Some Park Animals
SOME PARK ANIMALS
John C. Lindahl Park Ranger
Most visitors to Glacier National Park have two main objectives: first, to view the magnificent scenery and second, to see the wildlife that animates the scenery. Two methods are employed in observing the animals. The first and perhaps the more common practice is, unfortunately, that of driving rapidly through the park and seeing only those animals that frequent the roadsides, a bear or two, possibly a deer and a few ground squirrels. The correct and most satisfying way of seeing the wild inhabitants of the park is a great deal more strenuous, for it requires hiking along the park trails with eyes and ears alert to what goes on. That chunk of snow on the mountain side may suddenly galvanize into life and become a mountain goat, one of the most prized sights in the Park.
The mountain trails were not built for those people who are satisfied with seeing hand fed animals or scenery from the bottom looking up, but for those who are willing to work for their reward. The summer range of several of the larger park animals is often high up on the rocky slopes of the rugged mountains and requires considerable effort to reach. The Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep is one of these, found mainly in the Many Glacier region. The rams have huge, curling horns which grow larger each year. The ewes, on the other hand, have small, relatively straight horns. The tawny coat of the bighorn blends so well with the surroundings that it is difficult to see them until the eye has become accustomed to their outline.
The deer occurring in the park are often seen at the higher elevations during the summer. Mule deer are more common on the east slope of the mountains and the whitetail is the common deer on the west side. There are several ways of distinguishing between these two animals: the tail, narrow and with a black tip in the mule deer, is a fanlike flag in the whitetail when this animal becomes alarmed and raises it. The antlers differ as well, the prongs of the whitetail horn grow vertically from a single beam while those of the mule deer are doubly forked.
No visit to the park is complete without a view of the moose, the great mule-sized lord of the streams and marshes of the park. Ungainly and grotesque in appearance, this huge deer has the dignity of one who is used to his own way in life. The bull moose with his huge, palmated antlers is shot in many places to prove the finest in hunter's trophies but in Glacier the animals are "shot and live to be shot again" and still provide the camera hunter with a splendid trophy and happy memories of the hunt. The moose are most common along the streams on the western side of the park and in the Waterton Lake region.
Do not be misled by the barren appearance of the country above the timberline. Closer scrutiny may reveal that the earthy looking bumps on the landscape are watching you and at the first hint of trouble are trotting away. It is quite possible that they were elk, or more correctly wapiti, for their summer home is frequently along the barren ridges above timberline where the breeze will carry away the troublesome flies and mosquitoes which haunt them at lower elevations. The antlers of the bull elk frequently exceed four feet in length and have an equal spread. The elk, like the moose and deer, shed their antlers during the winter and the animals are likely to be seen with their horns in the velvet stage during the tourist season.
Bears are probably the most obliging of the park animals when it comes to posing before the camera, but they are also among the strongest and least trustworthy. Their apparent tameness often leads to a false sense of safety when dealing with them and undue familiarity results in trouble for those who insist on feeding the bears in defiance of park regulations. So many injuries have resulted from the dangerous practice of feeding the bears from parked cars or teasing them with morsels of food that the National Park Service has found it necessary to make this act unlawful and violators subject to prosecution. Bears are wild animals and no efforts are made by the National Park Service to feed them artificially in this park, for, in their own haunts there is an abundance of the food on which they thrive best. Roadside feeding results in digestive troubles, poor condition and decreased vitality, and in the long run, a weakened race of bears.
The silvertip or grizzly is the monarch of the bear family in the United States. Although not uncommon in Glacier the grizzly is rarely seen because of its retiring habits. The black bear, however, in both the black and brown phases is frequently seen along the highways and more rarely along the trails, eating berries, digging in the ground for bulbs, grubs, and tender roots, or drawing the wrath of the traveling public upon his head by raiding some poorly cached food box. Bears work hard during the summer and loaf all winter, picking some sheltered cave, hollowed log or wind thrown tree where they sleep during the winter months, their vitality at low ebb, drawing upon the stored up fat of the summer's labor. It is during hibernation that the single or twin cubs are born. They are naked at birth and weigh only a few ounces and are hardly larger than a man's fist. They remain with the mother over the second summer and are then cast out to make their own way while the mother prepares for her next family. Black bears can be distinguished from grizzlies by their smaller size and by the fact that the highest point of the grizzlies back is the shoulder, while that of the black bear is his arched back.
For most of the animals that live on grass and vegetation there is an enemy that uses him as a food. The grass eater makes use of the forage he finds, while the meat eater gets his vitamins from the flesh of the grass eater. Chief among the carnivores in the park is the coyote, a crafty, doglike canine occasionally seen crossing the road ahead of a car or slinking through the bushes. Food for him is any animals which he can catch and overpower. The list is long and varied, starting with the smallest of the mice or even insects and going up as far as the elk, providing the last named animal is sick or wounded. His blood brother, the timber wolf, is rarely seen although occasional reports drift in from various parts of the park, indicating at least passing visits from the lobo. The red fox, at one time a common resident in this region, is rarely seen.
The cat family in the park swells the list of carnivorous animals by three: the mountain lion, the great, tawny deer killer; the Canada lynx, a big-footed, long-legged northern cat that preys on the snowshoe rabbit and grouse; and a close relative, the bobcat, with smaller feet and shorter legs giving the impression of being smaller than the lynx, although the weights of the animals are quite similar. The bobcat is a southern animal and is not nearly as common in this cool climate as the hardier Canada lynx.
Rodents are many and varied in the park, with adaptations for all types of habitat to be found among them. The porcupine, a clumsy, quill-bearing, bark eater is a menace to the night wanderer who is hardy enough to venture out without a flashlight. Half the life of the quill pig is spent in the tree tops and the other half spent in search of a sweat-soaked shovel handle or greasy board, in fact any article with a suggestion of salt about it will have an irresistible attraction for him.
Beaver and muskrat, both well adapted to the aquatic life, are quite common in the park. The beaver, presonification of industry, may occasionally be seen at work on one of his numerous work projects throughout the park. Along the smaller streams dams are built to conserve the water for his protection, canals are dug to his timber cutting operations and large, well constructed houses are built. His value as a soil conservationist and flood control agent is beginning to be truly appreciated. In appearance the beaver is not particularly handsome or graceful until seen in the water where he is in his own element. Diving with tremendous splashes of his broad, scaly tail or cruising along on the surface of the water, he has things well under control and is well able to hold his own with most animals who invade his domain with a predatory objective in mind. No other animal can be more easily studied, for the beaver has most of his labors presented to the passing traveler in a most accessible fashion. Beaver are mostly nocturnal and rarely seen except in the evening.
The muskrat follows the lead of the beaver in many of his activities except dam building and tree cutting. While mostly nocturnal, the muskrat is occasionally seen silently swimming along the surface of a pond or stream, or diving into the entrance of his nest in a cloud of muddy water. It is probable that much of the work of the muskrat is mistaken for beaver work, for they are often found living in close association. In appearance the muskrat resembles a common wharf rat except that his fur is much denser and finer and his feet are webbed. The tail is flattened vertically and the muskrat is more at home in the water than on land.
Alpine rockslides and meadows yield several forms of rodent life. Most conspicuous is the hoary or whistling marmot, in appearance a large, ungainly ground squirrel. It is yellowish brown in color, with the head, feet and bushy tail dark, but with a white bank around the nose in front of the eyes. Where tourists are common the marmot soon becomes quite bold, and good pictures may often be taken. Equipment must be kept away from their teeth for they quickly seize upon leather or other articles which suit their fancy. Most of their time is spent in gathering food to make fat to carry them through the long mountain winter.
Another dweller in the high country, the cony, pika, or rock rabbit is a small, short-eared, rabbit-like rodent with a most unrabbitlike habit of bleating or calling. The cony is busy all summer drying and storing hay for the long winter months. His hay mows may be found under sheltering rocks at high elevations. The animal is quite shy, but a little patience is usually rewarded with the appearance of the cony to be photographed.
At lower elevations, the Columbian ground squirrel on the west side and the Richardson ground squirrel on the eastern slope of the park are extremely common and serve their purposes in life by providing food for many of the smaller fur-bearing animals. The Columbian ground squirrel is so common that an introduction seems unnecessary other than that it is mottled grizzled gray, with legs and underparts rusty yellowish, and is burrowing in habit. The Richardson ground squirrel is similar but has a shorter tail and is more yellow in color. Others of the same ilk in the park are the mantled ground squirrel with a heavy body and wide black and buff stripes on his back; and the striped ground squirrel which occurs in a few scattered areas on the east side of the park. They may be recognized by the parallel lines of brown on a ground color of buff.
The different species of chipmunks in the park are too much alike to be differentiated by the casual observer, and their habits are practically identical. They are nervous creatures, skipping about over logs in the liveliest fashion, chattering with excitement when an intruder approaches. Their small size and many striped backs will identify them.
Richardson's pine squirrel is one of the common forest dwellers of Glacier National Park. A reddish coat and light underparts make it one of the most attractive creatures of the woods. Its food is obtained from the cones of the various evergreens and its cafeterias are marked by piles of cone scales discarded in the process of obtaining the seeds.
Glacier is well supplied with fur-bearing animals, among which the skunk is probably the best known. This animal, of unsavory reputation, frequently causes uneasiness around human habitations in the park, usually because of some untoward event in the life of the skunk. If not disturbed, their presence often goes unnoticed, for their offensiveness is reserved for those who, through evil intent or ignorance, overstep the bounds.
Marten are among the more common of the fur-bearers and an attractive member of the fauna of the park in spite of their predatory habits. They have fox-like heads and beautiful coats and the sight of one in the woods is an event to be remembered. Otter are found quite commonly along the streams in the park and may be recognized by their long, slender bodies and heavy, tapering muscular tails, as well as by their ease and speed in the water. Mink, too, are sometimes seen along the streams and lakes. These lithe, brown weasels are not as highly adapted to an aquatic life as are the otter, but nevertheless are able to give an excellent account of themselves in this habitat. There are three species of small weasels in the park, all of them making inroads on the lesser life of the grass and burrows.
Of the rarer members of the fur-bearing group the rarest is the wolverine, a sturdy animal built on the order of a small bear, and probably the most powerful animal for its size of any of those under discussion. Nearly exterminated from this region, its wide-spread, bearlike tracks are sometimes seen in the park or near its borders. The fisher, too, is quite rare although individuals have been seen within the park. This animal is a large marten, darker in color, but with similar habits. The badger is rarely seen in the park but reports from points just outside the boundaries indicate that the animal is not uncommon in the vicinity.
The most difficult enemy in the park for an animal to cope with is the automobile. A great many of the squirrels are destroyed by speeding cars and some of the larger animals are not immune, especially at night when the glare from the headlights of an approaching car seems to blind the animals and cause them to leap in front of the automobile to become another victim.
