Large Animals
Wildlife abounds and shares its home with the Shadow Creek Ranch community. With its diverse terrain and varying elevations and habitat the Ranch is a sanctuary for elk, mule deer, and bear. Even an occasional moose wanders through the Ranch to partake of the rich habitat.
SHIRAS MOOSE
SCIENTIFIC NAME: A. alces shirasi
DESCRIPTION: Weighing up to 1,100 pounds and towering at more than six feet at the shoulder, the Shiras moose is Colorado's largest big game animal. In addition to its massive size, the moose is also one of Colorado's biggest conservation success stories. In summer they consume large amounts of aquatic vegetation. The large, mobile, sensitive muzzle is a highly specialized feeding organ that allows moose to exploit the large stocks of submerged aquatic vegetation in shallow lakes and streams. Moose may dive and stay up to 50 seconds underwater while feeding. Even calves are excellent swimmers. In the winter, in areas of very deep snow, moose may tramp a system of trails called a “moose yard.” Both male and female moose have dewlaps, also known as a “bell,” which grow under their jaw. Young males often have the largest bells. There exact function remains a mystery.
HABITAT: Moose prefer to eat young woody vegetation such as willow, birch and aspen and they like to be near or close to water, open mountain pastures in summer; wallows, creek bottoms, flood plains and rivers, as well aslower wooded slopes.
BLACK BEAR
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Ursus americanus
DESCRIPTION: Black to cinnamon with white blaze on chest. Snout tan or grizzled. Males much larger than females. Height at shoulder to 3½’; weight to 550 lbs.
HABITAT: Forests and mountain woods.
FYI: Most commonly sighted in the early morning. May be seen day or night ranging in a home area of 8 to 10 square miles. Its walk is clumsy, but it can burst up to 30 mph. A powerful swimmer, it also climbs trees either for protection or for food. Most of its diet includes vegetation. Small to medium mammals are also eaten. A good fisherman, the black bear will wade in streams and ponds for fish. It rips open bee trees to feast on honey. In the winter the bear adds a supply of fat, then holes up in a cave, crevice, hollow tree or log.
ELK or WAPITI
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Cervus canadensis
DESCRIPTION: Large deer, with slender legs, thick neck. Brown or tan above, darker underparts. Rump patch and tail yellow-brown. Bulls have dark brown mane on throat and huge, spreading antlers: six tines on each side when mature with main beam up to 5” long. Cows lack antlers and are about 25% smaller than the males. Height at shoulder 4½' to 5’; weight from 450lbs. to 1,089 lbs.
HABITAT: Chiefly high, open mountain pastures in summer; lower wooded slopes, often dense woods in winter.
FYI: Shadow Creek Ranch provides critical habitat area for these majestic creatures. Several areas of the ranch have been set aside for calving and breeding and will be off-limits to human activity in the spring and fall. You are most likely to see elk early in the morning drinking around a pond or lake in the ranch pastures, or in the forests on the upper trails during the day. The resident elk herd varies in size from 100 – 200 animals. During migratory times as many as 500 can be seen on the Ranch. Elk are especially active at dusk and dawn. Usually seen in groups of 25 or more; both sexes together in winter; old bulls in separate groups in summer. Migrate up mountains in spring, down in fall; bulls shed their antlers in late February. They move through the forest rapidly and almost silently. They feed on many kinds of plants. Main predator is the mountain lion. In September, the eerie “bugling” of the bull elk can be heard in the aspen and spruce forests of the Ranch. This sound is the territorial challenge of the dominant bulls as they breed a “harem” of 10-30 cows.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN BIG HORN SHEEP
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Ovis Canadensis
DESCRIPTION: Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep are the largest wild sheep in North America. Muscular males can weigh over 300 pounds and stand over three feet tall at the shoulder. Females are roughly half this size. Bighorn sheep are gray/brown to dark brown in color with white patches on their rump, muzzle and back of legs. They have wide-set eyes that provide a large angle of vision and can detect dangers at great distances. Specialized hooves and rough soles provide a natural grip as bighorn sheep make precarious jumps and breath-taking climbs up and down sharp cliff faces.
HABITAT: Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep inhabit grassy mountain slopes, alpine meadows, and foothills near rugged, rocky cliffs and bluffs.
FYI : Rams do indeed “Ram”. Rams while in the breedeing rut compete by facing each other, rear up on hind legs and pitch forward at speeds up to 40 mph. The loud crash of horns signals contact and can be heard up to one mile away. This ritual is repeated until one animal concedes and walks away.
MOUNTAIN LION
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Puma concolor
DESCRIPTION: The mountain lion is also known as cougar, panther, or puma. Body coloration can range from tan to gray and cubs are usually covered with blackish brown spots. Adult males may be more than 8 feet long (from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail), and can weigh between 130 and 150 pounds. Adult females can be 7 feet long and weigh between 65 and 90 pounds
HABITAT: Generally speaking, mountain lions can be found wherever deer are present. Their usual habitat is steep, rocky canyons, caves, or mountainous terrain and forests.
FYI: They are the most wide-ranging cat species in the world and are found as far north as Canada and as far south as Chile. Solitary cats, mountain lions are highly adaptable to situations and environments. Mountain lions are found in 15 western states, and the genetically isolated Florida panther remains in the East.
MULE DEER
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Odocoileus hemionus
DESCRIPTION: Stocky body with sturdy legs. In summer, reddish or yellowish brown above; in winter grayish above. Throat patch, rump patch, inside of ears, inside of legs are white; lower parts cream to tan. Large ears are 4¾" to 6” long. Buck's antlers branch equally, each a separate beam forking into two lines. Antlers spread to 3’. Males larger than females. Height at shoulder 3' to 3½’; weight ranges from 70 to 475 lbs.
HABITAT: Forest edges, mountains and foothills of the Ranch.
FYI: These deer have large ears that move independently of each other. Primarily active in mornings, evenings and on moonlit nights; may also be active at midday in the winter. Summer forage is usually herbaceous plants but also blackberry, huckleberry and thimbleberry. In the winter, they consume twigs of Douglas fir, cedar, aspen, willow, serviceberry, juniper and sage. Acorns and apples are also eaten. Deer in the Shadow Creek Ranch area migrate up and down seasonally to avoid heavy snows. They seldom form large herds with the usual group including a doe with her fawn (or twin fawns) and a pair of yearlings. Deer often “yard up” or herd in winter. Predators are man and coyotes. They are seen at dawn and dusk throughout the spring and fall drinking at lakes, ponds and streams. Close to 250 deer make Shadow Creek Ranch their home. Larger numbers occur during migration times in the spring and fall.
PRONGHORN ANTELOPE
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Antilocapra americana
DESCRIPTION: One of Shadow Creek Ranches most unusual residents is the pronghorn “antelope”. Pronghorns are found in North America and nowhere else in the world. They have roamed the plains and deserts unchanged for over a million years. Some call them antelope because they resemble African antelope, although the two are not closely related. They are the only surviving member of their family, Antilocapridae. The pronghorn’s closest living relatives are the giraffe and okapi.
HABITAT: Open plains and sage foothills.
FYI: The horn is made up of two parts: a bony core and a black outer sheath. This sheath is made up of a stiff, hair-like substance. Pronghorns are the only animals in the world who shed their horn sheaths each year. The outer sheath of the horn falls off in the fall and will grow back by summer.