Moose
- The moose in Colorado are the Shiras subspecies, a smaller moose than those living in Alaska and Maine.
- They are known for their surly disposition, especially if they have young or if there is a dog in the area. Bulls can weigh close to 1,000lbs and run 35mph, so keep your distance.
- Their antlers are palmated paddles of bone. They begin growing in early spring, stop growing by the end of the summer, and shed each year in early winter.
- Moose hair is hollow to help insulate them from the cold.
Mule Deer
- Mule deer are called that because of their large, mule-like ears, which can turn independently to hear faraway sounds.
- These iconic mammals of the western U.S. have a unique bounding motion when they run, called “pronking” or “stotting,” in which all four hooves push off the ground at the same time causing the animal to spring into the air.
Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep
- Rams (male sheep) and ewes (female sheep) have horns. The set of horns on rams can weigh up to 30lbs.
- The age of a male bighorn sheep is known by counting the number of growth rings in his horns.
- Bighorn sheep have rectangular pupils. As a prey animal, this gives them 300+ degree field of vision to spot potential predators.
Black Bear
- Black bears, the smallest bears in North America, are the only bears living in Colorado.
- Black is just the term to describe this species of bear. Bears can be black, blonde, cinnamon, or brown.
- Black bears are omnivores, eating both plants and animals.
- Bears will eat anything and will get into trash for an easy meal.
Coyote
- Coyotes are cousins to fox, wolves, and our best friend, the dog. Unlike dogs, coyotes don’t wag their tails in joy.
- Coyotes howl to communicate to their pack and identify territories. Several coyotes performing their chorus of barks, yips, and yelps often sound like more animals than there actually are.
- The term “wily” refers to the coyote’s high intelligence level and cunning behavior.
Protect Our Friends
Help keep wildlife wild. Never feed the animals (it’s against the law and bad for the animals’ health), and never approach or harass wildlife. Drive carefully through wildlife areas, especially at night. Elk, deer, and bighorn sheep seldom travel alone. If one animal crosses the road, others are sure to follow.
Red Fox
- Red fox have a variety of coat colors in addition to the common red. They can also be pure black, black with silvery highlights or a cross of red and black.
- The red fox is the only wild canine with a white tip on its tail.
- Fox are one of the fastest mammals on earth, reaching speeds of up to 30mph for short spurts.
Yellow-Bellied Marmot
- Marmots are one of the largest members of the ground squirrel family. They are usually found in high-altitude boulder fields or occasionally in rock outcroppings at slightly lower elevations.
- The yellow-bellied marmot is nicknamed the “whistle pig” for the high-pitched chirp they make to warn other group members about potential threats.
- A colony animal, male marmots have harems of two or three females and their offspring, with rearing duties being shared by all adults in the harem.
American Pika
- The American pika, which resides in the alpine tundra of the Rockies, is one of the smallest members of the rabbit family.
- American pikas do not hibernate. Instead, they collect plants, grasses, leaves and flowers all summer, to feed on throughout the difficult winter.
- Each pika needs to gather enough food to fill an entire bathtub and may have made as many as 14,000 trips into a nearby meadow to gather the plants for the pile.
- American pikas are extremely susceptible to heat, with the potential for dying if exposed to temperatures of 77 degrees or higher for 30 minutes or more. For this reason, pikas are an indicator species for climate change.
Hummingbird
- The humming noise comes from the male as their wings beat 80 times per second, often while making dramatic acrobatic moves o impress a female hummer.
- They can maneuver at 50mph darting in and out.
- Hummingbirds are the only bird that can fly backward, upside down, and hover.
- Four species migrate to Colorado each summer: Broad-tailed, Rufous, Black-chinned, and Calliope.
- Hummingbirds lay two eggs that are smaller than a jellybean.
Did You Know?
Most animals with antlers: only the male has antlers, and they are shed each spring. Animals with horns: both male and female have horns, and they are never shed.
Elk
- Bull elk can stand up to five feet tall and weigh 1,100lbs.
- While growing, antlers are in a state called velvet. The velvet is skin and blood vessels protecting the growing bone. Antlers can grow as much as an inch per day!
- Elk antlers are counted by the number of points. In the western U.S., the terminology is 6x6 or 7x6, or a six-point rack.
- Many adult bull elk reach 6x6 status by 3.5 years of age if habitat is good, but the best sets of antlers are reached at between age 9.5 and 12.5.
Elk In Estes Park
In the mid-1870s, Estes Park was opened to homesteading and many pioneer families arrived. Many visitors began to retreat to the area as well. As a result of hunting for subsistence, income, leisure, and sport, the elk population vanished in Estes Park by 1880.
The idea to re-introduce elk to the Estes Park area was first brought to light in 1909 and then revived again by a group of citizens in 1913. Spearheaded by local Pieter Hondius, sufficient funds were raised to purchase twenty-five young elk from Yellowstone National Park, and then twenty-four more elk in March of 1915. These populations thrived. Rocky Mountain National Park was established in September of 1915 and became a protected area from human hunting. With the previous hunting of local wolf and grizzly bear populations, elk’s main predators were extinct locally. Other predator populations, such as mountain lion and coyote, were kept extremely low with “active predator control” in Estes Park right after the elk reintroduction and through the 1920s.
Today, there are thousands of elk in the Estes Valley–a number considered high for this area.
A twelve-year-old, thousand-pound, eight-by-nine point rack bull elk, named Samson, was celebrated throughout the community. He was illegally killed on the grounds of the YMCA in 1995. With the poacher captured, the State Legislature passed “Samson’s Law” in 1998, allowing extra penalties to be applied to poaching trophy animals.
Today, the elk is the unofficial mascot of Estes Park.