Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
short horns on the back of their heads. They are usually reddish brown, with dark-
er spots on their backs.
Short-Horned Lizard
NORTHERN SAGEBRUSH LIZARD
Commonly seen on trails below the rim at Bryce
Canyon National Park and in the dry, open areas of rocks and sagebrush at Zion,
the northern sagebrush lizard is slim, at least compared to the mountain short-
horned lizard discussed above, and brown to grayish-green in color; the males
have blue markings on their bellies. This lizard may also have stripes of various
shades of brown or light tan running the length of its body.
Invertebrates
ZION SNAIL
One creature unique to Zion National Park is the Zion snail, which
you'll only find clinging to wet canyon walls in a 4-mile section of the Narrows
along the Virgin River—the Riverside Walk as it enters the Narrows is a good place
to see them. The walls are kept moist by seeps and springs, which also nurture
hanging gardens. This tiny snail, complete with shell, is a mere eighth of an inch
or less across, and to the naked eye appears to be just a dark brown or black speck
on a shiny, wet wall. They hold onto the slick walls with a suction-cup foot, which
in proportion to the creature's size is the biggest foot of any snail, a phenomenon
that has caused some park rangers to refer to the Zion snail as “our little bigfoot.”
Please do not attempt to touch these fragile creatures.
The Ecosystem
So far, Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks have managed to escape most of the
serious ecological problems that plague some of America's other national parks,
such as air and water pollution from nearby cities, adjacent mining, and extreme
overcrowding (with its resultant air and noise pollution from automobiles). Still,
there is the threat of air pollution from power plants across the Colorado Plateau,
and the park service has concerns over how Bryce Canyon and Zion national parks
