Animals

A yellow-bellied marmot enjoys some morning sun on a granite outcrop.

NPS

Enjoy Wildlife ...Safely

Mount Rushmore National Memorial is home to a large variety of wildlife, some of which you may encounter during your visit. As a visitor to this habitat, take some time to learn about the wildlife and remember to respect their need for space while viewing them.

While some animals may spend part of the year close to roads and developed areas where they are easy to observe, remember to enjoy them from a distance. Wild animals may appear to tolerate people, but approaching too close can cause them stress and disturb them from their rest, natural feeding areas, and travel routes.

As you view and photograph wildlife, use binoculars or a telephoto lens to improve your view, instead of moving closer. Keep the animal's line of travel or escape route clear. If wildlife approaches you, move away. Allow other visitors a chance to enjoy wildlife. If your actions cause an animal to flee, you are too close and have deprived other visitors of a viewing opportunity.

Please remember not to feed wild animals. Animals have their own sources of food with the proper nutrition in the park;your food can only hurt them. Wrappers and plastic bags that human food is packaged in are often eaten by wildlife, which can cause serious health problems or even death.

Feeding wildlife can also cause them to lose their fear of people. Once habituated, these animals often become increasingly aggressive. Because they are still wild, they remain unpredictable and may strike out with antlers, horns, teeth, hooves, or claws without warning. Your close interaction with wildlife may seem like a positive experience, but you could be setting someone else up for injury. Many people are injured each year by animals that have begun to EXPECT humans to feed them.

As you visit Mount Rushmore National Memorial, please remember:

• Do not approach wild animals.

• Do not feed wild animals.

By following these rules, you will help protect the animals here in their natural home. This will allow many generations of visitors to safely experience the thrill of seeing them in a natural state.

 

 

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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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Mount Rushmore National Memorial

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Species attribute definitions

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