Mammal Monday

Bighorn sheep near and far: Mammal Monday

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I saw this taxidermy mount of a bighorn sheep at the Mono Basin Scenic Area Visitor Center in California. It was nice to get such a close view of this ram.

Bighorn sheep, Ovis canadensis, live in parts of western North America. There are three subspecies. Males of the Rocky Mountain subspecies can weigh more than 500 pounds.

After the population declined dramatically between 1870 to 1950, bighorns were reintroduced in several places. Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge in Oregon was one of those locations. Here’s a herd I saw while living there.

If you’re lucky, you can also spot bighorn in Yellowstone National Park. I took this photo of two lambs and a ewe from hundreds of yards away through my spotting scope.

Bighorn sheep at Yellowstone National Park 6 June 2015

Bighorn sheep are doing well throughout most of their range. However, in some locations, including Hart Mountain, there have been significant declines. Research is underway to help preserve these impressive animals.

Mammal Monday

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Seals by the shore: Mammal Monday

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When you look at the first picture below, you may not notice the seals by the shore. It just looks like a scenic California beach.

scenic shoreline

But if you zoom in a little more, you can see Northern Elephant Seals, Mirounga angustirostris, scattered all along the shore.

seals by the shore

I took these pictures at the Elephant Seal Vista Point near San Simeon, California. Visitors can view the seals at this rookery from elevated platforms and boardwalks. Volunteers from Friends of the Elephant Seal are there to answer your questions.

seal haul out

You’ll get great views of these large sea mammals. Females weigh up to 2,000 pounds, while males can reach weights of 7,000 pounds. That’s HUGE! The southern species, Mirounga leonina, gets even bigger. Males can weigh up to 9,000 pounds.

seals by the shore

Once again, I’m sharing this picture of two content-looking sleeping seals.

content critters

Mammal Monday

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Red fox caching out: Mammal Monday

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I saw this red fox caching out at Yellowstone National Park last year. It returned to where it had cached its prey and dug it up.

fox at Yellowstone

If this animal appears a little different from what you think of as a red fox, that’s because this is a subspecies. This is a Rocky Mountain red fox, Vulpes vulpes macroura.

While this fox may appear large, it’s not that big. Females weigh 10 pounds and males weigh 11-12 pounds.

red fox caching out

In the first two photos, you may have thought I took the pictures in the forest. Nope. The red fox caching out was at the Lake Lodge Cabins, at the north end of Yellowstone Lake. It was not afraid of people in the vicinity at all.

fox at Yellowstone

When we visited the park, we spoke with a man who worked at the small airport in the town of West Yellowstone. Part of his job is maintaining the runways. He said the foxes often cache items under mounds of dirt, making an uneven landing surface. Since the airport is near houses, he told us they cache things like children’s toys and dog toys. Though he liked to watch them, they made his job a little harder.

Mammal Monday

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