FAQ Friday Winter Wildlife Watching

From Rocky Mountain National Park:

FAQ Friday Winter Wildlife Watching

Rocky is a wonderful place to look for wildlife, and many park roads are open in winter to provide access to their wintry world. Bring your field guides and binoculars, and don’t forget your camera. As with any wild animals, you never know when or where you’ll see them, and consider yourself fortunate to see what you can. Winter is an especially good time to look for elk, mule deer, moose, and other large mammals.
Elk and mule deer are most active at dusk and dawn, and are usually seen in meadow areas. Look for elk in Horseshoe Park. Deer Mountain is well-named, being a good place to look for mule deer.
The best place to look for moose is along the Colorado River on the park’s west side.
Look for bighorn sheep along the Highway 34/Fall River corridor on the park’s east side.
Coyotes may be seen any time of day.
Several members of the jay family not only stay for the winter but are residents year-round, including Steller’s jays, with their striking blue bodies and black, crested heads, gray jays, Clark’s nutcrackers, and the iridescent, long-tailed black-billed magpies.
Remember, wildlife can be unpredictable. Approaching animals may cause them stress, leading to disease or illness. If you cause an animal to move or change its behavior, you are too close! For your safety and theirs, enjoy and photograph from a distance.
(Elk and Magpie NPS/VIP Schonlau) ks