Rocky Mountain U.S. Department of the Interior Rocky Mountain National Park

Watching Wildlife

A Wild Place With bugling in the fall, Success in wildlife watching grows with lambing in the spring, coyotes howling, experience. beavers building, and eagles soaring, Rocky Mountain National Park is one of America’s As you learn about the lives and habits of great places to see wildlife. animals, you will know when and where to look for them. Get up at dawn to look for Will you be sure to see bighorn sheep? elk or deer in Beaver Meadows, Maybe not. But while looking for sheep, you Park, or Horseshoe Park. Listen for owls might see a coyote or a hawk. That is the and watch for bats at dusk in Moraine adventure of looking for animals in the wild Park. Keep an eye out for otters along the instead of in a zoo. Colorado River.

Keeping Rocky Remember that animals you see in the park away. Repeated disturbance means animals may encounter many people everyday. Even do not get enough to eat. Wild celebrities get tired of photographers chas- ing them; for wildlife, repeated harassment One purpose of national parks is to preserve weakens and kills. wild places and all that live there. With over three million people coming to Rocky each Animals you see in the park are often year, park wildlife is under stress. Each of us feeding. When people get too close, animals can help by learning how to watch wildlife sense danger and waste energy moving without disturbing them. Finding Wildlife Among the best places to see wildlife in the are active all day as are marmots, squirrels, park are roadside pullouts in open areas. and chipmunks. Birds are easier to find in Bighorn sheep visit natural mineral licks early mornings. Beavers work mostly at in Horseshoe Park, especially in May and night. June. Moose live in the . Coyotes, deer, and elk feed in all the open Ask a ranger about how to find animals. meadows. From look for Check the park newspaper for ranger elk, marmots, and birds on the tundra. programs that focus on wildlife.

Elk and deer are most active at dawn and Please report any unusual wildlife sightings, dusk. Bighorn sheep and moose, however, including otter sightings, to visitor centers.

Guides for Successful Wildlife Viewing • Watch wildlife from a distance. Sit • Drive slowly. Watch for animals crossing down and create a low profile. If animals the road. Deer and elk are seldom alone: notice you, or if they seem nervous, you if you see one animal cross the road, are too close. Move away quietly. look out for others that may follow it. • Use binoculars or telephoto lens to get Every year numerous animals are killed close views. by autos. • Never approach wildlife. Harassing • Stop your car to watch animals only if animals is unlawful. you can pull off the road safely. Do not • Keep pets in your vehicle. Pets may block traffic. scare wildlife, and animals can hurt • Talk quietly so you don’t disturb the your pet. A deer can crush a dog’s skull animals or people nearby. If watching with its hooves. Pets can also introduce from your car, turn off the motor and diseases such as distemper. headlights.

Why is it Illegal to Feed Animals in National Parks?

Animals fed by people become beggars. Wildlife can become dependent on human Beggar animals often stay near roads where food, lose the ability to hunt, and possibly cars hit them. die. Imagine: One peanut from each park visitor would add over three tons of Animals can bite, kick, or gore you, causing extra food per year. Some animals would serious injury. overpopulate crowding out other wildlife. Then many of the extra animals would die in Wildlife carries diseases such as rabies or winter when no one feeds them. bubonic plague, which can be transmitted to humans. CLOSED AREAS MORE THAN MEGAFAUNA PROTECT WILDLIFE

To protect wildlife at critical times, parts of There is more to wildlife watching than the park are sometimes closed to people. the big and the furry. Watch magpies in a meadow pouncing on grasshoppers. Walking in the meadows in portions of Stop by a stream to study a trout’s sleek Horseshoe Park and stopping or parking style. Look closely at wildflowers to vehicles within the Bighorn Crossing Zone discover the butterflies, longhorn beetles, are prohibited from May to late August. This and leafhoppers that live around plants. allows bighorn sheep to visit natural mineral Exploring with a hand lens can open up a licks in the area. dramatic world of small lives.

The Crater Trail on is Listen for wild sounds. Marmots whistle closed from May through mid-July during and hummingbirds trill by day. By starlight, bighorn lambing season. This lets sheep owls and coyotes hoot and bay. move freely from the lambing area to feeding grounds elsewhere. What is the best way to see wildlife at Rocky? Just pick a spot—say, in a meadow During the elk rut in September and or near a stream—and sit quietly. Soon October, most large meadows in the park animals nearby will become active again. are closed to off-trail travel from five p.m. Meanwhile as John Muir said, “Nature’s until seven a.m. When people stay out of the peace will flow into you as sunshine flows meadows, the elk spend more time in the into trees...while cares will drop off like open where people can see them from the autumn leaves.” roadsides.

While birds of prey are nesting (mid-April to mid-July), some rock climbing routes are closed on and Sheep Mountain. Closed areas are posted at trailheads.

Park information is available at 970-586-1206 or on-line at www.nps.gov/romo EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICA™