The Turquoise Trails (TT) and its several spur roads crosses decent MULE DEER range (habitat) although these large animals are seldom seen. Indeed, their current numbers are probably low. The biggest deer the writer has ever seen was a road kill just south of Stage Coach Pass on the Ortiz pediment slope. BLACK BEAR are common in the Sandias and occur sparingly in the Ortiz-San Pedro Mountain complex east of the TT. The wide-dispersing bruins must infrequently cross the highway moving east-west. The same applies to resident COUGARS although it is hackneyed to say there are “rarely seen”. BOBCATS and COYOTES are more common with the former sometimes confused with the Cougar despite its bob tail. The coyote is to be expected if you count their howls and yelps at dusk, canids heard but unseen. The most frequently seen mammals are BLACK-TAILED JACKRABBIT, COTTONTAIL and bushy-tailed ROCK SQUIRREL.

In the Sandias, along the Crest Highway (NM536) a montane spur of the TT at Sandia Park), the beautiful ABERT’S “tassel-eared” SQUIRREL is common in the Ponderosa Zone. Watch for them as they scramble across the highway. The little RED SQUIRREL is found, and often heard (loud birdlike “ch-r-r-r-r) in the Spruce-Fir Zone above the Ponderosa. The ferret-like Southwestern LONG-TAILED WEASEL is apparently common, but count yourself lucky if you’ve seen one of these low-to-the-ground, super streamlined creatures. PORCUPINES are best classified as rare. The GRAY FOX occurs but their numbers are kept low by the competitive intolerance of their larger cousins, the coyotes. The burrow mounds of POCKET GOPHERS are virtually everywhere. And there is a colony of GUNNISON’S PRAIRIE DOGS at Paa-ko adjacent to the TT. They can be seen at the signed, state archeological site where there is a car pull off on the west side of the highway. Undoubtedly, an occasional BADGER, one of the area’s very few, visit’s the colony and also localities of high gopher density.

Unfortunately, the surest way for curious visitors to see most of these species is to stop and investigate road kills, being careful of traffic ourselves. We have mentioned only a few of the corridor’s native mammals. But there may be as many as 83 species of mammals including all the various rodents so important to the overall ecosystem and its food chain(s). Interested TT visitors will want to procure a copy of the Field Guide to the Sandia Mountains put out by the University of New Mexico Press in 2005 which provides comprehensive coverage of the area’s fauna and flora. It has a strong section on mammals by UNM professor Dr. Paul Polechla, Jr.
This guide can be obtained at the U. S. Forest Service Ranger District Headquarters in Tijeras at the foot of the Trail.

Jeffrey Davis ~ 2010, all rights reserved.

See the other sections of the "Wildlife along the Turquoise Trail" for more information.
  Overview
  Mammals
  Birds
  Reptiles & Great Spiders
  Wildlife Survey Tips



Photo Copyright: Ruth Helgeson ~ 2010, all rights reserved.