CERRILLOS HILLS STATE PARK

The American Black Bear is a very rare visitor to the Cerrillos Hills because our landscape is too open and dry. Black bears prefer to live in a wetter and more forested place, which in New Mexico means they prefer the higher elevations. But they are not unknown in the Cerrillos. The historical Spanish name for Grand Central Mountain is "Cerro del Oso" or Hill of the Bear.

In February 2003, the tracks of a solitary bear were documented by Todd Brown along Stray Horse Gulch, on the east side of the park. Why wasn't the bear hibernating? Possibly because New Mexico had just experienced the all-time warmest January on record. He was probably heading for the higher, friendlier forests of Ortiz Mountain, just a few miles further south.

The state mammal of New Mexico is the Oso Negro or Black Bear. In New Mexico these bears may be of black, brown or cinnamon color. The black bear was selected on February 8, 1963, by the State Legislature because of the fame of a particular New Mexico black bear named Smokey.

Smokey was a cub in May of 1950, when he was rescued, badly burned, from a forest fire in Lincoln National Forest near Capitan, NM. Smokey quickly became the personification of the US Forest Service's fire prevention program. Everyone knows Smokey's mantra; "Only YOU can prevent forest fires." Smokey Bear became so popular and received so much mail that, in 1964, he was given his own private zip code! Most people know the hat Smokey wears, known to the military as a campaign hat, as a "Smokey Bear hat". In many parts of the US, state or local police uniforms include this headgear, and as such, police officers are sometimes referred to as "Smokeys". The one and only Smokey died in 1976, and is buried at Smokey Bear Historical Park in Capitan, New Mexico.

Bears are very smart. DON'T feed them or try to attract them in any way. They learn quickly and easily become dependent on human handouts. A fed bear is eventually a dead bear.

Bobcat is another carnivore of which you are more likely to see the tracks or scats, or hear, than to see.

Looking like a large, 20-inch [50.8 cm] high, housecat with a stubby, 4-inch [10.2 cm] long, tail the bobcat is active at night throughout the year. Its tracks are similar to a domestic cat's but up to twice as large. You may find evidence of a bobcat being true to its cat heritage on the trunk of a tree; it, too, likes to manicure its claws by scratching the furniture.

The bobcat is orange-brown during the summer and dusky gray during the winter, but always with black body spots and black bars on its rear quarters. Its undersides and inside legs are white.

The bobcat is a great stalker and ambusher of birds and small mammals.

It is capable of yowls and screams but is mostly silent.

Two to 3 young are born in May.

Among the commonest carnivores in the Cerrillos Hills, active day and night all year round, coyotes tend to avoid people. Their tracks, commonly seen in arroyo bottoms, are dog-like but in a straighter line, and the foreprint is slightly larger. Adult coyotes are about 25 inches [63.5 cm] tall, grizzled gray-buff-black in color, and with a bushy tail tipped with black.

Coyotes can sustain a lope gait, a kind of trot, that enables them to cover great distances, can sprint at up to 40 miles [64.4 km] per hour (see cottontail). Being scavengers and omnivores, their scats (droppings) change seasonally, and often contain the remains of berries, rabbits and various rodents.

A male and female coyote will make a den in a steep, earthy slope where 4 to 8 cubs are born in spring.

Coyotes can be quite vocal. Their nighttime calls, a series of yips followed by a wavering howl, are frequently heard in the hills.

Foxes are even more reclusive than coyotes and mainly nocturnal (nighttime active), but you may find evidence of them, their tracks and scats (droppings), all year-round.

The gray fox is about 15 inches [38.1 cm] high, grizzled slivery gray above and with white markings on its throat and midbelly, and rusty coloration around its neck, lower sides, and sides of its tail. The tip of its very bushy tail is black.

The fox eats rabbits, rodents, birds, grasshoppers, fruit, and berries.

Dens are hidden, often with a crevice entrance, and 2 to 7 young are born in late spring.

Unlike the coyote, the gray fox may climb into trees.

The subspecies common to most of New Mexico is the Rocky Mountain mule deer. It is this variety you will see in the Cerrillos Hills. (The other mule deer, the desert variety, is found only in the south of the state). It is estimated that about a dozen Mule Deer utilize the Cerrillos Hills area on a permanent basis. You may see their tracks and spoor, and in the early morning or at dusk you may catch sight of one or more of them. They are relatively inactive during the day.

Mule Deer stand a little over 3 feet [91.4 cm] tall at the shoulder and have a body about 7 feet [213.4 cm] long. They are reddish brown in the summer and gray-brown in the winter. Much of the face -- the muzzle and around the eyes -- is very pale. The ears are quite large and mule-like. The nearly-white rump extends above the black-tipped 8-inch [20.3 cm] long tail.

In summer the male deer (bucks) develop antlers, normally with 4 points on each side.

Mule deer mate during winter, and 1 to 2 young are born to the doe in midsummer.

The nocturnal (nighttime active) Porcupine is more common in dense forests in New Mexico than in the open piñon- juniper forest of the hills, but they are present here in limited numbers all year-round.

With its black face, high-arching back and short legs, and knobby, clawed feet on which it lumbers along pigeon-toed, the common porcupine is a strange creature indeed. But the famous identifier of the porcupine is its dense prickly dark gray-to black cloak of quills. Quills are hairs that have been modified into sharp, mostly hollow, spines. The porcupine's big, strong white-on-the-tip defensive quills are concentrated on its rump and tail; those smaller, wiry quills on its forward parts are called guard hairs. The quills have tiny barbs which make them difficult to remove.

Porcupines have a body about 25 inches [63.5 cm] long, and a round, quill-studded, 8-inch [20.3 cm] long tail.

Porcupines eat green plants and twigs, buds, and the bark of trees. The most visible evidence of the presence of porcupines is tooth marks on tree bark and irregular patches of bark stripped from trunks and limbs.

Commonly, one pup is born in late spring each year.

Since porcupines are not accustomed to defending themselves by running away, they are a common component of road-pizza.

Skunks are widespread in northern New Mexico, but notwithstanding that Santa Fe County Animal Control's customary release point for rescued skunks is at the north end of the Cerrillos Hills, skunks are not especially common here.

The striped skunk is about 24 inches [61.0 cm] tall, and has a distinctive black and white coloration. It is mainly black, with a patch of white on its head that extends in two lines the length of its back and onto its bushy tail. It also has a narrow white line along the ridge of its nose.

From a pair of glands below its tail the skunk can shoot a musky, sulphurous spray for distances up to 15 feet [457.2 cm], and it can repeat almost immediately. This substance has not only a famously disgusting aroma, but it also stings the eyes of predators, pets, and people.

Because the skunk, prior to spraying, holds its tail stiffly vertical it is sometimes referred to as a "polecat". Skunks are members of the weasel family and are not related to cats.

Skunks are mostly nocturnal (nighttime active), and though they do not hibernate, they do spend prolonged periods during the winter months asleep in the den. Their normal range is not more than a mile from their den.

During fall and winter skunks eat plant and animal foods in approximately equal proportions, but during spring and summer when the insects are plentiful skunks concentrate on them. They may occasionally eat small mammals when other food is scarce.

Six to seven young are born in early summer. There is usually only one litter per year.

Skunks have a potential lifespan of about 10 years, but are more likely to survive about 3 years in the wild.

Because the skunk's customary defense is to stand its ground and repel its attacker, skunks are commonly found as road-kill.

A common desert and woodland long-eared myotis species of New Mexico likely to be seen at dawn or dusk in the air around one of the springs.

The fringed bat ranges from Tehunatepec in south Mexico to south-central British Columbia, and is found in New Mexico at elevations between 5,000 and 8,000 feet [1,524.0 and 2,438.4 meters]. The population of fringed bats is dispersed. It is not common to see them in one location in great numbers.

It is an agile flyer, capable of vertical flight and takeoff from a floor. Foraging occurs normally from sunset to about midnight.

Night and day roosts include caves, mines and abandoned buildings. Hibernation occurs at similar sites. Female fringed bats form nursery colonies of sometimes several hundred.

Mating is in the fall, and the female stores the sperm for fertilization and implantation in the spring; between April 28 and May 15 in New Mexico. The young is born the last week of June or the first week of July.

A large (3½- to 5½-inch [8.9 to 14.0 cm] long body), common desert and woodland bat of New Mexico, likely to be seen at dawn or dusk in the air around one of the springs. Its day roost is commonly a rock crevice.

The pallid bat is a pale cream to light brown color, with conspicuous eyes, and pararhinal sebaceous glands (wart-like growths on its nose). It is non-migratory. It has excellent echolocation and good vision (for a bat) and olfactory abilities (sense of smell). It can crawl and climb well.

Pallid bats eat crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, spiders, and have been recorded taking scorpions.

Pallid bats are gregarious, forming colonies, males and females separately, in unused buildings. Mating is from October to midwinter. The female stores the sperm for spring. One offspring is born in May or June, and though by fall it is fully capable of independence its bond with its mother will last for several years.

A common desert and woodland brown bat species of New Mexico likely to be seen at dawn or dusk in the air around one of the springs. Their flight is characteristically jerky and noisless, and their echolocating squeaks are sometimes audible.

Small-footed bats range from north-central Mexico to California and Alberta; in New Mexico they are found up to 9500 feet [2,895.6 meters] of elevation. They are very similar in appearance to M. californicus and are often confused with it.

Day roosts include cracks and crevices in rock outcrops, beneath tree bark, mines and caves, and sometimes in houses.

Small-footed bats hibernate in caves and tunnels where they usually hang singly or in the company of Townsend's Big-Eared bats.

A single offspring is born in June.

This bat has big ears, 1 to 1½ inches [2.5 to 3.8 cm] in length, compared to its body (about 4 inches [10.2 cm] long). The belly is gray and back dark brown to pale cinnamon. The female is slightly larger than the male.

Big-eared bats don't migrate far. They roost in caves, lavatubes, and buildings, and hibernate in mines or caves. Maternity hibernation roosts may find several hundred females, but the males are usually solitary. During hibernation the long ears are coiled against the head. Big-eared bats are found up to 9500 feet of elevation.

Big-eared bats are capable of highly maneuverable flight and extraordinarily slow speeds, as little as 3 yards [91.4 cm] per second. Their ears are forward during flight. They echolocate 10 to 20 times a second with sounds in the 90 to 20,000 Hz range, mostly within the range of human hearing. It is postulated that these unusually low frequencies are a function of the size of their ears.

This bat is very susceptible to loss of habitat by disturbance. If people enter a cave or tunnel occupied by big-eared bats they will vacate those premises and not return. Some isolated populations of big-eared bats are presently in danger of extinction.

Mating is from November to February. The female stores the sperm for use in spring, and one young is born in early summer. The infant needs about one month to reach adult size.

In the mid-1970s this bat was confirmed to be roosting in a mineshaft immediately north of the park.

The brush mouse is a nocturnal (nighttime active) omnivore (eats anything) that prefers south-facing slopes and arroyo sides with broad-leaved shrubs and Gambel oaks. It is very adept at climbing trees.

Brush mice have large ears, and are 7 to 9 inches [17.8 to 22.9 cm] long including a tufted (penicillate) tail which is slightly longer than their body. They are brown or gray above, have light brown sides, and are white below.

The brush mouse is smaller than and has more intense coloration than the very similar rock mouse, and the brush mouse's sides are yellow-brown where the rock mouse has grayish sides.

The brush mouse also resembles the piñon mouse, but has a longer tail and shorter ears than it. The ears of the piñon mouse are equal to or greater than the length of its hind feet. The piñon mouse is found among both piñon trees and juniper trees, but the brush mouse may be present where there are only junipers.

The brush mouse and the piñon mouse are by far the most common mammals in the Cerrillos Hills.

The brush mouse's favorite foods are insects, juniper seeds, acorns, juniper mistletoe, and cactus fruits in season.

A litter usually numbers 3 or 4, and the young are weaned between 3 to 4 weeks.

In winter several brush mice may share the same nest.

This small nocturnal (nighttime active) rodent, 4-inch long [10.2 cm] body and 3-inch [7.6 cm] long tail, prefers grasslands and wooded areas at all elevations. It is an agile climber.

Juvenile deer mice are grayish in color, and adults are brown; both with white undersides. The ears are round. The feet are white. The tail is dark above and white below.

In some habitats deer mice populations can become extremely large, where they may outnumber all other rodents combined.

Two to four litters of 3 to 5 young are born any time from spring through fall.

The large-eared, white-footed, nocturnal piñon mouse may be found all year round in the Piñon-Juniper Forest. It is a good climber of trees and rocks. The piñon mouse is the single small rodent most closely associated with the P-J Forest.

The small piñon mouse (3½ to 4 inch [9.1 to 10.2 cm] body) has cinnamon or tawny olive coloration above, grayish sides, and white undersides. Its tufted (penicillate) tail is equal to or less than its body length, and is dark above and white underneath.

It resembles the brush mouse. -- see identifiers above under 'brush mouse' -- It and the brush mouse are by far the most common mammals in the Cerrillos Hills.

Favorite foods of this omnivore (eats anything) are: insects and spiders; juniper pollen cones, mistletoe, and berries; pricklypear cactus, and oak acorns. Acorns become more important in late summer, and juniper berries during winter. The piñon mouse is known to cache food.

Piñon mice breed in spring and summer, probably having multiple litters. As the female has 6 teats this is the maximum per litter that will survive.

During winter many piñon mice may occupy the same nest.

As its name suggests, the rock mouse is commonly found near lava cliffs and rock outcrops. This native of New Mexico may be active anytime during the day or night.

The rock mouse is small, with large ears, large eyes, and a tufted (penicillate) tail longer than its body. Its dorsal (back) coloration is light grayish-brown, and its ventral (belly) is white.

Rock mice prefer the lower juniper elevations and are strongly associated with mountain mahogany.

They eat seeds and berries.

This pale to deep red-brown omnivore (eats anything) with white feet and white belly may live 2 to 3 years in the wild and up to 5 years in captivity.

Its body (head plus torso) is 3½ to 4 inches [9.1 to 10.2 cm] long, and its rounded and smooth (terete) tail is equal or slightly less than its body length.

The white footed mouse makes its burrow along arroyos, under shrubs, and in sandy places, where it is closely associated with Apache plume and saltbush.

It eats seeds and nuts and insects, and is a connoisseur of fungi. It is suspected that white footed mice are important for the reproduction of some fungi.

The mouse is known to store seeds and nuts in its burrow.

Breeding is in spring and fall, and the territorial female has 2 to 4 litters of 2 to 6 young (she had 6 teats) per year. At 10 to 11 weeks female mice are able to reproduce.

White footed mouse populations fluctuate during the year, peaking in late summer and being minimal in late winter. During the winter several animals may occupy the same nest.

A very common nocturnal (nighttime active) rat in the Cerrillos Hills, these rats are found on rocky hillsides where they construct their distinctive stick, twig and cactus-part dens.

The top of the woodrat's head and its back are gray, and its sides are light brown. Its belly, throat and feet are white. The 7-inch-long [17.8 cm] tail is brown above and white below. The tail and the body are of equal length.

Woodrats communicate with each other over short distances by hindfoot drumming.

There may be several litters of 2 to 3 young throughout the year.

Extremely common throughout the park, the blacktailed jackrabbit is most often seen on open ground at all hours except during the heat of a summer's midday.

A buffy brown or gray hare, the blacktailed jackrabbit has very long ears (5 inches[ 12.7 cm]), tipped with brownish-black, and very long, thin hind feet (5 inches [12.7 cm]). The 4-inch [10.2 cm] tail is black above and white below.

This jackrabbit usually hops rather than walks, and it can sprint up to 35 miles [56.3 km] per hour with its distinctive every-fifth-leap-higher in order to check for predators. When distressed it will squeal and thump its feet.

Jackrabbit tracks show 1½-inch [3.8 cm] circular foreprints and 2½-inch [6.4 cm] long oval hindprints, up to 20 feet [609.6 cm] apart depending on speed.

There may be 2 to 4 litters of 2 to 4 young born anytime of the year except during the dead of winter.

Extremely common throughout the park, the Desert or Audubon Cottontail is most often seen in arroyos. It may be active day or night.

The cottontail has a 13-inch [33.0 cm] long body, large ears and a puffy, cottony-white 2-inch [5.1 cm] tail. It is buffy brown or pale gray washed yellow above and white below.

The cottontail's first line of defense is to escape notice by remaining motionless. If discovered it can sprint up to 15 miles [24.1 km] per hour and compensates for being slower than some of its predators (see coyote) by its ability to accelerate rapidly and maneuver while on the run.

The cottontail may have several litters of 2 to 6 young throughout the year.

This nocturnal (nighttime active) grassland rodent prefers deep soils for the construction of elaborate underground burrows.

The Bannertailed Kangaroo Rat has a 6-inch [15.2 cm] long body with a black top, brown sides, and white belly. Its 8-inch [20.3 cm] long tail is black above, white on the sides, and has a black band near the end just before the fluffy white tip. It has white spots above the eyes and ears.

The young are born in spring.

The Colorado chipmunk is a medium-sized, diurnal (daytime active), omnivorous (eats anything), brown-colored critter resembling a small squirrel. Its bushy tail is nearly as long as its body, and it has distinctive black and white stripes down its back. It is common around low woodlands and shrub-covered rocky, broken terrain, but is most common of all in the uplands of the ponderosa forest.

At colder elevations the chipmunk hibernates during the winter months, but at lower elevations -- including the P-J Forest of the Cerrillos Hills -- it can be seen on warmer winter days.

The favorite foods of the Colorado chipmunk are fruits, berries, nuts, seeds, leaves, stems. Some of these may be atored in its burrow. It will also eat insects, spiders, bird's eggs and carrion.

One litter of 2 to 7 young is born in March or April each year.

Another seed-eating rodent, mostly nocturnal, the Five-toed Kangaroo Rat prefers the arroyo bottoms and lowest areas.

Tan above and white below, and with a white spot above the eye and below the ear, this kangaroo rat can make leaps as long as 8 feet [243.8 cm]. It has a 5-inch [12.7 cm] long body and equally long tail, and its hindfeet are 2 inches [5.1 cm] long. Normal locomotion, as with its namesake, is by hopping along on its hind legs.

It winters in burrows, which are usually located on slopes, where it has litters of 3 to 5 young.

Commonly seen on rocky hillsides, this large (11-inch [27.9 cm] body) herbivorous (plant eater) ground squirrel is gray or grayish-brown, and has a white eyering and pale undersides. The 8-inch [20.3 cm] long tail is somewhat bushy and black near the tip. Its prominent ears extend above the top of its head. Rock squirrels range from south-central Mexico to northern Utah.

The rock squirrel is active primarily during the day, and in winter may be seen during warm spells. They are excellent runners and climbers.

The squirrel eats many kinds of grasses and forbs. acorns, pine nuts, juniper berries, and fruit and seeds of various native plants, including cactus, make up its diet. On rare occasions it may consume insects. It is a well-known hoarder and cacher of food.

The rock squirrel burrow system may be complex, with multiple entrances, and there may be several squirrels utilizing the system at the same time.

Two litters of 3 to 9 young may be born in late spring and in late summer.

A tiny (4- to 4½-inch [10.2 to 11.4 cm] long) desert and grassland, nocturnal (nighttime active), herbivorous (plant eater), soft-furred rodent with a fondness for seeds; especially juniper berries and piñon seeds.

The silky pocket mouse is colored above pale yellow or cream with a sprinkling of black hairs, and white below. The species identifiers include a buff-yellow patch behind the ear and twice the length of the ear; a white spot below the ear; very long hind feet; and a tail that is slightly shorter than the length of the body (head plus torso). Juveniles are gray rather than cream-colored.

They like low, open areas and are associated with opuntia and yucca near which they like to dig burrows. Silky pocket mouse burrows, never more than 4 feet deep, have blind passages and multiple entrances to foil predators.

You are more likely to notice the surface mound of the pocket gopher tunnel than to see the critter. Pocket gophers are not common in rocky areas or on sloping ground. Gophers do not hibernate.

A solitary, nocturnal (nighttime active), subterranean rodent, the 6-inch [15.2 cm] body-length pocket gopher is dull dark brown, often matching local soil color. It has rather small eyes and ears, two sets of chisel-like, pale orange-colored incisors that are outside the mouth; the lips close behind them. The wear on these teeth is such that they grow at a rate of about one inch per month! Pocket gophers have long digging claws on its forefeet. The 3-inch [7.6 cm] long tail is long, ratlike, and hairless, but quite sensitive and used as a feeler when back up in a tunnel.

The Southwestern pocket gopher has smooth teeth with no longitudinal grooves. The two other species in New Mexico have lengthwise grooves in their teeth.

Several litters of 2 to 12 young may be born throughout the year, and the young are weaned at about 6 weeks.

Gophers are not social. Two gophers meeting in a burrow -- other than opposite sexes during mating season -- often results in a fight to the death.

The pocket gopher gets its name from their external fur-lined pocket-like cheek pouches in which food is carried.

This nocturnal (nighttime active) rodent prefers the uplands of the park where it builds a round, woven nest that has the entrance at the bottom.

The harvest mouse has a 3-inch [7.6 cm] long body and a 3-inch [7.6 cm] long tail. The brown fur on its back becomes paler as it nears the belly. The tail is dusky above and pale below. The ears are round.

It is a nimble climber. It travels the same routes repeatedly creating what are known as vole runways.

The harvest mouse eats new growth in spring and summer and seeds in fall and winter. It does not hibernate.

It has several litters during the year of 2 to 6 young.