Mammals

Desert Bighorn Sheep prefer rugged mountain slopes to protect themselves from predators.

 

BATS

• fringed myotis
  Myotis thysanodes
  Roosts in caves, mines, and buildings;juniper forests and desert shrub.
• California myotis
  Myotis californicus
  Roosts in caves, mine tunnels and buildings.
• small-footed myotis
  Myotis subulatus
  Roosts in caves, mine tunnels and rock crevices.
• silver-haired bat
  Lasionycteris noctivagans
  Found around water in forested areas.
• western pipistrelle
  Pipistrellus hesperus
  Roosts in rock crevices and caves near watercourses.
• western big-eared bat
  Plecotus townsendii
  Found in abandoned mine tunnels and shafts from 3000 to 6000 feet.
• hoary bat
  Lasiurus cinereus
  Roosts in trees; found around well watered areas.
• pallid bat
  Antrozous pallidus
  Roosts in crevices and caves.
• Brazilian free-tailed bat
  Tadarida brasiliensis
  Roosts in caves, crevices, and buildings.

SMALL MAMMALS

• desert shrew
  Notiosorex crawfordi
  Found in sagebrush; sometimes in masses of vegetation at the base of desert plants.
• panamint pocket gopher
  Thomymus umbrinus scapterus
  Panamint and Grapevine Mountains.
• pygmy pocket gopher
  Thomymus umbrinus oreocus
  Higher elevations in surrounding mountains;up to 10,000 feet on Telescope Peak.
• great basin pocket mouse
  Perognathus parvus
  Grapevine Mountains.
• little pocket mouse
  Perognathus longimembris
  Sage habitat at Harrisburg Flat.
• long-tailed pocket mouse
  Perognathus formosus mohavensis
  Grapevine Mountains.
• desert pocket mouse
  Perognathus penicillatus
  Mesquite Flat.
• chisel-toothed kangaroo rat
  Dipodomys microps
  Harrisburg Flat in dry, sandy soil with sparse vegetation.
• panamint kangaroo rat
  Dipodomys panamintinus
  Northern Panamint Mountains between 6000 and 7000 feet.
• Merriam kangaroo rat
  Dipodomys merriami
  Dry, sandy soil on the valley floor.
• desert kangaroo rat
  Dipodomys deserti
  Dry locations on valley, especially around mesquite.
• western harvest mouse
  Reithrodontomys megalotis
  Well watered areas; Salt Creek, Furnace Creek, Hanaupah Canyon, Wildrose.
• cactus mouse
  Peromyscus eremicus
  Higher elevations in Grapevine and Cottonwood Mountains.
• deer mouse
  Peromyscus maniculatis
  Valley floor and mountains.
• canyon mouse
  Peromyscus crinitus
  Mountains and rocky canyons.
• brush mouse
  Peromyscus boylii
  Northern Panamint Mountains.
• pinon mouse
  Peromyscus truei
  Rocky areas in pinyon-juniper belt.
• southern grasshopper mouse
  Onychomys torridus
  Throughout Death Vally below 5500 feet.
• desert woodrat
  Neotoma lepida
  From salt marshes into surrounding mountains.
• bushy-tailed woodrat
  Neotoma cinerea
  Pinyon-juniper area of northern Panamint Mountains.
• house mouse
  Mus musculus
  In and around human dwellings.

SQUIRRELS

• panamint chipmunk
  Eutamius panamintinus
  Pinyon-juniper belt of Panamint and Grapevine Mountains.
• whitetail antelope squirrel
  Ammospermophilus leucurus
  Mesquite hummocks of valley floor to over 6000 feet in mountains; common along roadsides.
• California ground squirrel
  Citellus beecheyi
  Hunter Mountain area of Cottonwood Mountains.
• roundtail ground squirrel
  Citellus tereticaudus
  Low desert; mesquite thickets near Furnace Creek; common along roadsides.
• mojave ground squirrel
  Citellus mohavensis
  Inhabits gentle slopes in Wingate Wash area.

MEDIUM MAMMALS

• mountain cottontail
  Sylvilagus nuttalli
  Surrounding mountains.
• desert cottontail
  Sylvilagus audobonii
  Mesquite thickets on valley floor.
• black-tailed jackrabbit
  Lepus californicus
  Near valley floor and in mountains.
• porcupine
  Erethizon dorsatum
  Grapevine, Panamint, and Cottonwood Mountains.

CARNIVORES

• coyote
  Canis latrans
  From salt flats into mountains; common around mesquite thickets.
• kit fox
  Vulpes velox
  Nocturnal; common throughout most of Death Valley; Sand Dunes and Furnace Creek.
• gray fox
  Urocyon cinereoargenteus
  East side of Grapevine Mountains.
• badger
  Taxidea taxus
  Low desert into mountains; Daylight Pass.
• spotted skunk
  Spilogale putorius
  Mountains surrounding Death Valley.
• ringtail
  Bassariscus astutus
  Nocturnal; rocky terrain in arid brush and tree areas.
• mountain lion
  Felis concolor
  Surrounding mountains; occasional winter visitors to desert oasis.
• bobcat
  Lynx rufus
  From sea level into mountains.

HOOFED MAMMALS

• burro
  Equus assinus
  (An introduced species)
  Introduced in the 1880's; Panamint, Cottonwood, and Grapevine Mountains.
• horse
  Equus caballus
  (An introduced species)
  Introduced; Hunter Mountain, Cottonwood Basin, Pinto Peak, Grapevine Mountains.
• mule deer
  Odocoileus hemionus
  Along eastern and western boundaries of the park in Panamint, Cottonwood, and Grapevine Mountains.
• desert bighorn sheep
  Ovis canadensis nelsoni
  Throughout Death Valley at all elevations; inaccessible ridges and canyons, usually near water.