1. Yosemite
  2. Yosemite Birds and Wildlife

Yosemite Wildlife/Mammals

A few examples of some of Yosemite's abundant wildlife. Thought not known for the big animals like Yellowstone, a diverse array of beautiful creatures inhabit Yosemite and play important roles in its complex ecosystems.
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Yellow Bellied Marmot, Townsley Lake, Yosemite National Park, CA.  Copyright © 2004 James McGrew.<br />
Marmots, bearing resemblance to their cousins known as groundhogs, are large rodents of the middle and higher Sierra.  For a special anecdotal story about these interesting creatures, please see:  <a href="http://jamesmcgrewfineart.com/works/59475/a-view-from-mt-hoffmann">http://jamesmcgrewfineart.com/works/59475/a-view-from-mt-hoffmann</a>
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Yellow Bellied Marmot, Townsley Lake, Yosemite National Park, CA. Copyright © 2004 James McGrew.
Marmots, bearing resemblance to their cousins known as groundhogs, are large rodents of the middle and higher Sierra. For a special anecdotal story about these interesting creatures, please see: http://jamesmcgrewfineart.com/works/59475/a-view-from-mt-hoffmann

marmot

  • Mother black bear and two cubs feed in a meadow near Crane Flat.  These adorable cubs were born in a den during the winter and will spend the summer learning to forage and hunt with their mother.  <br />
©2009, James McGrew<br />
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Filename:  threebearsclone2 copy
  • Young Mule Deer Buck,  Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park.  Copyright © 2007 James McGrew.
  • Yellow Bellied Marmot, Townsley Lake, Yosemite National Park, CA.  Copyright © 2004 James McGrew.<br />
Marmots, bearing resemblance to their cousins known as groundhogs, are large rodents of the middle and higher Sierra.  For a special anecdotal story about these interesting creatures, please see:  <a href="http://jamesmcgrewfineart.com/works/59475/a-view-from-mt-hoffmann">http://jamesmcgrewfineart.com/works/59475/a-view-from-mt-hoffmann</a>
  • "Running out of Time"  ©2011, James McGrew<br />
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A Pika races across boulders and cobbles near Olmstead Point.   Pikas are lagomorphs, members of the rabbit family, found at high elevation rocky/talus areas in the Sierra.  Pikas are a species of interest for climatologists because they require cool summer temperatures and many scientists have speculated that with global warming, these animals may suffer a reduction in habitat and therefore extinction.   For further reading on the NPS Pikas in Peril project:<br /> <a href="http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/units/ucbn/monitor/pika/pika_peril/index.cfm">http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/units/ucbn/monitor/pika/pika_peril/index.cfm</a><br />
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©2011, James McGrew<br />
File number:  LM2U0017
  • Yellow-bellied marmot caught eating the flowers and top leaves off the lupine in this lush subalpine riparian zone.
  • Two year old female Black bear,  Yosemite Valley.  Copyright © 2009 James McGrew.   Although called a black bear (Ursus americanus) and usually black in the darker forests of the northern and Eastern U.S.  However, in Sierra's sunny, open forests of cinnamon trunked trees, brown and golden hues of grasses and under story (except in the lush greenery of spring) they blend into their environment with a range of colors most often including blond, bleached blond with dark roots, red/ginger, and brunette.  This young bear forages for insects in a rotting log.  Bears acquire most of their protein and fat from insect larvae such as beetle grubs, termites, ants etc.
  • Mule Deer doe.  ©2012 James McGrew  <br />
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Built in Kleenex!
  • Coyote (Canis latrans) rests near Glacier Pt.  ©2012 James McGrew
  • Bobcat in Yosemite Valley; illustrates its camouflage in its habitat.
  • American Black Bear, Yosemite.  A few weeks after I took this photograph, this bear was killed by a moving vehicle.  Speed limits in national parks are set to protect wildlife as much as they are for the safety of tourists.
  • Mule Dear Fawn in Bracken Ferns.
  • In search of carpenter ants and grubs, a young American Black Bear ventures out at dusk, stripping bark from a dead aspen trunk near Merced Lake in Yosemite National Park.  Copyright ©2010 James McGrew
  • An old Coyote near the rim of Yosemite Valley.  ©2012 James McGrew
  • Mule Deer Doe, Yosemite Valley.  ©2011, James McGrew.  While painting early one morning in Yosemite Valley, I heard some footsteps behind me and looked back to find this deer and her fawn feeding beneath the shadows of the incense cedars less than 20 feet away.  She stepped into the light just long enough for a photograph.
  • LM2U5644 copy
  • Bat Feeding at Sunset near Merced Lake.  ©2011, James McGrew
  • Mule Deer doe.  ©2012 James McGrew  <br />
<br />
Built in Kleenex!
  • Young Mule Deer buck begins growing its new antlers for the season.
  • Coyote near the Yosemite Valley Rim.
  • Coyote Rests near Glacier Pt.
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