U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Mammals Bill Williams River National Wildlife Refuge Order Rodentia (Rodents) Family Castoridae Beaver (Castor canadensis)

Family Erethizontidae Porcupine (Erethizon dorsaturn)

Fanily Geomyidae Valley Pocket Gopher (Thomomys bottae) Desert Bighorn Sheep. Family Heteromyidae Merriam’s Kangaroo Rat Mammals of the Desert (Dipodomys merriami merriami) In the vast desert environments Black-tailed Jackrabbitt. numerous mammalian species are found. Desert Kangaroo Rat A drive over the long rough roads on (Dipodomys deserti arizonae) Canyon Mouse the refuges gives one the impression (Peromyscus crinitus disparillis) that the desert is devoid of animal Arizona Pocket Mouse life, but a closer examination reveals (Perognathus amplus) Deer Mouse numerous burrows between scattered (Peromyscus maniculatus) bushes, among rocks, and even on the Little Pocket Mouse open plains. The burrows are the home (Perognathus longimembris) Western Harvest Mouse of ground squirrels, pocket mice, and (Reithrodontomys megalotis) kangaroo rats. The home of the familiar Bailey’s Pocket Mouse woodrat consist of piles of sticks and (Perognathus baileyi) Southern Grasshopper Mouse cactus joints that are scattered beneath (Onychomys torridus torridus) bushes and in rock clefts and caves Rock Pocket Mouse throughout these refuges. (Perognathus intermedius) House Mouse (Mus musculus)

Desert mammals have adapted their Desert Pocket Mouse Order Lagomorpha (Rabbits and hares) lives to the extreme temperature and (Perognathus pencillatus pricei) Family Leporidae low humidity of their environments Desert Cottontail Water conservation is an absolute Spiny Pocket Mouse (Sylvilagus audobonii arizonae) necessity in their activities, The majority (Perognathus spinatus) of mammals living in the desert are Black-tailed Jackrabbit nocturnal, foraging only at night when Family Sciuridae (Lepus californicus eremicus) the relative humidity is higher and Yuma Antelope Squirrel Occasionally seen in the upland desert, moisture loss from their bodies is (Ammospermophilus harrisii) the jackrabbit is not as common as the kept at a minimum. Most of the desert cottontail. Jackrabbits may be seen mammals, especially the smaller ones, Rock Squirrel anytime during the day. On hot summer have adapted to survive with minimal (Spermophilus varigatus grammurus) days, they are less active and tend to water and receive needed moisture from rest in the shade. Their young are called plant material. During hot summer Round-tailed Ground Squirrel ‘leverets’, and are born fully furred, and days, bighorn sheep lay in the shade of (Spermophilus tereticaudus neglectus) with their eyes open. They can outrun mountain caves. Large eared mule deer within an hour of birth! forage along desert washes at night and Family Muroidea rest during midday in the shade of desert Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) Order Insectivora (Shrews and moles) trees and overhanging banks. Family Soricidae White-throated Woodrat Desert Shrew (Notiosorex crawfordi) Bats, the only true flying mammals, (Neotoma albigula mearnsi) find caves, crevices, and mine tunnels Order Chiroptera (Bats) ideal places to congregate during the Desert Woodrat Family Vespertilionidae day. Most bats in this area are nocturnal (Neotoma lepida auripilla) Western Pipistrelle and are rarely seen in the daylight. In (Pipistrellus hesperus) the dim, flickering light of the campfire, Cactus Mouse bats may be seen through the night air (Peromyscus eremicus eremicus) Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus) catching their meals of insects. Family Antrozoidae Family Bovidae Pallid Bat (Antrozous pallidus) Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni) (Ovis canadensis mexicana) Family Phyllostomidae This magnificent animal is most often California Leaf-nosed Bat seen in dry periods on riverside rocky (Macrotus californicus) escarpments. They are occasionally seen This desert bat possesses a leaf-like, along the cliffs of the Bill Williams River triangular flap of thick skin projecting where the 2 sub-species are in contact. upward from the tip of its nose, thus the Bighorns inhabit the rugged mountain name “leaf nosed.” It roosts in colonies terrain and slopes which are sparsely inside caves and old mine tunnels. They populated with trees, shrubs, and brush. glean large insects from vegetation such This brown to grayish brown sheep is as sphinx moths and katydids. California superbly camouflaged in its mountain leaf-nosed bats do not hibernate like habitat and when standing still, the many bats, nor do they migrate. creamy white rump and white muzzle are all that is noticeable to the observer. Order Carnivora (Carnivores) Family Felidae Family Cervidae Bobcat (Lynx rufus baileyi) Rocky Mountain Elk (Cervis elaphus)

Mountain Lion (Felis concolor) Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus crooiki) Family Canidae Coyote (Canis latrans mearnsi) Family Equidae California Leaf-nosed Bat. Feral Burro (Equus asinus) Western Red Bat (Lasiurus borealis) Kit Fox (Vulpes macrotis macrotis) Suggested Reading List Hoary Bat (Lasiurus cinereus) Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) William H. Burt & Richard P. Grossenheider, A Field Guide to the Western Yellow Bat (Lasiurus xanthinus) Family Procyonidae Mammals (Peterson Field Guide Series), Raccoon (Procyon lotor) Houghton Mifflin Co. 1964. Townsend’s Big-eared Bat (Plecotus townsendii) Ringtail Donald F. Hoffmeister, Mammals of This bat possesses extremely large ears (Bassariscus astutus yumanensis) Arizona, University of Arizona Press, which are over 25 mm (1 inch) high and 1986. are joined across the forehead. It roosts Family Mustelidae in small colonies inside caves and mines, River Otter (Lutra canadensis) James A. MacMahon, Deserts (Audubon and is easily startled into taking flight. Society Nature Guide), Alfred A. Knopf, These bats are very sensitive to human Badger (Taxidea taxus berlandieri) Inc., 1988. disturbance. One of the 3 remaining maternity colonies on the LCR is on the Family Mephitidae Gale Monson & Lowell Summer, eds, The Bill Williams River. Striped Skunk (Mephitis mephitisestor) Desert Bighorn, University of Arizona Press. California Myotis (Myotis californicus) Western Spotted Skunk (Spilogale gracilis) Olaus A. Murie, A Field Guide to Cave Myotis (Myotis velifer) Animal Tracks (Peterson Field Guide Order Artiodactyla Series) Houghton Mifflin Co. Yuma Myotis (Myotis yumanensis) (Even-toed ungulates) Family Tayassuidae USFWS, Endangered and Threatened Silver-haired Bat Collared Peccary (Tayassu tajacu) Species of Arizona, Ecological Services (Lasionycteris noctivagans) A small-sized animal, which are not Field Office, Phoenix, AZ., Summer 1991. pigs, weighing about 30 pounds, with a Arizona Myotis (Myotis occultus) light stripe of hairs extending from the mane over the shoulders to the throat, Family Molossidae appearing as a collar. Its historical range Western Mastiff Bat included the south central and eastern (Eumops perotis californicus) portion of Arizona, but is now extending westward. Its common name in the Pocketed Free-tailed Bat Southwest is “javelina” (pronounced (Tadarida femorosacca) hav-e-lena) which is of Spanish-Mexican origin. Big Free-tailed Bat (Nyctinomops macrotis)

Mexican Free-tailed Bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) Javelina. Photograph by Bruce Craig