“Mammal-ling” With Friends Grand Prize Winner
The morning had already been amazing. We had gotten up at 4:30 a.m. to hike to Hidden Lake. The sky was just getting light when we parked at Logan Pass. In the crisp air, birds started their morning songs. What was moving in that patch of yellow flowers? A ground squirrel? No, it was a hoary marmot enjoying his breakfast. As happy as a boy in a candy store, he nibbled the buttercups one at a time.
“Look, there’s a mountain goat!” Joe exclaimed. Standing by the path, the young billy watched us curiously. He was so close we could have reached out and touched him. He strolled across the path up to a patch of sunlight. Then he pawed himself into a comfortable spot to lie down and enjoy the dazzling morning.
As we continued up the slope and rounded the top, Hidden Lake lay in the shadows below us. Browsing through a patch of beardtongue and yarrow, another mountain goat ambled up the hillside toward us. We wanted to hike all the way down to Hidden Lake, but our timed parking ticket was running out. It was time to head back. A little sadly, we turned to go, but we had memories to last a lifetime. We didn’t guess the best part of our hike was still coming.
Everybody had stopped, watching a mule deer buck and bighorn ram grazing near the entrance. Though his antlers were still in velvet, the buck was magnificent.
“Look! There’s a bear!” Mom yelled sharply.
Everyone turned and looked where she was pointing. A medium-sized grizzly had come out of a clump of trees about 50 yards/meters away. It was heading straight for the grazing animals and us!
People began backing away nervously, but the deer had not noticed yet. Suddenly he caught the scent and raised his head. As the bear approached, the deer leaped all four hoofs in the air, wheeled, and followed the ram, which had already bounded away. The grizzly followed the deer at a good pace, crossed the trail not 30 feet (10 m) away from us, and disappeared into the trees on the other side.
What an end to an amazing hike. We were glad the bear was after the deer, not us!
Participants
Shiloh, Joel, Alisa, Joe Whipple
Mammal List
- Black-tailed Prairie Dog
- Bighorn Sheep
- Bison
- Black Bear
- Columbian Ground Squirrel
- Coyote
- Deer Mouse
- Elk
- Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel
- Grizzly Bear
- Hoary Marmot
- Least Chipmunk
- Moose
- Mountain Goat
- Mule Deer
- Pronghorn
- Red Fox
- Striped Skunk
- White-tailed Deer