Animal Life (continued)

PREDATORS

Yellowstone and Yosemite are two national parks where visitors have ample opportunity to become acquainted with the BLACK BEAR. Many people foolishly have become too intimately acquainted by feeding or petting these wild animals and have been injured in the process. Here in Rocky Mountain National Park, these opportunities seldom occur, for our bear population is low. If you are lucky enough to see one of these bulky, furry creatures lumbering along the road, do not try to fraternize with it.

Although the species present here is called the black bear, there are blondes among them, too. The brown bear and the cinnamon bear are merely color phases of the black bear. Bears eat almost everything, including roots, berries, ants, frogs, fish, carrion, and such small animals or birds as get into their clutches. They seem to be particularly voracious in eating garbage—discarded lunches, bacon, and similar material likely to be present in a campground. The bear is a relatively solitary animal, with poor eyesight, but it can hear and smell efficiently. Bears usually hibernate in fitful sleep, living off stored-up layers of body fat. The young are born in February during the hibernation period and are surprisingly small, being about the size of a squirrel. The female defends her young with proper motherly concern. In this region, the grizzly bear was hunted to extinction long ago, before the park was established, so you need not be nervous about meeting this savage beast.

BROWN BEAR ARE PRESENT IN THE PARK, BUT NOT IN LARGE NUMBERS. —Fish and Wildlife Service photo.

The MOUNTAIN LION has many aliases throughout the country—cougar, painter, panther, puma—depending upon the locality. Almost 9 feet long, including the 3-foot tail, the adult cougar may weigh over 200 pounds. It is colored a dull, yellowish brown, and has acute powers of sight, smell, and hearing. A sly, crafty, and tireless hunter, it is not often seen by man even where it is abundant. The mountain lion is part of the natural wildlife community of the park, and is protected from hunters within its boundaries. The chances of seeing one here are remote, for many who have spent a lifetime in these mountains never have reported seeing one.

A much smaller cat, which is occasionally seen in the park, is the BOBCAT. It roams the forested areas of the park principally searching for small rodents and rabbits. Grouse also are taken, and on forays above timberline the bobcat may feed upon ptarmigan. It lives in dens in the rocks and sometimes in a hollow tree. Like the snowshoe rabbit upon which it preys, the bobcat has natural "snowshoes." The feet are expanded in winter by longer hairs which help to support the animal on the snow.

A close cousin to your own dog is the COYOTE. It is as smart as any of our wild animals, actually extending its range despite man's attempts to wipe it out. The coyote is very common in the park. Few people fail to thrill at hearing the song of the coyote—a high, staccato yipping which often is heard by visitors as they leave the evening talks at the Moraine Museum. You may expect to see coyotes almost anywhere in the park; early morning is a good time to look for them in the grassy meadows.

Another doglike animal is the RED FOX, which is seen occasionally by visitors in the park. Notoriously wary and cunning, it is faster afoot than a coyote, although much slower than a jack rabbit. Its homelife meets approval by most humans, since the male actually feeds the female during the lying-in period and has been seen leading hunters away from the den and its helpless occupants at the risk of its own life. Its food includes almost everything edible, although small rodents are preferred.

YOUNG MARTENS SHOW THE CURIOSITY TYPICAL OF THEIR KIND. —Colorado Game and Fish Department photo.

People often bring back tales of unusual beasts on the trail above Bear Lake. Usually, they have seen the MARTEN, the largest of our remaining local weasels and an altogether interesting animal. This creature is at home in the treetops or on the forest floor. Like all weasels, it is a voracious feeder and a peril to its neighbors. It can successfully hunt birds and squirrels in the trees, and it preys on rats, rabbits, fish, grouse, frogs, insects, and other weasels. It has quite a repertory of sounds including a hiss, squall, bark, growl, and shriek. It breeds in summer, but the young are not born until the following spring. The life span of the marten is about 18 years. It is closely related to the famous Russian sable and has been nearly extirpated by trapping through most of its original range.

The MINK is a rare animal in the park, but occasionally one may be seen on Glacier Creek. It is a weasel-like animal and is an excellent swimmer, catching fish with ease. It has dense and oily fur which keeps it warm in cold water, but lacks any other adaptations to an aquatic life. So agile an animal has few natural enemies apart from disease; its most important predator is, oddly enough, the great horned owl. The young are born blind and helpless, and only the size of one's finger, but by summer's end they become self-sufficient.

THE WEASEL IS AN AGILE CREATURE, RELENTLESS IN SEARCH OF SMALL RODENT PREY. —Fish and Wildlife Service photo, courtesy Robert Flint.

The WEASEL is a small, sharp-eyed creature with an extremely long body, small triangular head, and furtive ways. Weasels are successful hunters, searching through brush piles, rock heaps, and in underground burrows for rodents of all kinds. There are two species in the park—the BRIDLED WEASEL and the DWARF WEASEL. The latter is less than half as large as the former. Like that of certain other mountain dwellers, the fur of weasels becomes white as the snows of winter approach, replacing the brown of summer.

Horseback riders crossing Moraine Park and Beaver Meadows are usually wary of the large holes which are the work of the BADGER. Although a creature of the plains rather than of the mountains, the badger lives in some of the lower meadows of the park, and there have been reports of individuals sighted near Fall River Pass. It is a meat eater, and its large front feet have long claws which enable it speedily to dig out a ground squirrel.