Cabela's Wildlife of the Rockies

Cabela's

Wildlife of the Rockies

These images were taken with a Sony FD-81 digital camera at Cabela's Outdoor Outfitters in Sidney, Nebraska. Cabela's animal exhibits are some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. Their natural poses make them appear so lifelike and they are well lighted providing photographers with opportunities for perfectly composed images without the unnatural glare of using a flash.

Male bighorn sheep may ram each at speeds of 50-70 miles per hour with an estimated force of 2400 pounds.

Even to a bobcat, grooming is important. Although bobcats weigh on average 15-20 pounds, they have been known to reach 30 pounds and are capable of taking down a fully mature deer.

Bobcats subsist on a diet of rabbits, ground squirrels, mice, pocket gophers and wood rats although quail and grouse occasionaly contribute to a bobcat's meal as well.

The spiraled horns of a bighorn sheep were horns were used by some Indians to make powerful bows

Deer are excellent swimmers and can run up to 35 mph.

While the badger's diet consists mainly of rodents, they are very fond of rattlesnakes. They can survive a direct strike by the snake unless they are bitten on the nose.

When we were ranching in eastern Oregon in the early 1980s, both coyotes and jack rabbits were very plentiful. On my last two trips through Oregon's High Desert, I haven't seen a single one.

Although mountain goats are agile due to its hooves with cushioned skid-proof pads for grip, their greatest cause of death is accidents. My colleague, Terry Kneen, also reports that in Glacier National Park, these animals are so accustomed to humans that they will simply walk past you on a mountain trail without any appearance of skittishness.

The moose's neck wattle can grow up to two feet long. These horse-sized members of the deer family are not as cumbersome as they look. I once saw a moose running through 4-foot snow drifts as if it was running on an open plain.

Here on the campus of the University of Oregon we have a healthy population of gray squirrels. Our lush deciduous trees draw them like a magnet and they rarely have to contend with any predators except the occasional dog. Grays are the most numerous squirrel species in North America.

Wolves were recently reintroduced into several western states including Idaho. A couple of the Idaho wolves migrated into Oregon and caused an immediate uproar from the local livestock growers. Although Oregon is generally regarded as a conservation-sensitive state, the livestock growers here still pose a formidable political obstacle to some conservation efforts.

Fortunately, I have never had a personal encounter with a grizzly bear. These animals can weigh up to 1500 pounds.

You can usually smell a javelina before you see one because of powerful scent glands in their rump. For this reason they are sometimes called a musk hog. However, javelinas belong to a totally different anatomical family than true pigs. Males sport sharp javelin-like tusks that give the animal its name.

The gray fox, weighing 7 - 11 pounds, is the only member of the canine family that can climb trees in search of birds or eggs to supplement its primary diet of small mammals, fruits, acorns, and berries.

The marmot, or groundhog, is considered a delicacy in some parts of the world. Here, it is primarily prized for its weather forecasting ability. In addition to Phil of Punxsutawney fame there is also an albino groundhog named Willie that is honored with a statue in the Canadian town of Wiarton on the Bruce Penninsula of Lake Huron.

Contrary to common belief, both lynx and bobcats have ear tufts. However, a bobcat's tail is tipped with white while the end of a lynx's tail is solid black.

Mary's Home Page

Page designed and created by Mary Harrsch
Images copyright 2002 by Mary Harrsch
Permission granted for noncommercial educational use

Last updated: 9/14/2002