Mule deer frequent the park’s lower, drier elevations.
The Sierra del Carmen whitetail haunts the Chisos Mountains. It has much smaller ears than the mule deer and bears the characteristic flag tail. Isolation allowed this sub-species of whitetail to develop. These deer live only in the Chisos and across the river in the Sierra del Carmen.
Many of these interesting woodland features can be studied at leisure in Upper Green Gulch, reached by the Lost Mine Trail from the trailhead in Panther Pass, following the well-kept path at least as far as Juniper Canyon Overlook. Here you find yourself among the very pines and oaks that you viewed from the switchbacks far below. On location it appears much as it did from far below. There are few grasses and a host of flowering bushes. Shaggy mountain-mahogany and fragrant sumac make excellent feed for whitetail deer. Fragrant ash puts out long clusters of cream-colored flowers in springtime. Mountain sage, a beautiful shrub that grows nowhere else in the world, bursts into crimson flower each fall. As a hummingbird feeder it even outranks the golden platters of the century plant. Probably most surprising at this elevation is the persistence of desert and grassland plants, for here among the pinyon pines and oak trees grow clumps of ocotillo, lechuguilla, pricklypear, and the great gray-green blades and towering bloomstalks of the Big Bend agave.
Dryness is a fact of life in these woodlands. The north-facing slope is densely covered with trees, while the opposite south-facing slope exhibits mostly ocotillo and lechuguilla. The same holds true on the narrow ridge extending from Casa Grande. Pine woodlands face north and lechuguilla flourishes on the south-facing slope. It’s a question of solar exposure and resulting temperature and moisture variations.
Oddly enough, you will likely see more wildlife in the populated Basin than along the whole Lost Mine Trail, for animals find the Basin as attractive as man does. The del Carmen whitetails find it a good place to feed off and on throughout the day. These deer are found only in the Big Bend and across the river in the Sierra del Carmen. To the rock squirrels the Basin offers acorns, pine nuts, and plenty of rocky lodgings. The busy cactus wren can indulge its habit of year-round nest building, because there is abundant tall grass, and introduced yucca, a favorite avian building site. Sounding like a child’s squeeze toy, the brown towhee takes to his human habitat as freely as a house sparrow, and the crestless Mexican jay scolds ferociously, as jays will.
The Jackrabbit Economy
Should the jackrabbit reflect on its situation it might think life is a conspiracy. This prolific breeder might feel it exists solely to keep the local web of life functioning. Many predators include this big-eared, nimble-footed creature in their diets.
Big ears, big feet, and protective coloration are the jackrabbit’s major survival mechanisms. It will listen for danger, sit motionless until perceiving a threat, and then burst into speedy flight. The ears may also represent an adaptation through which the jackrabbit can emit excess body heat to the environment, a useful ploy in deserts.
Birds, snakes, and numerous mammals prey on the jackrabbit, which is really a hare, and on the park’s desert cottontail and eastern cottontail rabbits. The coyote can sustain bursts of speed sufficient to run them down. An arch opportunist, the coyote eats almost anything, including an occasional tennis shoe. The bobcat and mountain lion (photo [page 103]) are the park’s two felines. The bobcat hunts by stealth. It will sit by a game trail for hours and then pounce on passing prey. Threats to the jackrabbit come from above, too, where the golden eagle soars.
Coyote