Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Moose mainly browse aspen and willows, but also feed on aquatic plants. Superb swim-
mers, they can dive to depths of 20ft. Moose may become aggressive if cornered or de-
fending calves and may strike out with powerful blows from their front hooves. An estim-
ated 200 moose are found in Yellowstone National Park, favoring marshy meadows like
Willow Valley, just south of Mammoth Springs, or on the east side of Lamar Valley.
Bighorn Sheep & Mountain Goats
Bighorn sheep are arguably the animal that best symbolize the Rocky Mountains. They
are robust, muscular beasts, colored grayish brown with a white muzzle tip, underbelly
and rump patch. Males (rams) grow up to 6ft long, stand almost 4ft at the shoulder and
weigh more than 300lb. Their ideal habitat is alpine meadows or subalpine forests fringed
by rocky ridges, which allow them to easily escape predators. Rams have thick, curled
horns (weighing up to 40lb), which they use during the fall rut (from mid-September to
late October) in fierce head-butting bouts with rivals. Discreet hikers can often closely ob-
serve bighorn herds around ridges or alpine valleys; try looking for them on rocky crags
between Mammoth and Gardiner.
Introduced to Montana for sports-hunting, non-native mountain goats expanded their
range into Yellowstone in 1990, raising concerns that they might impact the area's fragile
mountains meadows. Surefooted and confident in even the most precipitous terrain, the
mountain goat is highly adapted to the harsh environment of the upper subalpine and
alpine zones. It has a shaggy, snow-white coat that includes a thin beard and narrow, al-
most straight, black horns. Mountain goats can reach 5ft, stand 4ft at the shoulder and
weigh up to 300lb. Beware where you pee: goats crave salt and will gnaw down vegeta-
tion (and anything in their way) in order to satisfy their hankering.
Cats
The solitary, mostly nocturnal, bobcat is a handsome feline (a scaled-up version of the do-
mestic tabby) with a brown-spotted, yellowish-tan coat and a cropped tail. It mainly eats
birds and rodents, but when easier prey is scarce it may take small deer or pronghorn.
Bobcats are thought to be widespread in the region, and it's not unusual to see one darting
across a meadow or into a willow thicket.
Surveys in 2001 confirmed the presence of at least one lynx in Yellowstone. This
threatened cat is similar in appearance to the bobcat, but can be recognized by its entirely
black tail tip.
