Mammals

Featured Species

• 

  Desert Bighorn

  Living on the edge is a great survival strategy for avoiding predators!

• 

  Coyote

  Found across the park, this canine is a master of many habitats.

• 

  Invasive Burros

  Learn more about the burros that were introduced by miners and their impact to park springs and wildlife.

 

Mammals Found in Death Valley

 

Western pipistrelle bat

NPS Photo

BATS

• Fringed myotis
  Myotis thysanodes
  Roosts in caves, mines, and buildings;juniper forests and desert shrub.
• California myotis
  Myotis californicus
  Roosts in caves, mine tunnels and buildings.
• Small-footed myotis
  Myotis subulatus
  Roosts in caves, mine tunnels and rock crevices.
• Silver-haired bat
  Lasionycteris noctivagans
  Found around water in forested areas.
• Western pipistrelle
  Pipistrellus hesperus
  Roosts in rock crevices and caves near watercourses.
• Western big-eared bat
  Plecotus townsendii
  Found in abandoned mine tunnels and shafts from 3000 to 6000 feet.
• Hoary bat
  Lasiurus cinereus
  Roosts in trees; found around well watered areas.
• Pallid bat
  Antrozous pallidus
  Roosts in crevices and caves.
• Brazilian free-tailed bat
  Tadarida brasiliensis
  Roosts in caves, crevices, and buildings.

 

Desert kangaroo rat

NPS photo

SMALL MAMMALS

• Desert shrew
  Notiosorex crawfordi
  Found in sagebrush; sometimes in masses of vegetation at the base of desert plants.
• Panamint pocket gopher
  Thomymus umbrinus scapterus
  Panamint and Grapevine Mountains.
• Pygmy pocket gopher
  Thomymus umbrinus oreocus
  Higher elevations in surrounding mountains;up to 10,000 feet on Telescope Peak.
• Great basin pocket mouse
  Perognathus parvus
  Grapevine Mountains.
• Little pocket mouse
  Perognathus longimembris
  Sage habitat at Harrisburg Flat.
• Long-tailed pocket mouse
  Perognathus formosus mohavensis
  Grapevine Mountains.
• Desert pocket mouse
  Perognathus penicillatus
  Mesquite Flat.
• Chisel-toothed kangaroo rat
  Dipodomys microps
  Harrisburg Flat in dry, sandy soil with sparse vegetation.
• Panamint kangaroo rat
  Dipodomys panamintinus
  Northern Panamint Mountains between 6000 and 7000 feet.
• Merriam kangaroo rat
  Dipodomys merriami
  Dry, sandy soil on the valley floor.
• Desert kangaroo rat
  Dipodomys deserti
  Dry locations on valley, especially around mesquite.
• Western harvest mouse
  Reithrodontomys megalotis
  Well watered areas; Salt Creek, Furnace Creek, Hanaupah Canyon, Wildrose.
• Cactus mouse
  Peromyscus eremicus
  Higher elevations in Grapevine and Cottonwood Mountains.
• Deer mouse
  Peromyscus maniculatis
  Valley floor and mountains.
• Canyon mouse
  Peromyscus crinitus
  Mountains and rocky canyons.
• Brush mouse
  Peromyscus boylii
  Northern Panamint Mountains.
• Pinon mouse
  Peromyscus truei
  Rocky areas in pinyon-juniper belt.
• Southern grasshopper mouse
  Onychomys torridus
  Throughout Death Vally below 5500 feet.
• Desert woodrat
  Neotoma lepida
  From salt marshes into surrounding mountains.
• Bushy-tailed woodrat
  Neotoma cinerea
  Pinyon-juniper area of northern Panamint Mountains.
• House mouse
  Mus musculus
  In and around human dwellings.

 

Whitetail antelope squirrel

NPS photo

SQUIRRELS

• Panamint chipmunk
  Eutamius panamintinus
  Pinyon-juniper belt of Panamint and Grapevine Mountains.
• Whitetail antelope squirrel
  Ammospermophilus leucurus
  Mesquite hummocks of valley floor to over 6000 feet in mountains; common along roadsides.
• California ground squirrel
  Citellus beecheyi
  Hunter Mountain area of Cottonwood Mountains.
• Roundtail ground squirrel
  Citellus tereticaudus
  Low desert; mesquite thickets near Furnace Creek; common along roadsides.
• Mojave ground squirrel
  Citellus mohavensis
  Inhabits gentle slopes in Wingate Wash area.

 

Desert cottontail

NPS / Cookie Ballou

MEDIUM MAMMALS

• Mountain cottontail
  Sylvilagus nuttalli
  Surrounding mountains.
• Desert cottontail
  Sylvilagus audobonii
  Mesquite thickets on valley floor.
• Black-tailed jackrabbit
  Lepus californicus
  Near valley floor and in mountains.
• Porcupine
  Erethizon dorsatum
  Grapevine, Panamint, and Cottonwood Mountains.

 

Bobcat

NPS photo

CARNIVORES

• Coyote
  Canis latrans
  From salt flats into mountains; common around mesquite thickets.
• Kit fox
  Vulpes macrotis arsipus
  Nocturnal; common throughout most of Death Valley; Sand Dunes and Furnace Creek.
• Gray fox
  Urocyon cinereoargenteus
  East side of Grapevine Mountains.
• Badger
  Taxidea taxus
  Low desert into mountains; Daylight Pass.
• Spotted skunk
  Spilogale gracilis
  Mountains surrounding Death Valley.
• Ringtail
  Bassariscus astutus
  Nocturnal; rocky terrain in arid brush and tree areas.
• Mountain lion
  Puma concolor
  Surrounding mountains; occasional winter visitors to desert oasis.
• Bobcat
  Lynx rufus
  From sea level into mountains.

 

Desert bighorn sheep

NPS photo

HOOFED MAMMALS

• Burro
  Equus assinus
  (An introduced species)
  Introduced in the 1880's; Panamint, Cottonwood, and Grapevine Mountains.
• Horse
  Equus caballus
  (An introduced species)
  Introduced; Hunter Mountain, Cottonwood Basin, Pinto Peak, Grapevine Mountains.
• Mule deer
  Odocoileus hemionus
  Along eastern and western boundaries of the park in Panamint, Cottonwood, and Grapevine Mountains.
• Desert bighorn sheep
  Ovis canadensis nelsoni
  Throughout Death Valley at all elevations; inaccessible ridges and canyons, usually near water.