Mammals

Ringtails are secretive, nocturnal members of the raccoon family. These shy, cat-sized mammals are rarely seen. Spotting one can be the wildlife experience of a lifetime.

Photo by Paul Ollig

About 50 species of mammals are known to live in Montezuma Castle National Monument. Some animals, like desert cottontails, ground squirrels, elk, and mule deer, are common and may be seen by a majority of visitors. However, many desert animals are inactive during the day, so sightings can be truly special events. Tracks and scat are the most common signs of an animal's presence.

Montezuma Castle's hot climate and lack of water seem to favor small mammals. Because of their small size, these animals are less able to migrate, but have an easier time finding shelter and require less food and water to live. Rodents are numerous: there are ten species of mice and rats alone. Beavers, the largest North American rodent, are occasionally seen along Beaver Creek. Larger mammals, like elk, mule deer, and mountain lions, must cover more territory in order to find food and water, and sometime migrate to nearby mountains during the summer. In Arizona, around 80% of a mountain lion's diet consists of mule deer, so these animals are never far apart. However, unlike mule deer and elk, mountain lion sightings are very rare.

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Species Attribute Definitions

Definitions

Occurrence

Occurrence values are defined below. One or more Occurrence Tags may be associated with each Occurrence value.

Present: Species occurs in park; current, reliable evidence available.

Probably Present: High confidence species occurs in park but current, verified evidence needed.

Unconfirmed: Species is attributed to park but evidence is weak or absent.

Not In Park: Species is not known to occur in park.

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Occurrence Tags

Adjacent: Species is known to occur in areas near to or contiguous with park boundaries.

False Report: Species was reported to occur within the park, but current evidence indicates the report was based on misidentification, a taxonomic concept no longer accepted, or other similar problem of error or interpretation.

Historical: Species' historical occurrence in park is documented. Assigned based on judgment as opposed to determination based on age of the most recent evidence.

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Abundance

Abundant:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, and counted in relatively large numbers.
• Plants: Large number of individuals; wide ecological amplitude or occurring in habitats covering a large portion of the park.

Common:

• Animals: May be seen daily, in suitable habitat and season, but not in large numbers.
• Plants: Large numbers of individuals predictably occurring in commonly encountered habitats but not those covering a large portion of the park.

Uncommon:

• Animals: Likely to be seen monthly in appropriate habitat and season. May be locally common.
• Plants: Few to moderate numbers of individuals; occurring either sporadically in commonly encountered habitats or in uncommon habitats.

Rare:

• Animals: Present, but usually seen only a few times each year.
• Plants: Few individuals, usually restricted to small areas of rare habitat.

Occasional:

• Animals: Occurs in the park at least once every few years, varying in numbers, but not necessarily every year.
• Plants: Abundance variable from year to year (e.g., desert plants).

Unknown: Abundance unknown

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Nativeness

Native: Species naturally occurs in park or region.

Non-native: Species occurs on park lands as a result of deliberate or accidental human activities.

Unknown: Nativeness status is unknown or ambiguous.

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List Differences

The Checklist contains only those species that are designated as "present" or "probably present" in the park.

The Full List includes all the checklist species in addition to species that are unconfirmed, historically detected, or incorrectly reported as being found in the park. The full list also contains species that are "in review" because their status in the park hasn't been fully determined. Additional details about the status of each species is included in the full list.

The checklist will almost always contain fewer species than the full list.

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Species attribute definitions

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