American black bears are fairly common and may be encountered in many parts of the park. Usually they are black, but many shades of brown also occur, just as hair color varies among people. Do not let bears get close to you. Many people have been painfully clawed when these animals have lost their natural fear of man and have learned to beg for food. DO NOT FEED THE BEARS! Feeding them is unlawful, and violating this regulation seriously endangers other park visitors by encouraging the bears to beg.
The comparatively small and dark “black-tailed” deer of the Pacific Coast is the most common form, particularly on the west side of the park. The larger, lighter-colored mule deer occurs around meadows on the east side of the park, including Rim Drive.
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LET’S NOT BE GUILTY OF STARTING A FOREST FIRE.
ALWAYS USE CAR ASH TRAYS.
COMPLETELY EXTINGUISH MATCHES AND CIGARETTES BEFORE THROWING AWAY.
BE SURE CAMPFIRE IS OUT.
Birds.
More than 120 kinds of birds have been recorded. On the rim, the harsh-voiced Clark’s nutcracker is the most conspicuous. It is a little larger and more heavily built than a jay and has a long sharp bill. The bird’s overall color is light gray, the wings are black with a large white patch, and the tail is conspicuously white with black central tail feathers. Two jays are also numerous at times on the rim, the dark-blue Steller’s jay which has a long, blackish crest, and the uncrested gray jay (“camp robber”) which has a short bill, a dark patch on the back of the head, a white crown, and whitish underparts.
Eagle Crags have furnished nesting places for both the golden and American eagles which sometimes may be seen flying over the lake. Llao Rock is the home of falcons. Double-crested cormorants may perch on the “masts” of the Phantom Ship, and California gulls are seen regularly on the lake. The sooty grouse inhabits the fir forests from which its ventriloquial booming call issues in the spring. Several species of ducks and geese use the lake during migration, and the Barrow’s golden-eye and merganser nest there occasionally.
Other species most likely to be observed are the horned owl, red-tailed hawk, sparrow hawk, nighthawk, rufous hummingbird, olive-sided flycatcher, raven, mountain chickadee, red-breasted nuthatch, dipper (along streams and on the lake shore), robin, hermit thrush, russet-backed thrush, mountain bluebird, golden-crowned kinglet, Audubon warbler, western tanager, evening grosbeak, Cassin purple finch, rosy finch (vicinity of snow banks), pine siskin, Oregon junco, chipping sparrow, and fox sparrow.