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Mesa Verde is home to over 60 species of mammal, from 5 ft (152.4 cm) tall elk to 4 inch (10.16 cm) long voles. Regardless of size, each are equally important to the natural communities within Mesa Verde. Visitors can expect to see a few mammals in the park, but most are active at times when visitors are not. Driving at dawn or dusk can lead to more collisions with furred friends, so keep an careful eye on the road!
Woodrats often enjoy using human-made structures for their nests, both now and hundreds of years ago.
NPS
Historical Hoarder
Woodrats are small animals that don't look very notable and aren't often seen, but are incredibly important to understanding Mesa Verde's human history. These rodents are known for making massive nests from grass, leaves, and just about anything that they can get their paws on. This gives them their other name: packrats! They build nests in bushes, on rock ledges, buildings, and even the engine compartments of unoccupied cars, using their urine to stick the gathered material together until it is hard as a rock.
Since woodrats fill their nests with anything they can find, and those nests can last hundreds of years, the contents tells a lot about the time period in which they were built. The ratio of different plants, different kinds of human-made objects like pottery, and amount of crop waste like corncobs found in woodrat nests built hundreds of years ago has given us a much clearer picture of changes in how Ancestral Pueblo people lived across time!
Coyotes can most often be seen walking in meadows and shrublands in search of food.
NPS / Jacob W. Frank
Clever Coyote
Coyotes are adaptable relatives of dogs, foxes, and wolves who make a living almost anywhere. This is partly thanks to their varied diet, preferring fresh meat but regularly scavenging as well as eating insects, fruit, and grass. They are also very social animals who often live in large family groups, working together to hunt prey and 'sing' together in mornings and evenings.
Some people regard them as pests, but they have also gained a reputation for cleverness and intelligence. Many Indigenous cultures, including those of Mesa Verde (Pueblo, Ute, Apache, and Diné peoples), see the coyote as the archetypical trickster. Common in stories told to all ages, the coyote is a little too clever for its own good, always getting into and out of bad situations. A valuable lesson to learn from coyotes is how to stay out of trouble!
Mule deer prefer to graze on the boundaries between forests and more open spaces, so if you're on trail or driving the roads, keep your eyes peeled!
NPS
Got 'em on radar
Mule deer are the largest mammals you're most likely to see while visiting Mesa Verde. They get their name for their large ears, which have two purposes. One is for heat dispersion during the hot summer months in the Four Corners area. They use the many blood vessels in their ears to emit heat and cool off. The second purpose is more obvious: to help their excellent sense of hearing!
Mule deer need good sound detection, as they are traditionally on the menu for large predators. Mountain lions, bears, coyotes, and even golden eagles have been known to hunt deer, particularly young fawns. They were also an important hunting animal for people who lived at Mesa Verde, who not only ate their meat but used their hides for clothing and rope, as well as their bones and antlers to make tools and jewelry. So if deer always seem a bit on edge, it's for good reason.
As much as mountain lions can resemble house cats in shape, remember that they are wild animals who can pose a danger. Avoid hiking alone past dusk, and if you do see a mountain lion, slowly back away and make yourself as large and loud as possible.
NPS
Seldom Seen, Still There
Perhaps the most iconic animal in Mesa Verde is also the stealthiest. It has been called many names: mountain lion, cougar, puma, catamount, panther, and others in many languages. It is the top predator of the Mesa Verde ecosystem, and regarded as a guardian animal of the north in Pueblo stories.
Mountain lions are most active at night, and hunt primarily mule deer, pouncing down from the branches of trees to sneak up on their prey. As a rule, mountain lions prefer to avoid people. With excellent senses of sight, smell, and hearing, they will know a person is coming before they are spotted, and move out of the way on their extremely quiet footpads. Oftentimes the only sign they were ever there is a series of footprints and scat filled with the fur of their prey.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
