High Sierra Topix

hello itbrady72,

Fascinating question re. the Pronghorn, but it is very doubtful that they would inhabit high rocky Granite Park habitat. Here are a couple of good references on Pronghorn range and life history:

1. https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Ma ... %20America.

2.
file:///home/chronos/u-6ab32ae9ecec5a6804ec451501ed173751ddb580/MyFiles/Downloads/Pyshora82_Pronghorn%20Managment%20Plan%20(1).pdf
I studied up on the Pronghorn this morning thanks to your query. Some of the interesting facts are:

- 2nd fastest land mammal to the Cheetah.
- They have horns, yet shed them each year (usually the distinction between "horns" and "antlers" is that the latter are shed each year).
- California pop. reached a recent low of ~ 1800 in 1960, and rose to ~ 7000 by 1982.
- Pronghorn were one of the most widely distributed mammals in California, with 3 subspecies. (see former range maps).
- Former population in the range of 40 million in North America, now down to 20,000 (though they have rebounded from even lower numbers, are have been reintroduced to several locations in California. We've seen them in the Carrizo Plain.)
- Best place to see them near the Sierra may be the Bodie Hills.

Regarding your animal sighting it reminds us of very similar experience with our biologist friend Carleton. He was sure he saw a fast-moving reddish animal in the treeline area below Martha Lake. We assumed it could have been a rare Sierra Red Fox, or a Coyote. Some Deer are very reddish too.
Thanks for your provocative query itbrady, Ian.

Thanks for the background! The historical range info especially is really good to have. I've seen them in the Bodie Hills before, and I think it might have been a conversation with a more knowledgeable friend on that trip that planted the idea that they don't range as high as anywhere like Granite Park. Good to have that confirmed.

Honestly, they went by so fast that I can't really be sure what they were. I seem to recall darker markings than I would have expected from deer, and darker horns or antlers. But again, they were mostly just a blur on a day when I had done a lot of elevation change up and down, on the fourth day of a fairly physically demanding five-day trip, just before my lunch stop when I was likely calorie-deprived and dehydrated. I don't think those are conditions that will lend themselves to my ever being sure what I saw!

Itbrady, check this out: https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Ma ... tification

You wrote:

Honestly, they went by so fast that I can't really be sure what they were. I seem to recall darker markings than I would have expected from deer, and darker horns or antlers.....

Note the black coloration at the back of the ears-- might this have been what looked like dark horns?

It would be super cool to have seen, or even possibly have seen, the endangered Sierra Red Fox. They certainly could have been present in Granite Park.

Interesting suggestion, but I'm fairly certain that whatever I saw was taller and longer-legged than that. I'm actually leaning toward the possibility that it was a pair of Sierra bighorn sheep: ewes with their thinner, less "curly" horns, or possibly juveniles. The darker coloration is in the normal range for sheep (I always think of them as in the white-to-beige range, but there's more variety than that), and Granite Park is definitely plausible for sightings of members of the Central Recovery unit:

https://wildlife.ca.gov/Portals/0/Image ... _units.jpg

But fatigued and distracted and only catching a glimpse as I did, there's always going to be a bit of uncertainty about it.

Great photos! It was very nice to meet you.

Rockyroad wrote: ↑Sun Aug 04, 2024 10:51 pmwe had pretty good views of [...] snowy Granite Bear Pass.

Granite Bear Pass looked like it had too much snow for me to pass it safely. But upon closer examination with a monocular I saw that I could bypass all steep snow. See viewtopic.php?p=185117#p185117.

SirBC wrote: ↑Sun Aug 11, 2024 4:42 pmIf you squint you can just make out my tent in your 2nd photo

I guess this is your tent. It seemed to me nobody was there when I passed it Wednesday evening.

tomba wrote: ↑Sat Aug 24, 2024 5:24 pm Great photos! It was very nice to meet you.

Rockyroad wrote: ↑Sun Aug 04, 2024 10:51 pmwe had pretty good views of [...] snowy Granite Bear Pass.

Granite Bear Pass looked like it had too much snow for me to pass it safely. But upon closer examination with a monocular I saw that I could bypass all steep snow. See viewtopic.php?p=185117#p185117.

SirBC wrote: ↑Sun Aug 11, 2024 4:42 pmIf you squint you can just make out my tent in your 2nd photo

I guess this is your tent. It seemed to me nobody was there when I passed it Wednesday evening.
IMG_6474.jpg

Yep, that's my tent. Not sure what I was doing then, I could have been napping

Rockyroad - your photos remind me vividly why I love the High Sierra, especially. Beautiful stuff!