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Javelina rooting with it's nose, near trailhead to the Cliff Dwellings. Photo by Barry Nielsen |
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The most common large mammals in the area are black bear, mountain lion, elk, and mule deer. Smaller mammals abound and include rabbits, jackrabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, beaver, and so forth. A program involving large mammals, that is of particular note is the reintroduction of the endangered Mexican gray wolf (canis lupus baileyi) into the nearby Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area, which consists of areas in Arizona and New Mexico. This reintroduction within the subspecies' historic range is the first step toward recovery of the Mexican wolf in the wild. The Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area consists of the entire Apache and Gila National Forests in east-central and west-central New Mexico. Wolves are reintroduced into a primary recovery area in Arizona, but are allowed to disperse throughout the entire recovery area. If the [US Fish and Wildlife] Service finds it to be both necessary for recovery and feasible, it will reintroduce wolves into the White Sands Wolf Recovery Area, which also lies within the subspecies' historic range. This area consists of all land within the boundaryof the White Sands Missile Range in south-central New Mexico together with land immediately to the west of the missile range. By this rule, the [US Fish and Wildlife] Service classifies wolves to be re-established in these areas as a nonessential experimental population under section 10(j) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended. The following mammals listed in the brochure "Fish, Amphibians, Reptiles and Mammals...A Species Checklist for the Gila National Forest", which can be obtained by calling the Gila Cliff Dwellings Visitor Center at (505) 536-9461. Unless otherwise noted, abundance of each species ranges from uncommon to fairly common to common. Residency, the time of the year in which the species normally appears, is listed only for bats. Shrews: Merriam's Shrew - rare Dusky Shrew Desert Shrew Plain Nose Bats: Southwestern Myotis - summer resident Yuma Myotis - summer resident Long-eared Myotis - summer resident Fringed Myotis - permanent resident Long-legged Myotis - summer resident California Myotis - summer resident Little Brown Myotis - summer resident Western Small-footed Myotis - permanent resident Silver-haired Bat - summer resident Western Pipistrelle - summer resident Big Brown Bat - permanent resident Hoary Bat - transient Western Red Bat - rare - summer resident (Allen's) Mexican Big-eared Bat - summer resident Spotted Bat - rare - summer resident Big-eared Bats: Townsend's Bat - permanent resident Pallid Bat - summer resident Freetailed Bats: Mexican Freetailed Bat - transient Hares and Rabbits: Black-tailed Jack Rabbit Desert Cottontail Eastern Cottontail Squirrels: Abert's Squirrel Arizona Gray Squirrel Red Squirrel Gunnison's Prairie Dog - rare Spotted Ground Squirrel Rock Squirrel Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel - rare Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel Cliff Chipmunk Gray-collared Chipmunk Pocket Gophers: Botta's Pocket Gopher Kangaroo Rats and Pocket Mice: Desert Pocket Mouse Silky Pocket Mouse Ord's Kangaroo Rat Merriam's Kangaroo Rat Native Rats, Mice, and Voles: Northern Grasshopper Mouse Southern Grasshopper Mouse Western Harvest Mouse Northern Rock Mouse Cactus Mouse Grateful Mouse Deer Mouse White-footed Mouse Brush Mouse Pinyon Mouse Hispid Cotton Rat Yellow-bellied Cotton Rat White-throated Wood Rat Stephen's Woodrat Mexican Woodrat Montane Vole Mexican Vole Long-tailed Vole Southern Red-backed Vole Meadow Vole - extirpated Muskrat House Mouse Beaver: Beaver Porcupines: Porcupine Dogs and Allies: Coyote Gray Fox Kit Fox Bears: Black Bear Raccoons and Allies: Raccoon Ringtail Coati Nasua narica Weasels, Skunks, and Allies: Long-tailed weasel Badger Striped Skunk Hooded Skunk Western Spotted Skunk Common Hog-nosed Skunk Cats: Bobcat Mountain Lion Javelina: Collared Peccary (Javelina) Deer and Allies: Elk or Wapiti Mule Deer White-tailed Deer Pronghorn: Pronghorn Bighorn Sheep: Bighorn Sheep
Related Information
USFWS Southwest Region site.
Link to more information by U.S. Fish & Wildlife on the Mexican Gray Wolf, endangered species, etc.
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