Desert Wildlife.....

Although the chances of seeing all these are rare.....here are a few animals you 'might' get to see while visiting the reservation.

Black Bear

Not big in the Shiprock area, but up in the Red Valley/ Cove area they call it home.

Bears are predators to our sheep farmers.  They really like to eat the utters of the nursing mother sheep...every once in a while they will come off of the mountain looking for a tasty treat.

STAY AWAY!

Burrowing Owl

The burrowing owl is a treat for me.  I really like to see them in the summer.  They make their homes in the empty prairie dog holes.  The natives see the owl as a bad omen, but they are ALL OVER in our yard at a certain time of year.   We also have a butterfly migration at a certain time of year...it is a lovely site!

Coyotes

We have a lot of coyotes around here, but also a lot of hybrids.  The wild, and domestic dogs breed with the coyotes and we end up with a lot of 'wild' dogs.  The Coyotes are a lot less threatening then wolves in the fact that you can usually scare them away with a whoop and a hollar.

Deer and Elk

Hunting is good around here.  We are so close to the Colorado mountains that we get a lot of mule deer and elk around here.  BIG FELLOWS!

Mountain Lion/ Puma/ Cougar

These last few years the Mountain lion population has really gone up.  They have become quite a threat to people in the Four Corners area.  Some are even brave enough to wander into highly populated areas.  A big threat to our sheep farmers.

A rare longhorn...becoming more and more popular with our Navajo's

Sheep and Goats

The one animal I know that you will definetly see on your visit to the reservation is sheep and goats.  Raised in the majority of Navajo family farms....Mutton is largely used in dishes, and the wool weaved into lovely rugs.

Scorpions, brown recluse (fiddle back) and tarantulas.

Although you do NOT want to be stung by a scorpion, they are not usually deadly.  Most of the dangerous kinds are farther south of us.  We do have fiddle backs, and they pack a powerful punch....but also not usually deadly.  Same with the tarantulas....they are supposed to be here, but I have never seen any.

Wild Horses

Another one I LOVE to happen across is the wild horse.  Unfortunatly it is hard to tell if they are wild horses or just domestic animals set free to graze.  I am speculating, but since we do not have any fence laws I assume they breed together and this is part of the reason for the over population of wild horses.  They certainly are lovely trotting across the desert though.

Wolves

Must more dangerous and deadly than the coyotes, these wolves are a lot less 'scared off' by a whoop and a hollar.  I personally do NOT want to run into one in the woods.

Prairie Dogs

We literally have TONS of prairie dogs around here.  Although they are considered to be rodents by New Mexico...and they want them destroyed right away, I love to watch them raise their little families and giggle at their antics.

Western Coral Snake

There are two kinds of coral snake in the United States...both look simular but one is deadly and one is not.  The kind you find in the Four Corners Area is very poisonous.  If I can remember part of a poem correctly it is "white and red, means your dead"  So if you see a coral snake with white touching red....leave the area.

Rattle snakes

Yes we do have rattle snakes...the only thing I can tell you is that hundreds of thousands of people have lived here and raised their children and do not seem to be moving out of town....so you will be o.k. too.    Just simply stay away from them....and don't go where you think they may be.

Like I said....the chances of you seeing any of these animals, besides the sheep and dogs, are slim...but you never know.