Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Our drive to Mesa Verde took us past more mountain ranges but, this time, we went downhill most of the way. The further we went, the more arid the landscape became. We stopped in Cortez to stock up on supplies in the Walmart and we continued on to the National Park afterwards.
We hadn't quite realised just how huge the park is! It takes at least 30minutes from the entrance gate to get to the campsite, after which it's at least another 30 minutes to the Visitor's Centre! So, backwards and forwards it took us about 2 hours to get our tickets for the following day's ranger-led walks and then to get to our campsite on time to get our tent up for the next 2 nights. It was lovely to see deer walking amongst the tents - although I was quite nervous about a resident black bear with cubs that we were warned to stay away from. Erm, as if I would approach a bear with cubs in the wild!
In the evening, I went to a talk by a ranger at the amphitheatre. These evening talks are common in the larger National Parks as part of the summer programmes. This one was a PowerPoint presentation on the "critters" (i.e. animals) common to the Mesa Verde park. I was running a bit late so missed the first couple of minutes and walked in when the ranger was talking about feral cattle and horses being a threat. They are descended from domesticated ones (usually runaways) but they compete for water and food sources with the local species such as mule deer and elk. You should never approach these animals as they are wild and prone to biting, kicking and attacking people if approached.
The ranger then went on to discuss the larger native species such as American Black Bears which are omnivores but their main diet is vegetation and berries. Imagine how many berries they would need to consume? There is a population of at least 10 within the park of over 52000 acres. Mountain lions (aka cougar) eat rodents, elk and deer and mainly nocturnal but have a very large hunting range. There's about 6 in the national park. Should you encounter one - DO NOT RUN! This will evoke a chase response from them. You should wave your arms and shout to appear dominant and then back away slowly and return to your car or shelter.
Bobcats eat insects and rodents - twice the size of a domestic cat - about 6 of them in the park. They can pounce over 10 feet. Coyotes are omnivores and and run up to 40mph. Usually they are solitary animals but can form packs in the winter. They feature heavily in Native American folk tales.
Merriam's Wild Turkey - males are called "toms", females are "hens" and youngs are "poults" have excellent vision in the day but very poor vision at night which is why they often end up as roadkill. Turkey Vultures make a "V" shape when flying and less graceful than raptors. There are quite a few at the Spruce Tree House below the museum. Common Ravens are about twice the size of crows and honoured by Native Americans and portrayed as sly pranksters in myths and legends for their playful nature. Great Horned Owls - females are larger than males. Other owls in the park include the Mexican Spotted Owls which are endangered. They weigh only about 1 pound so they are tiny but their habitat is threatened by forest fires because they like to live in old-growth forest. Unfortunately, almost 80% of the park has been destroyed in the past 100 years by lightning-started fires.
Prairie Rattlesnake is a venomous animal. Move slowly if you see them and make a wide arc to get away as they will hold their ground so they use their rattle at the end of their tail to warn others. Great Basin Gopher Snake looks similar but non-venomous. Mainly active in the daytime but during the intense heat of summertime sometimes become more active at night! Shirt-horned lizards eat primarily ants - when threatens they change colour to a more intense yellow or orange. The yellow-headed Collared lizard is usually sen at Balcony House. Blue-green overall colour and can run in their hind legs with an excess of 10mph when threatened. Plateau Striped Whiptails Lizard reproduce via parthenogenesis (without fertilisation). I guess, that's a bit like cloning oneself, right?
- comments