its mother. This should not be done for it almost invariably does much more harm than good. Once in a while something does happen to the mother but in most cases she is not far away and will return to the fawn when the proper time comes.
General description: A rather large deer with large ears; antler tines pronged; tip of tail black. Female without antlers. Males shed their antlers sometime between December and April annually. Summer color tawny to yellowish brown with large patch of white on rump, throat white. In the winter they are dark gray instead of brownish. Males, total length 68 inches, height at shoulder 42 inches and weight 150 to 200 pounds for the average buck. Females smaller.
Terms: Male—buck; female—doe; young—fawn.
Where found: In the summertime they are well scattered over the park and may possibly be seen along the trails at the edges of open meadows along the roadside, or near developed areas, day or night. The population varies from year to year and of recent years from a maximum of 1200 to a minimum of about 600.
An interesting inhabitant of the roughest, rockiest mountain country as well as the high arctic alpine meadows is the Bighorn or Rocky Mountain Sheep. The sure-footedness with which they will dash, in full flight, up or down seemingly impossible slopes is truly amazing. Negotiating with ease places that the most skillful mountaineer, with all his climbing equipment, can scale only by slow and laborious means. Even the picturesque ram with his great recurved horns can leap from point to point with grace and agility.
It might well be mentioned here that the fable of the ram habitually jumping and landing on his horns is not true. They are used, however, as fighting equipment and the shock they can withstand is terrific as the rams square off about thirty yards apart, then dash at each other until they collide head-on with all the speed and power they can muster. This continues until one or the other finally retires groggily from the scene. The ewe also has horns but they are short and only slightly curved.
Bighorn
Bighorns eat practically any of the plant life that grows within their domain, which is preferably near and above timber line in the summertime. There they remain during the summer. In the winter they select either open, windswept slopes that will be kept free from snow or else drift down to the lower, more protected places in the valleys.
The bighorn ewe has one or two lambs which are born in the spring. Their lambs soon learn to play like our domestic sheep, and before they are very old are given their mountain-climbing lessons by watchful mothers. When still quite small they can follow the band with almost as much skill as the older ones.
Their ancient enemies are the wolves, coyotes, mountain lions, bobcats and, in the case of the young, the eagles. In Yellowstone, wolves, lions and bobcats are now rare in occurrence. These create a hazardous life for the mountain sheep. Then with the addition of man and his impact upon them they have had trouble even holding their own and in recent years are threatening to become another of our vanishing species, especially because of the keen competition with elk for forage.
General description: A large, blocky wild sheep, covered with a thick coat of hair, not wool, brownish to grayish brown in color with a creamy-white rump. Males with massive horns which curl back, out, downward then forward and up. Females with more slender, short and slightly curved horns. Total length five to six feet, 38 to 42 inches in height at shoulder and 200 to 300 pounds in weight. Females smaller.
Terms: Male—ram; female—ewe; young—lamb.
Where found: Summer in higher mountain ridges especially around Mt. Washburn, Quadrant Mountain and on Sepulchre Mountain. In winter they usually migrate down lower especially to the Mt. Everts section between Mammoth and Gardiner. They are often seen in the vicinity of the junction of the Lamar and Yellowstone Rivers and occasionally near Oxbow Creek. Of recent years the Yellowstone population seems to be declining. The population has changed from an estimated maximum of about 400 to an estimated minimum of 170.
The question most frequently asked by the park visitor is, “Where can I see a bear?” For this natural born clown of the woods is probably our best known park animal. The black bear 15 is smart and quickly adapts himself to a life of comparative ease. Why rustle for a living when a few antics and a little begging about the camps or along the roadside will produce a nice array of scraps or sweets, thinks he.
That is when the trouble starts for both bear and visitor. For Mr. Bear, regardless of how friendly he may seem, is a dangerous, wild animal, capable of inflicting severe injury by one blow of his powerful paw or a bite from his well-armed jaws. A visitor who feeds or even approaches a bear too closely not only is risking injury to himself but is contributing to a condition that may cause the injury of an innocent visitor in the future. He also is violating regulations which have been established in an attempt to provide protection for the visitor and the animals.
Once fed, the bear continues to expect food. He prowls around the camps and a smell of food is an invitation to break into cabin, tent or car, which he can and does do with comparative ease. The offenses he commits pile up—injuries to persons, damage to property—until the offender must be either taken for a long ride or shot. One less bear for a visitor to see, yet the visitor has done much to cause this by his failure to observe the rules against feeding these animals. Every year a long list of personal injuries, varying from slight to serious occur. Property damage incidents accumulate in ever-increasing numbers. For your safety, for the safety of other visitors and the sake of the bear do not feed, molest, tease or treat him as a pet. Help to keep them as a natural part of our wildlife.
The cinnamon and brown bears of this country are simply color phases of the black bear, the blonds and brunettes of the family. The various graduations of color are frequently intermixed in the same family; hence it is a common occurrence to see a black bear female with brown cubs, a brown and a black cub, or even all three colors.
The bears hibernate during the winter months, usually from late October or November to March or April depending upon the weather conditions. In the fall they put on a thick layer of fat which furnishes the needed nourishment during the winter. During this hibernation they are not in a deep sleep as has sometimes been thought; they remain conscious and although sleepy are frequently restless and move around occasionally. Hibernation dens are usually in caves, or under windfalls, buildings or other protected places.
American Black Bear
It is during hibernation that the young are born, usually in January. At first the cubs are very small, only about eight inches long, weighing from eight to twelve ounces and are naked, blind and helpless. The black bear usually has two cubs though occasionally one, three or four. The cubs grow rapidly and are able to follow their mother around when she comes out of hibernation. If mother is a highway or camp beggar the cubs soon learn it too and then the trouble starts. The female bear is a good mother and it is extremely dangerous to come between her and the cubs. She makes the cubs mind, spanking them vigorously if they fail to do so. The cubs hibernate with their mother their first winter and are then usually weaned by the next summer. The female black bear has a new litter of cubs only every two or three years.
These animals are omnivorous, eating anything that comes their way, grass, fruit, berries, roots, mammals, birds, carrion, grubs and ants, fish, frogs etc.
General description: A medium-sized bear, with considerable variation in color, from glossy black to cinnamon brown or yellowish, often with a brown muzzle. Claws of forefeet curved and slightly longer than those of hind feet. Its generally smaller size, straight facial profile and lack of shoulder hump distinguishes the black from the grizzly bear. Adult blacks can climb trees readily. Sexes are alike in appearance, with total length of about 60 inches, tail 5 inches, height at shoulder from 25 to 35 or more inches and weight from 200 to 400 pounds, occasionally over.
Terms: Male—boar; female—sow; young—cubs.
Where found: Throughout the park, though most frequently seen in the vicinity of camps and cabin areas. It is possible to see them any time night or day but it is dangerous to approach them too closely at any time; a mother with cubs is doubly dangerous. Extreme care should be used in parking to watch bears so that you do not create a highway traffic hazard which endangers the lives of others. Do not permit the bear to approach closely. Never place yourself or others in a position of danger with respect to these animals.
PARK REGULATIONS PROHIBIT THE FEEDING OR MOLESTING OF THE BEARS. ABIDE BY THEM.
There are probably more Grizzlies in Yellowstone Park now than in any other area of the United States. Elsewhere they have been reduced by extensive hunting. Members of this genus are the largest and most formidable of the carnivorous animals of North America. The variety found in the park is probably surpassed in size only by the Giant Brown Bear of Alaska and the White Bear of the Arctic seas.
Grizzly Bear
Fortunately the Yellowstone grizzly is inclined to mind his own business and is not addicted to the panhandling or clowning traits of the black bear. He does sometimes come into the camps and cabin areas in search of food but generally is seen only rarely by visitors. In the woods, if given a reasonable chance, he will move away from your vicinity. However, a grizzly surprised at close range will frequently charge the person, surprising him. In this event a tree is the safest place to attain as the adult grizzly is unable to climb trees.
The grizzly is a large animal but in spite of this is able to travel with tremendous speed and can outrun a horse for a short distance. He is powerful enough to kill elk and other large animals and he does doubtless occasionally attack large mammals if the opportunity seems favorable. He often takes sick or feeble animals or young ones. However, the grizzly is usually content to make a diet of grass, roots, berries, fruits, mushrooms, ants, mice, rats, gophers and other small animals and any carrion he happens to find. In areas outside of the park occasional individuals have been known to kill cattle, sheep and hogs.
The grizzly hibernates like the black bear, although frequently at higher elevations, where the period is longer due to weather conditions.
Grizzly cubs are born in January and are blind, naked and helpless, and weigh possibly as much as a pound at birth. One or two, and occasionally three or four, are born in each litter. Litters usually occur every second or third year. A grizzly cub can climb trees readily until he is about a year old, after that his claws become too long and blunt and he loses his inclination for climbing.
General description: A large heavily built bear with a dished face that gives a concave profile, a broad head and a hump at the shoulders. Tail short, claws long and slightly curved with whitish or yellowish streaks. Color subject to seasonal and individual variation, yellowish brown to blackish with a sprinkling of whitish or silvery-tipped hairs. In winter the coat appears grayer with the silver hairs more pronounced, hence the name Silvertip. Underparts are colored the same except for lacking the grizzling. Sexes colored alike but the females are somewhat smaller in size than males. Males are six to eight feet in length, 20 tail two inches, with height at shoulder from three to nearly four feet. The weight varies from 350 to 900 pounds with some individuals running to nearly 1200 pounds.
Terms: Male—boar; female—sow; young—cubs.
Where found: Throughout the park but most common near the Canyon, Fishing Bridge and Old Faithful. Usually stirring around most frequently in the evening or during the night.
Mountain Lion, Panther, Puma or Painter are other names applied to this, the largest of our North American unspotted cats.
In spite of blood-tingling tales to the contrary, under normal conditions the cougar is a harmless animal as far as man is concerned. For unless wounded or cornered it is extremely shy and is one of the most difficult of wild animals to see under normal circumstances. Physically it is quite capable of killing an unarmed person but generally its inclinations are to very carefully avoid humans instead. However, if wounded, in defending its young, or treed in the chase this cat should be respected.
The cougar is frequently a wide-ranging hunter and its hunting territory may be the area in a radius of thirty to fifty miles from the home den. For that reason it is widely distributed and does not become very numerous in any comparatively small area.
The range of the cougar is comparable with that of the various species of deer since they and the other larger mammals of that type are the cougars’ preferred food. They have been found to be quite destructive to domestic stock also and have been extensively hunted for that reason. Normally the cougar does not kill more than it needs at a time and is known to cache the uneaten portion of a carcass for future use. However, occasional animals have acquired reputations as killers.
A cougar’s den is usually in a cave but may be in the shelter of windfalls if a suitable cave is lacking. Here the young, from one to three or four in number, averaging two, are born. They are generally born in late winter or early spring, but may be born in any month of the year. Like our domestic cat, the cougar is a playful animal; adults as well as young have been found to be rather easily tamed. The young are spotted for approximately six months after birth.
Cougar
General description: A very large cat with a proportionally small head and a long cylindrical tail. Body long, lithe and powerful. Fur soft and rather short, of a tawny or dull yellowish-brown color. The males are somewhat larger than females. Length 7 or 8 feet and weight about 150 pounds.
Terms: Male—tom or lion; female—lioness; young—cubs or kittens.
Where found: Rare in the park and has seldom been seen. Ranges the timbered mountain areas and may be about during the daytime but most usually in the evening or night. Its scream is supposed to be blood-curdling but that of the bobcat has probably been mistaken for the cougar on frequent occasions. Cougars have been reported so rarely and their sign seen so little that they are considered one of the rarest of animals in the park.
The “little wolf” was a common sight on the western prairies in earlier times, his nightly serenade ringing out from the summits of the buttes through which the lonely trails wound. In spite of the persecution by man the coyote is just as common, even now, in many parts of his range, and even in the more settled farming areas his intelligence and wily ways have enabled him to continue a precarious existence.
Coyotes are not only accused of making serious depredations on game animals but on domestic animals as well. It is true that they have caused damage in stock-growing areas among sheep, poultry and young animals, for in such areas other food is scarce. The coyotes of Yellowstone were originally blamed for serious wildlife losses until the results of careful research proved differently. This research has shown us that the chief food of the coyote consists of marmots, picket-pins, mice, rabbits and other small animals as well as carrion. Seldom are larger wild animals killed other than the young, the old, sick or crippled that are comparatively easy prey. It was customarily assumed that when coyotes were seen on a carcass that they were the cause of the death, when actually many of the animals died from other causes before the coyotes found them.
In fact, the elimination of the coyotes, it is thought by some, would mean the increase of rodents to such an extent that we would be faced with a serious problem of over-population of them, as well as a probable increase in disease among the larger animals. The deer, elk and others of the larger animals, in good physical condition, are capable of killing the coyote and it is a frequent sight to see several of them chasing a coyote instead of being chased. An over-population of coyotes can become a menace to any animal, large or small, and in some instances control of coyote numbers has been found necessary.
Coyote
The coyote home is in some little cave or cavity among rocks or a burrow in the ground. The five to seven young are born in April and are well cared for by both parents. By August they are nearly full grown and are hunting in family groups. Come winter the young disperse to new range areas and have been known to travel many miles from their place of birth.
General description: A rather small, slender animal resembling a shepherd dog in general appearance, with a fairly long and heavy coat, coarsely grizzled buffy, grayish and black, almost yellowish in some subspecies; underparts lighter. Tail large and bushy. Males larger than females. Total length 3½ to 4½ feet; height at shoulder 16 to 18 inches and weight 35 to 45 pounds.
Here in Yellowstone large coyotes are frequently mistaken for the gray wolf which is very rare. However, the wolf is a much larger, heavier and more powerful animal, weighing from 80 to 100 or more pounds and is 5½ or more feet in length.
Terms: Male—dog; female—bitch; young—pups.
Where found: Throughout the park at practically all elevations. Most frequently seen in the open meadows in daytime or evening. Howls most often during the night. Often seen in the winter on the lower range lands, especially around or near the carcasses of animals which have died and become carrion.
To many weary emigrants crouched beside their campfires along the rutted wagon trails which lead onward into the west and to many lonely homesteaders sitting in their cabins on a wintry night the eerie sound of the long deep howl of the Gray Wolf, drifting along on the night wind, gave a feeling of foreboding and a threat of the sinister. Actually the wolf’s howl is very much like that of a large dog and the wild setting is required to give the feeling that it imparts to the listeners.
This animal has been known under the various names of Gray Wolf; Timber Wolf; Lobo; Loafer and Buffalo Wolf.
Gray Wolf
Once widely distributed over most of the United States the several species of wolves have been exterminated over most of their range and are now restricted to a few of the more remote areas. The wolf is almost entirely carnivorous in food habits with a preference for the larger wild animals and domestic stock when available and so has been persistently hunted by man. Due to their larger size, appetites and different characteristics from those of the coyote the wolves were not able to adapt themselves to the inroads of civilization and so have been pushed continually farther back into the unsettled areas and may soon vanish entirely from the scene.
Wolves became rather numerous at different times in the earlier days of this park’s history. They were persistently hunted during the period of the Army administration and for a time after the National Park Service took over the administration, until the time that the policy of letting the predators carry on their own natural existence unmolested was established. During this first period the numbers of the wolves were so depleted that today they are very rare in the park area.
Park visitors frequently mistake one of the larger coyotes for a wolf and report it as such. But to a person familiar with both animals there is a decided difference. The average wolf is nearly 26 twice as heavy as a coyote, larger and more powerful, with larger legs and feet and a broader head and muzzle. They are seldom seen from the highways except possibly in the winter and there have been no more than one or two authentic sight records of the animals or their tracks reported annually in recent years.
Wolves ordinarily utilize either a natural cave, a hollow log, a hole dug in the ground by themselves or one dug by other animals, for a nursery den. According to several authorities, the nest for the young is not lined with any material. The young, numbering from 3 to 13 but usually 6 to 8, are born in March or April. They are blind and nearly naked. Most evidence found in available literature indicates that the adults pair permanently and the male assists in securing food for the family.
General description: Much like a large dog, larger, heavier and more powerful than the coyote. There is no color difference between males and females and the individual varies little if any in color during the different seasons of the year. However, there is a great color variation between different individuals, the color ranging from gray, either light or dark, sprinkled with black or darkish on upper parts and yellowish white underparts to dark and almost black individuals. Males are largest, averaging from 75 to 100 pounds or more in weight and over five feet in length. Females from 60 to 80 pounds and slightly under five feet.
Term: Male—dog; female—bitch; young—pups.
Where found: Might be encountered in various sections of the park but most recent records are from the northeast part from Canyon north and east to Lamar River and Slough Creek drainages. Probably follow the elk herds in the winter.
The Golden-mantled Marmot is one of the familiar animals of Yellowstone. Known to many people as a woodchuck or groundhog, the Yellowstone representatives never worry about whether they will see their shadow on the proverbial groundhog day. They remain snug in their beds for they know that they don’t want to come out for another six weeks or more anyhow.
In fact, they spend over half of their life sleeping, for they hibernate from about the first of September until early April. The summer months are then spent in accumulating a layer of fat to carry them through the next long sleep.
Marmot
Marmots are found throughout the park at all altitudes wherever suitable rocky slopes can be found. They are commonly seen from the highway on rock piles or near culverts. Such areas provide the most suitable protection since they are slow and fat and easily caught if found too far away from a safe retreat. Easily tamed, they soon adjust themselves to the presence of numerous visitors and even congregate in the vicinity of lodges 28 and cabin areas where shelter under buildings is handy and scraps of food are plentiful.
The marmot well deserves its early name of “Whistler” for his piercing warning whistle is commonly heard whenever anything startles him. And immediately upon hearing it every other marmot in the vicinity pops his head up for a quick look, then starts for home. Their favorite retreat is on a rock or knoll or log, near the home entrance, where a good view of the surrounding area can be had. Bears, badgers, coyotes, lynxes and some of the larger hawks are their principal enemies.
Their food consists of vegetation of various kinds, clover, grass, seeds, and foliage of native plants as well as cultivated crops when such are within their feeding range. In some instances marmots have proved quite destructive to gardens and other crops.
The marmot’s home is either in a burrow dug in open ground or under boulders or in cavities under rockslides. In this den, the young, numbering from four to six, are born in May. The adults usually hibernate earlier in the season than the young as it takes the latter a little longer to get the necessary accumulation of fat to sustain them over the winter.
General description: A large rodent with a heavy-set body and short tail. Head broad and short, ears low and rounded, fur long and coarse. The color is ochraceous above and reddish below with golden-buff mantle on the anterior back. The males are about 24 inches in length, maximum weight about 10 pounds. Females a little smaller.
Where found: Throughout the park at all elevations except in heavy-timbered areas. They are out at any time during daylight hours.
This Ground Squirrel is frequently mistaken for a chipmunk although quite a bit larger in size. This mistaken identity is chiefly due to the stripes on the side of the back. It must be remembered, however, that the real chipmunk has stripes on the face also which this ground squirrel does not have. They do look and behave much like big chipmunks, especially resembling the chipmunk of the eastern states.
The Mantled Ground Squirrel seldom climbs much above the ground and lives in burrows or crevices in the rocks or under 29 logs. They prefer grassy, open, forested areas rather than open meadows.
Mantled Ground Squirrel
These little animals are quite easily tamed and soon learn to hang around camps and parking areas where they wait to be fed. They are equipped with cheek pouches which they fill until they appear to have an extra bad case of the mumps.
They hibernate in the late summer or early autumn and emerge again the following April. A supply of food is stored during the summer season; however, the heavy layer of fat acquired is the nourishment for the winter sleep.
Only one litter of from four to seven young is born each season, usually during May.
Their food consists of seeds, grain, buds, green vegetation, insects and their larvae, and occasionally young birds, eggs and mice. Chief enemies are hawks and the various small carnivores.
General description: A small to medium sized ground-dwelling squirrel, larger and more robust than chipmunks but not as heavily built as the Uinta Ground Squirrel. Tail about half as long as the head and body, flat and bushy. Color of upper parts dark chestnut red mantle bordering which are light-gray stripes with black on either side of the light stripe; under parts yellow to yellowish-white. Upper parts grayer in winter. No stripes on side of head. Length about 11 inches. Sexes alike.
Where found: Generally distributed over the park and is best seen around camps and woodland margins. Active in daytime only.
This Ground Squirrel, commonly called Picket-pin, is abundant throughout most of the open, grassy valleys of the park. It comes into lawns and frequently lives under nearby buildings.
The picket-pin is extremely curious and the sight of any strange object or movement immediately has him standing rigidly on tip-toe to examine whatever attracted his attention. This position he assumes does so resemble the appearance of a pin to which some horse was previously tethered that the reason for the origin of his name can readily be seen.
These little animals spend over half of their lives sleeping in their snug underground nests. They spend the summer accumulating a heavy layer of fat and then go into hibernation late in August to emerge the following April.
The young, from five to fourteen in number, are born in May or June. Only one litter a year is born; however, this species is so numerous and prolific that its many enemies can hardly keep it in check.
Most common enemies are badgers, coyotes, bears, foxes, weasels, hawks and most small carnivores. These all depend upon the picket-pin for at least part if not considerable of their diet during the summer and they frequently are dug out after they are in hibernation. This control is beneficial since the picket-pin is a host to the wood tick carrying spotted fever.
The food of the ground squirrel is chiefly seeds, nuts, grain, green vegetation, roots, insects and larvae with occasionally young birds, mammals and eggs. It stores grain and seeds in underground storerooms for emergency use the following spring as it does not eat during the winter hibernation.
General description: A terrestrial, burrowing squirrel with short tail and small ears, body robust with short limbs. Tail about one-quarter the total length, flat and moderately bushy. Color mixed gray and black with a wash of dark brown on the back; underparts gray washed buffy. Sexes alike. Total length about 11 inches.
Where found: Open, grassy areas throughout the valleys of the park. Active in daytime only.
Uinta Ground Squirrel
CAMPING is permitted throughout Yellowstone National Park on specially designated camp sites easily recognized by signs. Leave clean grounds for the next camper.
One of the most active and interesting of the smaller animals of the park. This genus is represented in the park by three species.
Chipmunk
Chipmunks are chiefly terrestrial in habit although they can and do frequently climb into low trees and bushes. The different species of Western Chipmunks vary greatly in their preferred habitat from sagebrush flats to heavily wooded areas. Each type of environment has its distinct type of chipmunk.
The color patterns of the chipmunks vary, each type having its own distinctive pattern; however, the group as a whole is distinguished from other squirrels by the stripes on both body and face. The smaller ground squirrels may have some stripes on the body but do not have striped faces.
Chipmunks are universal favorites with visitors. Lively, interesting, and full of curiosity, they are quite easily tamed and soon learn to frequent the picnic areas and campgrounds. Here they take their toll of food bits from each group of people, either eating it on the spot or carrying it away to store for future use.
Their food consists mainly of seeds, berries, nuts, buds, some insects and any food scraps they may chance to find around camps. Their winter stores are located close to their nest, in underground cavities.
The chipmunks are not active outside during the stormy periods of winter but since they do not become fat in the fall and use some of their food stores during the winter it is not thought that they go into a complete period of hibernation like some of the other animals. Exactly what they do and how they live in Yellowstone during the winter, however, remains yet to be determined.
Their nest is made underground as they burrow into the earth at the foot of a stump, log or rock. In this nest the litter of four to six young are born in the spring. It is not likely that they have more than one litter a year here in the north.
The following forms of Chipmunks are found in Yellowstone Park:
This is the abundant little striped chipmunk seen throughout most of the park along the roads and trails and around camp sites. Upper parts with five dark and four light longitudinal stripes from shoulder to base of tail. Median stripe from crown to root of tail. Whitish stripes bordered by dark, above and below eye. Underparts buffy; color rich; 8½ inches over-all length.
Generally scattered over the park but not as common as the above. Larger in size, 10 inches over-all length; under parts whitish and stripes not as conspicuous as in the Buff-bellied.
These little chipmunks were reported by Bailey to be found near Yellowstone Lake and near the eastern and southern boundaries of the park in high, open valleys. They are hard to distinguish from the buff-bellied chipmunk, as their white belly is somewhat concealed. They are slightly smaller in size. A gray form of this species has been reported from Swan Lake Flat but it is probably rare.
These little animals are abundant throughout the forested sections of the park. Lively and noisy, they immediately give 36 voice to a tirade of scolding and chattering at the approach of an outsider to their domain.
Pine Squirrel
Friendly by nature they become quite tame wherever the park visitors are found, especially such areas as provide an opportunity to pick up chance bits of food. Alert and inquisitive they pry into anything that attracts their attention.
This squirrel has been frequently accused of destroying the nests of its bird neighbors and eating the eggs and young. This is true to some extent, especially among certain individuals. However, some of this damage is compensated by their unintentional benefit in assisting in reforestation. Cones and seeds that are buried for winter use are frequently overlooked and some of these later germinate and grow.
Pine squirrels do not hibernate during the winter and are active at all times except during periods of storms. They build warm nests either in hollow trees, woodpecker holes, or balls of leaves and fibers firmly anchored among the branches of a tree. They industriously collect large stores of cones for the 37 winter food supply. These are either stored in hollows or more often buried in storage pits in the ground. After the ground is covered with its winter blanket of snow the squirrels make numerous tunnels under the snow which gives them access to the storage places and act as a protected place where they can scamper about.
The young are usually born in May or June, and number four or five to the litter with seldom more than one litter a year. Young squirrels are blind, naked and helpless for several weeks after birth.
A pine squirrel’s diet consists of nuts, seeds, berries, inner aspen bark, mushrooms, and some animal food such as birds’ eggs and fledglings.
Its enemies are hawks, owls, pine martens and weasels, and occasionally the larger carnivores.
General description: A small arboreal squirrel with flat, bushy tail; fairly long ears and fairly long pelage. Dark olivaceous with white underparts in summer, while in winter it is rusty-red above, sides olive-gray and underparts gray. Sexes alike. Total length about 13½ inches, tail over ⅓ of the length.
Where found: Abundant in all forested areas. Active during the daytime only.
The quest for the fur of this little wilderness engineer did more to bring about the exploration of the west than any other one factor. The first daring explorers were continually pushing ever forward into the unknown regions searching for the wealth of furs and establishing the fur trade with the Indians. Thus, the first white man known to have entered the region later known as Yellowstone Park was John Colter, the representative of a fur trader.
These activities greatly depleted the beaver populations but under protection in recent years they have staged a satisfactory recovery in many parts of their former range.
The dams constructed by this animal are well known. Made of sticks, logs and mud, they are a remarkable accomplishment. The dam is for the purpose of impounding a pond of water in which to construct the beaver lodge or house. This also is made of sticks and mud with a room in the middle, above water level, reached by several underwater passages. The pond must be of sufficient depth to provide plenty of water below the level of the winter ice.
Beaver
Sometimes when suitable ponds or still water are available the beaver digs a sloping tunnel into the bank of a stream, with a room at the end and above the high water level.
The beaver is a gnawing animal equipped with strong, sharp, chisel-like teeth which it uses to cut down and trim the trees for construction material for the house and dam as well as for food. Expert at cutting down the trees but not as expert, as stories say, in dropping the tree in a desired spot. This is not premeditated. The tree falls where it may and has been known to fall on the little sawyer when he failed to move away fast enough. The tree, after being cut, is trimmed into suitable sections and skidded to the pond and floated to the desired location. The trees and shrubs preferred and mainly cut are willow and aspen.
The beaver’s winter diet consists of bark from the tree branches that it stores up by sticking them into the mud at the bottom of the pond. In the summer the bark diet is supplemented by the addition of roots and green vegetation.
The four to six young are born in the house or the bank den in May or June where they remain until able to make the underwater swim to the outside where they soon assist their parents in the work of the colony.
The beaver is equipped with a large flat paddle-like tail. However, contrary to stories, he does not use it as a trowel or as a means of transporting mud. It is an excellent rudder and also a prop or brace for the owner while he stands up to cut down a tree. The resounding slap of the tail upon the surface of the pond is an excellent warning signal that immediately puts the colony on guard.
General description: Largest of the North American rodents, stocky, with webbed hind feet and broad, flat, scaly tail, ears short, fur thick, rich dark brown. Total length 43 inches; weight from 30 pounds to a maximum of 68 pounds. Tail 4 or 5 inches wide and 12 to 16 inches long.
Where found: Along almost every stream in Yellowstone. They might be seen in the beaver ponds in Willow Park, or along Pelican Creek; or at the beaver ponds and Floating Island Lake between Mammoth and Tower Fall. Longest dam in the park approximately 1000 feet in length is at Beaver Lake opposite Obsidian Cliff. The best time to see beaver is in the evening. 40 Beaver change their locations frequently and it is difficult to predict, from season to season, where they can best be seen.
This large member of the weasel family can outswim some fish. His lithe shape and short powerful legs with broad webbed feet make him an expert and his graceful maneuvers in the water are very interesting to see.
The principal item of the Otter’s diet is fish which are supplemented by frogs or crayfish and such young ducks, muskrats or other small mammals or birds as they may have occasion to catch. Their habitat is therefore near suitable streams, lakes or ponds. They have been known, on some occasions, however, to undertake fairly long overland journeys between streams.
The otter is a rather friendly fellow, fairly easily tamed and observed. They usually travel in pairs or family groups. Otters are playful and are in the habit of making slides down steep clay-banks or snowdrifts where they seem to have great sport coasting down on the chest and belly, ending up in the water with a loud splash. This they do over and over like a group of small children.
The den is located near the water, either as a burrow in a bank or under protecting tree roots or rocks. Here the one to three or four young are born in late April, there being only one family a year.
Otters are strong and capable fighters, a match for a dog on land and more than a match for one in the water. They have no particular enemies except man. The rich brown fur has brought a high price on the fur market and trapping operations have resulted in the animal becoming rare outside of such protected areas as Yellowstone. The rather short dense pelt is considered to be one of the most durable of furs and it, together with the layer of fat underlying the skin, make the otter impervious to the icy water in which he spends much of his time.
General description: A long, lithe-bodied animal with webbed feet and a long, tapering, muscular tail. Size large, head broad and flat, legs short. Color of upperparts a uniform, dark, rich, glossy-brown; underparts lighter with a grayish tinge. Total length 40-45 inches, tail 12½ to 15 inches; and weight 18 to 25 pounds.
Terms: Sexes—Male and Female; young—pups or kittens.
Otter
Where found: They are active all of the year and are found on many streams and lakes throughout the park. Best seen near the outlet of Lewis Lake and near the boat docks at Lake and West Thumb. Active at all hours.
The mink is a large weasel of slightly heavier build and semi-aquatic in habit. Found widely distributed in forests or on plains but always along watercourses where it establishes its den. This may be a burrow in the bank, under logs or rocks and similar places.
They are strong and graceful swimmers and are fully capable of catching trout and other fish which form a part of their diet, as well as frogs and crayfish. They also hunt on shore for muskrats, mice, rabbits, snakes, birds and similar forms of small animal life. The mink is sometimes of bloodthirsty temperament, killing for the pleasure, but is not ordinarily considered quite as much inclined this way as the smaller weasels.
The odor of the musk carried by the mink as well as the other weasels is strong and very offensive. This is released in moments of excitement.
The mink has but one litter of young a year, numbering five or six in the average litter, which are born in April or May.
General description: A slender weasel-like animal nearly as large as a house cat. Ears small, neck long, tail moderately bushy. The fur is soft and dense, protected by long guard hairs, rich, glossy dark sooty brown in color with a white area under the chin. Total length 24 inches, tail 8 inches; weight up to 2 pounds, the females somewhat smaller.
Where found: Along some of the streams and ponds of the park but not very common and seldom seen.
This little animal is close kin to the famous Russian Sable and has a valuable pelt or rich, dense fur. Expert climbers, they hunt through the woods and capture a good portion of their menu from the tree tops. Largely carnivorous the marten lives on small mammals and birds. Its main foods in Yellowstone are squirrels, chipmunks, mice, rabbits, grouse, and also some nuts, berries, fruits, insects or honey.
Mink
Fearless and pugnacious they frequently quarrel among themselves and do not hesitate to snarl or spit at man. One time a ranger was standing in front of a patrol cabin when a marten came bounding toward him spitting and snarling at every jump. To see what he would do the ranger made for the cabin door and the marten came right after him even to the cabin door. It was decided that they would be pretty tough to live with if they suddenly became as big as bears with an increase in disposition accordingly. A marten family quarrel sounds like a good cross section of an alley-cat serenade. Being extremely active they are able to elude most would-be enemies except possibly the Great Horned Owl.
The marten nest is usually in a hollow tree or rarely in a burrow, where the young, averaging 3 or 4 to a litter, are born late in April. It is said that the young are blind for about the four weeks after birth.
General description: A small animal, of weasel-like form, a little smaller and more slender than a house cat; head rather small with ears broad and rounded, tail bushy and cylindrical, about half as long as the head and body. Fur soft, rich yellowish brown; legs, feet and tail dark brown; buffy patches on throat and chest. Total length 25 to 28 inches, weight 1½ to 4 pounds. Males largest.
Where found: Fairly common throughout wooded sections of the park but are shy and seldom seen, especially near habitations except isolated cabins where they sometimes become rather tame.
The Yellow-haired Porcupine of Yellowstone occurs all over the park. Being an unsociable sort of fellow he is usually found alone, except during the mating season or when the young are yet with their mother. He is a common animal but seldom seen.
He is a heavy set, slow, clumsy animal with short legs and a waddling walk. Very stupid and short-sighted with a habit of complaining audibly to himself as he goes along. Since the porcupine is well protected by a back full of loosely fastened quills, he is very unpopular with the other animals, especially those that might have an idea of making a meal of him.
Pine Marten
The quills are his only battle equipment but are sufficient protection against most animals. Each individual quill is equipped with sharp barbs at the tip which easily penetrate flesh, gradually working their way deeper and are very hard to extract. Porky, however, does not have the power to throw his quills, in spite of stories to the contrary. When attacked he bristles up and looks like an animated pincushion and a slap from his quill-loaded tail is sufficient to fill the face and mouth of his would be attacker with a painful collection of quills which he will long remember.
The porcupine’s nose is very sensitive, a good blow on it being sufficient to kill him, so he has learned to tuck it down between his feet for protection, and to turn so that his back and tail are presented to the enemy. There are no quills on his underside and an occasional enemy has learned to reach under with a paw and quickly flip him over on his back in order to expose the unprotected portion for final attack.
The principal food of the porcupine, in winter, is the bark and small twigs of various trees. In the summer, the bark, buds and foliage of many trees, shrubs and plants are used. Porky is very fond of salt and will gnaw on anything that contains it; shovel or other tool handles with deposits of perspiration on them, or antlers after being shed, are a delicacy. Occasionally he kills a tree by removing too much bark but seldom does enough damage to be of economic importance.
One litter with usually one, or rarely if ever two young, is born each year in late April or May. A baby porcupine at birth weighs about a pound and is as large or larger than a bear cub. The den is located among rocks, in cavities under logs or fallen tree tops. However, during most of the year, even in the winter, the favorite place is well up in the tops of the trees.
General description: A large, clumsy rodent with fairly soft hair with which is mixed longer, coarser hair and many stiff, sharp, barbed spines or quills over the upper parts and tail. Tail short, thick and muscular. In color black with longer hairs tipped with greenish-yellow. Total length 32 inches, weight 15 to a maximum of 35 to 40 pounds.
Where found: In all timbered areas of the park and is sometimes seen near the roadsides or trails either during the day or night.
Many of the smaller animals, especially those of the rodent group, are known for the dens and runways that they dig, some of them becoming rather expert at this activity. Their burrowing activities, however, are undertaken primarily as a means of providing a suitable home for the animal. The Badger, however, is equipped by nature as an excavating machine. He, too, makes a burrow for use as a home but this is only a small part of his digging activities.
Porcupine
Badger
Badgers are equipped with large strong claws, especially on the forefeet, and backed by powerful muscles they can literally dig themselves out of sight in a surprisingly short time, throwing out a stream of dirt behind them like a mechanical elevator. It is this ability that he depends upon as a means of securing his food. Badgers are rather clumsy, heavy bodied and short legged animals, lacking the speed and dexterity needed to capture their prey in the open, but how they do like to dig for their food! Living primarily on the smaller rodents, especially ground squirrels, the badger snoops from burrow to burrow until his nose tells him that the occupant is at home, then dirt starts to fly. If the ground squirrel has provided his home with some extra entrances and he is quick to use one of them he may escape, otherwise the badger has secured a dinner.
Entirely beneficial from the standpoint of the kind of food he eats, the badger’s activities in obtaining it soon result in numerous holes throughout the area where his foraging operations are carried on. In areas where domestic stock are ranging these excavations made by the badgers are hazards to the stock and rancher alike, often resulting in a broken leg to the horse that steps into a hole and sometimes serious injury to the rider when he is thrown from the horse as it falls. In such areas this animal is usually hunted or trapped by man. In Yellowstone he is left to live an undisturbed life. The badger is a fearless and vicious little fighter, which combined with his digging ability makes him a match for anything but man and his gun.
Badgers inhabit the plains and prairies or open forests, wherever their principal food items of ground squirrel, gopher or prairie-dog can be obtained. They generally hibernate from October to March, except in the southern portions of their range. The young, probably averaging about three to a litter, are born in May or early June.
General description: A low, heavy bodied animal with short legs, short bushy tail and long shaggy fur. Color a silvery gray grizzled with black. Head rather small, broad and flat with black and white striped markings. Total length 28 inches and weight averaging about 14 pounds.
Where found: Northern part of the Park from Mammoth to Tower Junction and the Lamar Valley, in open sections. Occasionally seen in meadows of the interior parts of the park where the picket-pins are to be found. Badgers are not numerous, but could be called commonly seen residents, especially of the northern side of the park.
The White-footed Mouse, Deer Mouse, or Vesper Mouse is an interesting little animal, a member of a very large and widely distributed genus whose members are generally the most common small animal of any given region. They are clean little creatures with large bright eyes, large ears, and tails about as long as their bodies, with gray or brown upperparts and white feet and lower parts.
These mice are found throughout the forests, among rocks, in meadows and open grassy places, living in burrows, among rocks, or in hollow trees and logs and they frequently come into camps and houses. They are expert climbers and will readily take refuge in trees as well as into burrows if the occasion warrants.
White-footed mice depend upon seeds and grains, small nuts and dry vegetable matter for their food rather than green vegetation like the meadow mice, and are rarely carnivorous.
They may have three or four litters of 3 to 7 young each year and so are able to keep pace with the activities of their enemies which include all of the smaller carnivorous animals and the owls.
General description: Upper parts, pale cinnamon to brownish fawn, more dusky along mid-back; underparts and feet white. 50 Total length 6 to 7½ inches with the tail being one-third to one-half of the total length.
White-footed Mouse
Where found: It is possible to find them almost anywhere in the park but since they are nocturnal they are rarely seen in the daytime.
The Meadow Mouse is one of the more common and widely distributed of our small mammals. There are many species and subspecies and some form is to be found practically anywhere in North America.
These little mice prefer the open meadow country where there is plenty of grass the entire year. They may be found in the moist to semi-arid sections and anywhere from sea level to above timberline elevations.
Their presence can be readily detected by the characteristic runways through the grass. The mouse makes the runway both by cutting some of the grass and pushing the balance to the side, and the floor of the runway is kept free from all obstructions. A colony of mice will have a regular labyrinth of these paths with frequent openings into underground burrows and nests. The young are usually born in the underground nests. However, many of the species also build surface nests of thick balls of grass which are used during the winter time. In these nests, when snow blankets the landscape they are warm and secure, and able to run about their passage-ways, beneath the snow in their daily quest for food, for they do not hibernate.
Meadow Mouse
The food of the meadow mouse is chiefly vegetation: grass, foliage, seeds, twigs, roots and bark and at times they may become very destructive to field crops and orchards.
This little animal is very prolific and usually has several litters each year, with each litter consisting of from four to eight young. Were it not for their many enemies they would soon overrun the grass lands and do untold damage. As it is, their enemies, which are practically every predatory animal and bird, can barely keep them in check. Meadow mice serve as a valuable source of food for the smaller predatory animals such as coyotes, foxes and for the various hawks and owls.
There are four species of these mice that have been found in Yellowstone Park:
Sawatch Meadow Mouse: Microtus pennsylvanicus modestus. A medium-sized mouse with upperparts dull ochraceous, sprinkled with black. Underparts soiled whitish to ashy or cinnamon. In winter many black hairs along upperparts and underparts with wash of creamy white. Total length 7 inches, tail 1.8 inches. Has been found at Mammoth Hot Springs, Upper and Lower Geyser Basins and Shoshone Lake.
Dwarf Meadow Mouse: Microtus montanus nanus. A small-sized, rather short-tailed mouse with upperparts everywhere mixed gray, sepia and blackish, feet grayish; tail bicolor, dusky gray and whitish; underparts whitish. Total length 6 inches; tail 1.6 inches. Found in the grass of meadows and upland slopes over most of the park and appear to be the most abundant and generally distributed of the meadow mice in the park.
Cantankerous Meadow Mouse: Microtus longicaudus mordax. Resembles Sawatch meadow mouse in size but the tail is longer, ears larger, and color grayer. Upperparts grayish bister; sides grayer, underparts whitish. Lighter colored in the winter. Total length 7.4 inches; tail 2.8 inches. These mice have been found at Mammoth and 53 Tower Fall and are probably common in most of the meadows of the park, equally at home on dry ground or in mountain streams.
Big-footed Meadow Mouse: Microtus richardsoni macropus. Largest of the meadow mice. Total length 8.8 inches; tail 2.8 inches. Upperparts dark sepia mixed with black, sides paler, feet gray; tail bicolor sooty whitish; underparts washed with silvery-white. In winter grayer above, more white below. Usually found close to water where they swim much in the manner of muskrats. This mouse had been taken at Heart Lake and its runways seen in marshy meadows of most of the western part of the park.
Pack Rat or Trade Rat is the name commonly applied to this individual, represented in the park by both of the above forms. Pest of the stations and patrol cabins because of his fondness of getting into buildings and collecting items of every description, especially those of shiny appearance. These are packed to his nest, which is located either in rock piles, cliffs or whenever possible in or around buildings. He cuts open food containers, bedding and other contents and makes a general mess.
He frequently leaves some object in place of the stolen article, hence the name trade rat. However, this trade is probably due to his dropping something that he was already carrying, when he spied the new object that was more attractive, rather than any desire to make a fair trade. They gather anything that is of a convenient size to carry.
The wood rat is a very clean animal, of no relation to the common barn rat except in superficial resemblance. A vegetarian in diet he lives on green vegetation such as grass and foliage, fruit, bark, roots, fungi, seeds and nuts. He is active all year but seldom accumulates much of a store of winter food.
Mainly nocturnal in habit, they are, however, occasionally seen in the daytime. Their principal enemies here are hawks, owls, weasels, coyotes and martens.
The young, from three to six in a litter, are born in June or July and are duller in color than the parents.
General description: Large in size, mouse-like in appearance. The fur is fairly long, soft and grayish buff in color, darker in 54 the Colorado form, on the upperparts, white underparts and feet, and a large, bushy, flattened almost squirrel-like tail. Total length 15 to 16 inches. Sexes equal in size.
Wood Rat or Rock Rat
Where found: Throughout the park. The gray wood rat mainly in the transition zone in open country along the Yellowstone, Lamar and Gardner Rivers and around Mammoth. Colorado wood rat in higher portions of the park.
Quiet streams or the shallow grassy margins of ponds and lakes are the home of this valuable little fur-bearing animal. More valuable than many people realize since few know that he is the Hudson Seal and other trade names of our popular fur coats. Ironically, muskrat fur is used as an excellent imitation of his greatest enemy, the mink, in the mink-dyed muskrat coats.
A hardy little animal that lives much like the beaver, in bank dens with underwater entrances or in dome-shaped houses made of rushes, grass, turf and mud instead of the coarser sticks and branches used by the beaver. In these houses or bank dens they spend the winter in comfort. Remaining active all of the year and seldom storing any food, muskrats are out in the coldest weather.
Their food consists of bulbs and tubers, roots, tender portions of numerous marsh and water plants, sedges, grass and clover, and possibly some small aquatic animal life, salamanders, etc. In the winter it is sometimes necessary to make extensive excursions under the ice in search of food.
Muskrat
The young are born in the house or bank nests in May or June, usually six or eight in a litter. In lower, milder sections more than one litter is raised during the year. Fortunately muskrats are prolific breeders.
The name muskrat originated from the fact that there are two glands near the base of the tail that contain the strong though not unpleasant musk, which may be left at intervals about his haunts possibly as signs or marks of possession. While several may use the winter house the muskrat is ordinarily rather fussy and gets into frequent fights over territorial rights.
General description: A rather large, robust, somewhat rat-like appearing animal, with short legs and broad feet, the hind ones partially webbed; tail long, scaly and sparsely haired, flattened laterally. Ears scarcely showing above fur which is dense with longer guard hairs. Upperparts are dark brown, underparts lighter in appearance. Total length 23½ inches, tail 10 inches; weight about two pounds.
Where found: Throughout the park along moving streams, like the Yellowstone River between Lake and Canyon, and most of the ponds and lakes. Frequently working in the morning and latter part of the afternoon as well as at night.
This little Pika, Cony or Rock Rabbit of Yellowstone is in reality a diminutive, tailless rabbit. Common in the higher elevations wherever loose rock piles and slides offer suitable locations for his home.
Timid and secretive in nature and possessing a protective coloration that makes them hard to locate in their rocky homes, the pikas are not often noticed by the majority of park visitors. The call of a pika, a squeaky bleat, has an elusive quality that confuses the hearer as to the direction in which it originated.
The best indications of the habitation of the pika are the small stacks of hay among the rocks. He is an industrious little farmer and is usually busy during the summer cutting and curing grass and plant foliage for winter use. This material is first put in the sun to cure, then piled in sheltered places among the rocks where it will be accessible during the winter when the snow has made a protective blanket over the landscape. In protected cavities and runways beneath the rocks, with an ample supply of hay, the pika has nothing to worry about during the winter months and find no need to hibernate. Just what family activities they have during this period is not known.
If an observer remains quiet near their rocky homes he may soon be rewarded by a sight of them running silently about over the rocks, and it may occasionally be possible to approach close enough for a picture.
The young, from three to five in number, are born from late May or early June to early September. Due to their secretive nature and the location of their homes not a great deal is known yet about the home life of the pika.
General description: A short, chunky, apparently tailless rabbit-like animal, ears rounded and of good size; legs short and hind legs very little longer than forelegs. Color of upperparts grayish to buffy, underparts whitish varying to cinnamon-buff. Sexes alike in color and size; about 7½ inches long, height to shoulder 3½ inches and weight 4 to 7 ounces.
Cony or Pika
Where found: Distributed throughout much of the park at elevations above 7,000 feet wherever rock slides and talus slopes are available. Most likely seen around the Golden Gate, Sheepeater Cliffs, cliffs south and west of the Upper Geyser Basin, rockslides along the Dunraven Pass road and other such places. Look for the hay piles as indications. Active during the daytime.
This shy and timid little rabbit leads a precarious existence in the sagebrush-covered valleys of the lower portions of the park. Its numerous enemies, especially the coyotes, foxes, bobcats, hawks and owls keep the cottontail constantly on the alert and seldom far from dense thickets or sheltering rocks. Its short legs are not a match for the speedy coyote and so artful dodging and hiding tactics must be resorted to.
The mother cottontail makes a nest, lined with her own fur, in a sheltered place where the young, born blind, naked and helpless, are placed. They grow rapidly and are soon able to run about and play, then it isn’t long until they are out on their own. There are usually several litters born each year; this helps keep up their numbers in spite of the inroads made by the various enemies.
Cottontail
General description: A small rabbit with short ears and legs. Upperparts of creamy-buff color lightly grizzled with gray. Tail short and fluffy, gray on top and white on underside. Total length 15 to 16 inches.
Where found: Most likely to be seen near Mammoth and in sagebrush flats along the Gardner River. Mainly found in the transition zone and lower. Most frequently out in the early morning, evening or during the night.
The Varying Hare or Snowshoe Rabbit is found throughout the higher parts of the mountains, fairly common but not abundant in numbers. Provided by nature with special adaptations, this rabbit is not bothered greatly by the winter storms and snow. Very large furry hind feet act as snowshoes enabling these rabbits to scamper readily over the snow without sinking in and thus are the basis for its common name.
Nature also provides these hares with a camouflage to help protect them from their enemies. Their summer coat of fur is dull brown in color which blends well with the forest floor, while in the winter they get a new coat of pure white, except for black ear tips, making them hardly distinguishable from the snow drifts over which they run. This varying color with the seasons is the source for the other name by which it is known.
These rabbits, like other members of the family, depend upon the foliage of plants and shrubbery as their principal food; however, when this is buried beneath the winter’s snow their diet is frequently mainly composed of the bark of bushes and small trees.
The snowshoe rabbit makes a nest in a sheltered place, where the young, usually three or four in number, are born. These young, unlike the cottontail, have their eyes open and are covered with a coat of very fine close hair. They leave the nest in about ten days. In some places there may be more than one litter in a year.
General description: Larger than a cottontail with long ears and hind legs. Color of upperparts (summer) buffy grayish brown to rusty brown, underparts and bottoms of feet white; (winter) white, with black-bordered tips of the ears and underparts pale salmon. Total length about 18½ inches.
Varying Hare (Snowshoe Rabbit)
Where found: Likely to be seen almost anywhere in the wooded sections of the park and near the camp and cabin areas. Especially during the early morning and evening. They are generally rather tame.
This big Prairie Hare is readily distinguishable from the other jackrabbits by its all white tail. It may also be found at higher elevations than the other species of jacks. Normally frequenting the open country it has been seen in alpine meadows above timberline at 10,000 feet elevations. This species is the largest of the jackrabbits.
All of the jackrabbits are known for their speed as they go bounding over the prairie, covering twelve to fifteen feet at a jump. The whitetail is the fastest and best jumper of the lot. When in high-gear speed he is a match for all but the fleetest of greyhounds.
The whitetail jackrabbit makes little if any nest for the young, but like other rabbits, does have several forms scattered about his home range. The form is simply a place just large enough to accommodate his body, padded down and hollowed in a clump of grass, weeds or bushes. Each individual has several of these forms and when not out feeding or playing may usually be found crouched down in one or the other of them. The young are fully furred and have their eyes open when born. They are active but stay hidden close by one spot for the first two or three weeks. There are usually about four to the litter and there probably is more than one litter each year, at least in the warmer sections of their range.
The representatives of this species that live in the northern, colder parts of the country change into a winter coat of white fur each fall and like the snowshoe rabbit are protectively colored when out in the snow. Their large feet also aid them in traveling over the snowdrifts.
General description: A large, heavy bodied rabbit with large ears, long legs, and a good sized fluffy tail that is all white throughout the year. The color above is fairly uniform buffy gray, underparts white. Its winter coat is much the same as the summer, though paler in tone, except in the northern parts of the range, which includes Yellowstone, where it becomes pure white with black tipped ears and irregular buffy patches about the face. Total length 24 inches.
White-tailed Jack Rabbit
Where found: Open sections in the northern parts of the park. Has been seen on the highest slopes of Mount Washburn. Most frequently seen in the early morning and evening. Not numerous.
The following animals are also found in the park area:
Bangs Flying Squirrel: Glaucomys sabrinus bangsi. A medium-sized squirrel, total length about 12.5 inches. Upperparts dark grayish cinnamon; underparts pinkish cinnamon.
These squirrels are strictly nocturnal and for this reason it is difficult to tell how common they really are. Found only in the forested areas they nest in woodpecker holes or in hollows in the trees or possibly build a nest among branches or utilize old pine squirrel nests when hollows are not available.
Probably common throughout most of the forests of the park.
Mountain Weasel: Mustela frenata arizonensis. A medium-sized weasel about 14 to 15.4 inches long. Upperparts raw umber-brown, darker on the head; underparts yellow to orange with a white chin. In winter the animal is all white with a black tip on the tail.
Frequenting the more open ground in the park they live primarily on rodents. In the winter they hunt beneath the snow. I have seen them stick their heads up through the snow, look around and quickly dive beneath again.
Dwarf Weasel: Mustela streatori leptus. A very small weasel with a total length of not over 9.8 inches. Upperparts dark brown; underparts white. In winter it is white with black tip on the tail.
Seldom seen but is probably found in most of the open sections of the park as it is common on all sides.
Weasels are strictly terrestrial and are very highly carnivorous and blood thirsty. Very active and courageous attacking without hesitation animals considerably larger than themselves. They have very slender, long bodies and short legs.
Northern Plains Skunk: Mephitis mephitis hudsonica. A large skunk with a large bushy tail. Black in color with a broad white stripe along each side of the back extending from nape of neck to base of tail.
64Reported as common in the lower northern valleys along the Gardner, Yellowstone and Lamar Rivers and occasional in other inland valleys by Bailey in 1923.
Longtail Red Fox: Vulpes fulva macrourus. This species has a longer tail than the average red fox. In color it is a reddish yellow to golden yellow with grizzled whitish; underparts white; feet and lower part of legs black.
The red fox although not common is occasionally seen in the north and northeastern sections of the park. It was at first regarded as rare but seems to be increasing somewhat in recent years.
Mountain Bobcat: Lynx rufus uinta.
Canada Lynx: Lynx canadensis. These two animals are very similar in habits though the lynx is more a dweller in the colder forest regions while the bobcat may be found in more open areas closer to habitation. Both have tufted ears and a short tail and neither of the above species has the distinct spots that are characteristic of some of the species of bobcats. The lynx is the largest of the bobcats and is slightly larger than the mountain bobcat. The bobcat has a tail seven or eight inches long with two black bands on the upper surface in front of a black tip while the lynx has a tail only about four inches long and with black only on the tip.
These animals are rare in the park area and have only been recorded in the northern section. My only observation of one was about eight miles north of the park along the Yellowstone River.
Wolverine: Gulo luscus. Heavily built animals with short legs, short ears, a short bushy tail, and long coarse hair. Appearing much like a small, short-legged bear. Total length is from 37 to 41 inches and weight from 22 to 35 pounds. It is dark brown or blackish in color with two broad, pale, lateral bands of brownish white to yellowish white from shoulder to rump.
The wolverine is a powerful and savage fighter, strictly carnivorous and well earns its name of “glutton.” It had a bad reputation among trappers for it followed their trap lines, robbed and even broke up their traps and dug up their food caches. Wolverines are no longer common in this part of the country and while there may have been a number of them in the park area some years ago they are probably only very rare visitors now.
65Brown Pocket Gopher: Thomomys talpoides fuscus. The piles of dirt which suddenly appear in the grass of lawns or meadows are made by the pocket gopher. He excavates a network of tunnels below the sod line, pushing the dirt through an opening on to the surface, then filling the opening up again. Their food consists of vegetable matter such as roots, bulbs, tubers and surface foliage and green vegetation.
The pocket gopher is rather small in size, about eight inches long, including a tail of a little over two inches, and is light brown in color. The tail is only sparsely haired and the front feet are large and built for digging. The Uinta ground squirrel or picket-pin is frequently referred to by some people as a gopher, but it should not be confused with the true gopher and is seldom seen above the ground.
Found in meadows and open areas throughout the park.
Rocky Mountain Jumping Mouse: Zapus princeps. Sometimes called Kangaroo Mouse this little animal is a medium-sized mouse with greatly elongated hind legs and a slender tail nearly six inches long. Its upperparts are yellowish brown lightly sprinkled with blackish, the underparts white.
This mouse lives on vegetation and seeds. It is found throughout the park in meadows and open country but nowhere abundantly. It hibernates during the winter.
Gale Redback Mouse: Clethrionomys gapperi galei. These mice live on green vegetation, seeds, roots and stems and probably occupy most of the forested sections of the park. They live in burrows and are not very often seen. Several have been trapped in residences in Mammoth. They are active all winter under the snow.
They are small to medium sized mice with the upperparts reddish chestnut distinctly differing from the buffy gray sides; underparts whitish to yellowish gray.
Dusky Shrew: Sorex obscurus.
Mountain Water Shrew: Sorex palustris navigator. Most species of shrews are smaller than any mice, with pointed noses, minute eyes, and small ears which are hidden in the fur. They are insect eaters and like any kind of fresh meat. They are active all winter.
66The dusky shrew is a sepia brown in color and is found throughout most of the park area. Mountain water shrews make their homes in banks of icy streams and are mouse-size with upper parts slaty mixed with hoary. They have larger feet than the dusky shrew and have bristly fringes along the toes with partial webs which equip them for swimming readily.
The Rocky Mountain Shrew (Sorex vagrans monticola) has been collected once in the park and it is also probable that the Masked Shrew (Sorex cinereus) is also here as it has been found in the surrounding area.
According to Bailey, Yeager and others the following bats have been found in the park during the summer, all migrating south for the winter:
Big Brown Bat: Eptesicus fuscus
Numerous over the central plateau section.
Hoary Bat: Lasiurus cinereus
A few range over most of the park.
Long-eared Bat: Myotis evotis
Numerous in the lower portions of the park.
Silver-haired Bat: Lasionycteris noctivagans
Fairly numerous in timbered areas.
Yellowstone Bat: Myotis lucifugus carissima
Numerous over most of the park and especially at Lake and around the Devils Kitchen at Mammoth.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
AS A CITIZEN
1. TAKE PRIDE IN THIS, YOUR NATIONAL PARK
2. Keep it unspoiled for your next visit and for those who follow you.
3. See and learn all you can while you are here, you may only come once.
4. Visit the Museums. They have been put here to help you to profit more from your trip.
USE YOUR MAP
PREVENT FOREST FIRES
HELP Protect the Geysers, Pools and Terraces
The Rock and Mineral Formations
The Flowers and the Animal Life
KEEP YELLOWSTONE CLEAN
DO YOU NEED HELP?
ASK
The Man in the Park Green
National Park Service Uniform
He is anxious to help you
To See—To Benefit from and To Enjoy Your
National Parks
