BULL ELK
Photo by Crandall.
That most interesting of smaller mammals, the beaver, is common, and it is not difficult to find the houses and dams which they have built. In the campgrounds are pine squirrels, chipmunks, ground squirrels, and mice. Mink, marten, otter, weasels, coyotes, badgers, fox, and lynx also are found in the park.
The Grand Teton National Park offers much to the bird student. Though the region is old in history, it is new in possibilities of avian observation, and the seeker finds types from those which inhabit the arid sagebrush plains to those which spend their lives in the frigid atmosphere far above timber line.
In number, there are more than 100 species, a variety which will keep any ornithologist busy for as long as his stay permits. A list of 93 species was made during June and July 1933, and at least 3 more species were added in 1934. Many of these are easily studied within a few hundred yards of the Jenny Lake Ranger Station.
TREES AND PLANTS
In several respects the flora of the Tetons is unique. The high mountains have constituted a barrier to plant migration which many forms could not cross; hence the range limit of a number of plants is found here. Representatives from north, south, east, and west are found in this general region, this being the limit, in many instances, of their distribution. There are many plants typical of the central Rockies, and a few known only to this range. Five life zones are recognized within the park, all occurring in a distance of less than 15 miles. Plants migrating from other regions have grown equally well in each zone.
The flowering period begins in the park as soon as the ridges and flats are free of snow in May, and it continues until about August 15 in the Arctic-Alpine Zone. Hence, plants of at least one zone and usually of several may be seen blooming at any time in the spring or summer.
The evergreen trees form an appropriate frame for the majestic Teton peaks and are reflected in the beautiful lakes which they encircle.