Mammals

Prairie dogs foraging and scanning for danger

NPS photo

Devils Tower National Monument is home to a diverse population of mammals. As you visit the park, step quietly: you may glimpse white-tailed deer ghosting through the ponderosa pine forest, hear the cries of the prairie dog as they scramble into their dens on the floodplain, or see mice dart between boulders at the base of the Tower.

One goal of the National Park Service is to maintain the ecological processes that sustain animals and their habitats. We also monitor changes taking place in their populations. Some animals stay in the park for their entire lives. Most travel outside the park boundary. Like many parks, the monument is a small island of refuge amidst a sea of human-dominated landscape. But islands are not immune to the events which occur beyond their borders.