Common Mammals of White Sands
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National Park Service White Sands Department of the Interior White Sands National Monument Common Mammals of White Sands NPS historic photo of a coyote catching a mouse hile visiting White Sands National Monument, it is very unlikely that Wyou will see any of our resident mammals. They have adapted to the hot summers of the Tularosa Basin by hiding in their dens until it cools down, leaving behind only their footprints from their nightly hunting. Pallid bats can be found roosting in their food on the ground while many areas, such as the visitor center. walking around. Their large ears They are identified by their large ears help them to hear their prey’s and light-colored fur. These winged footsteps. They eat insects like mammals can eat insects in the air scorpions and crickets, but also like other bats, but locate most of lizards and rodents. Pallid Bat Antozous pallidus The Apache pocket mouse is an helps it blend with the sand. It is endemic subspecies to White Sands a favorite snack of the kit fox. The and is one of the few residents of the Apache pocket mouse extracts dunes. It is named for the large fur all of its water from the food it lined pockets in their cheeks that hold digests. It can go its entire life hundreds of seeds when the mouse without ever drinking water. forages. It is light in coloration, which Apache Pocket Mouse Perognathus flavescens Apachii The kangaroo rat has a few tricks monument, the kangaroo rat is 13 to help escape predators. It uses its inches in length, eight of which are long hind legs to distance itself from its tail. This amazing animal is also potential predators . While running, able to jump up to ten feet high if the kangaroo rat will use its long tail as scared. That is like a three foot child a rudder to change direction suddenly. leaping over a six story building! Mainly found in vegetated areas of the Kangaroo Rat Dipodomys spectabilis Pocket gophers at White Sands grass. They fall prey to predators are found in areas that are sparsely who know to look for gopher vegetated. They will spend most of mounds, such as badgers and their life in burrows, occasionally coyotes. At White Sands their coat coming out to find a mate or forage. can range from reddish to a sandy Their diet consists of plants such as brown to yellowish-white. four wing saltbush and Indian rice Pocket Gopher Geomys spp. To learn more about White Sands, visit http://www.nps.gov/whsa The porcupine is North America’s antibiotics in its skin. This helps the second largest rodent. The porcupine porcupine heal after it falls out of a lives in a variety of habitats. At White tree, trying to reach for tender buds, Sands, the porcupine lives in the and is poked with its own quills. highly vegetated areas at the edges They eat buds, roots, and bark. The of the dunefield. Porcupines are the porcupine is not as commonly seen only mammal in North America with today as it was a few decades ago. Porcupine Erethizon dorsatum The desert cottontail can be found seen at all hours of the day. The around the visitor center and in desert cottontail can run half as the desert scrub habitats of the fast as the jackrabbit (20 mph) monument. In the summer they are but has the comfort of a burrow usually found shading themselves to hide from predators. They are from the heat and are active at night. strictly vegetarians and eat grasses In the cooler months they can be and leaves. Desert Cottontail Sylvalgus audobonii The black-tailed jackrabbit is dubbed to 40 mph. It cannot endure a long so because it has a large black line flight and since it does not burrow, running from the top of its tail to it has to depend on its speed to its rump. It can be found where the outdistance predators. Jackrabbit dunes meet the desert. Sometimes kits are born fully formed and are they become a meal for the coyote. It able to forage for themselves in can outrun a coyote at speeds of up about two weeks. Black-Tailed Jackrabbit Lepus californicus The Chihuahua-size kit fox is the mice, insects, lizards, and snakes. largest animal that lives in the It has large ears for listening, also dunefield. It weighs about five used to dissipate heat. Kit foxes at pounds. Unlike other canines, it is White Sands have fur in between not a pack animal. This nocturnal their toes to help give them traction animal eats mostly small animals in the sand. Great horned owls prey such as kangaroo rats, Apache pocket on the kit fox. Kit Fox Vulpes macrotis The badger is in the same family as which can be up to two inches long, the weasel. These nocturnal animals to dig burrows and unearth their are found along the outer edges of prey. Rodents, reptiles, and insects the dunefield where there is more are mainstays of the badger diet. vegetation. Badgers have a strong Badgers are quite aggressive, but sense of smell that helps them locate some have been observed playing their prey. They use their huge claws, and even hunting with coyotes! Badger Taxidea taxus This furry fella is as iconic of the are occasionally spotted in the day. southwest as his larger cousin the Coyotes eat anything from rodents wolf is of the northwest. Coyotes to road kill. This canine is very can be found on the fringes of the successful and highly adaptable to dunefield among the Chihuahuan different environs like the other Desert scrub. They are active in the mammals at White Sands. early evenings and mornings, but Coyote Canis latrans The bobcat can be found on the nesting birds and even insects. outskirts of the dunefield at White It looks larger and furrier than Sands. The bobcat’s nocturnal domestic cats but is no match for lifestyle allows it to depend on the mountain lion. Bobcats are stealth, and not pursuit, to catch solitary by nature and have a range its prey. Its meal of choice is small that extends several miles. rodents. It will also eat ground Bobcat Lynx rufus Revised 04/03/2016.