#keepwildlifewild

Hey elk!

When was the last time you saw a member of the deer family, Cervidae, while visiting Mount Rainier National Park?

There are a few of these large, hooved mammals that call Mount Rainier their home. (https://www.nps.gov/mora/learn/nature/hoofed-mammals.htm)  The elk are not often seen. Though some herds make the park their home, they’re rarely where the humans are. Seeming to prefer the quieter meadows and forests. But when you do find them, gee what a sight. Their rich brown fur helps them blend in while walking through the woods. A female elk can weight 400-600 pounds and stand 4 feet high at the top of her shoulder. A male elk can get even bigger at nearly 800 pounds (though sometimes 1,100) and 5 feet tall at the top of his shoulder. Through the end of the summer and in the fall, males will grow antlers that can also be quite large, sometimes several feet high and across.

In comparison, the black-tailed deer is much smaller. Females, does, grow up to 90-130 pounds while males will grow to 200 pounds. They are also quite a bit shorter than elk; standing just over a yard high at the top of the shoulder. Just like elk, only the males grow antlers that they grow in the summer, show off in the breeding season and then drop in the winter. Unlike the elk, deer can at times be frequently seen in the more populated parts of the park.

During a visit to the park, have you see any black-tailed deer or maybe an elk or two? ~ams

Hopefully, in all your animal adventures, you’ve remembered to give wildlife their space and stayed far back from the animal. https://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/keep-wildlife-wild.htm

Wildlife Safety

Observing wildlife in their native habitat can be a fun, thrilling, and educational experience—filled with wonder and adventure. When you follow safe wildlife watching practices, you protect the health of the wildlife...and yourself! 

Always enjoy wildlife from the safety of your car or from a safe distance. Do not approach wildlife to take photographs. Feeding, harassing, or molesting wildlife is strictly prohibited and subject to a fine. Bears, mountain lions, goats, deer, or any other species of wildlife can present a real and painful threat, especially females with young.

For most wildlife in Glacier, like moose, elk, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, deer, and coyotes, visitors are to be at least 75 feet (25 yards/23 meters) away. For wolves, grizzly, and black bears, visitors need to be at least 300 feet (100 yards/91.4 meters) away. This isn’t just for your safety, but for theirs, as well.

Know the risks of getting too close to wild animals and how to avoid them. Read more at https://www.nps.gov/subjects/watchingwildlife/smart.htm

The Rodent family is well represented among the residents of Mount Rainier. We’ve got your beavers, porcupines, mice, voles, rats, squirrels, and of course marmots. But you might also see some chipmunks making their homes on the mountain.

One of those would be the yellow-pine chipmunk, Tamias amoenus.

Smaller than the Townsend’s chipmunk and the golden-mantled ground squirrel, the yellow-pine chipmunk is a resident of the forest and meadows. In particular, they like shrubby areas in both forest and meadow. This helps their natural camouflage, the five black stripes running down their backs, to protect them from the many predators that enjoy a chipmunk snack.

If you’ve had a chance to see one of these yellow-pine chipmunks in action, you probably noticed that they are very busy. These little mammals, only 7-9 inches long, work through summer and fall to stock up their caches. Their winter supplies, mostly seeds, will be all that gets them through the long, snowy winter on Mount Rainier.

Have you seen these little critters in action in the park? ~ams