Add Wildlife Viewing To Your Adventure Vacation Plans

Do you want to watch wildlife in their natural habitat as part of your adventure vacation? Want to observe and photograph a variety of wildlife without the crowds?

Except for Bison, every species visible in Yellowstone National Park is also found around our western Montana lodge. From the massive Grizzly Bear to the dainty Red Fox, from the controversial Wolf to the common but somewhat elusive Badger - animals large and small call the surrounding countryside home. Life for the wildlife around our western Montana lodge is a bit easier than for their cousins in Yellowstone National Park. After all, we major in the wide open spaces - and minor in people.

Granted, for some species - like the Grizzly - you'll have to work hard to see them (after all, they're not used to seeing two-legged beings like 'you'), but some species - like the Shiras Moose - are MUCH more visible. After all, with an undeveloped 385,000 acre valley - and all its surrounding hills and mountains - the Centennial Valley is prime wildlife habitat.

Some of the species regularly seen include:

Carnivors
• Black Bears (seen in forest habitats - each summer several are sighted, sometimes sows with cubs)
• Grizzly Bears (each year one or more is seen in the surrounding hills)
• Martin (you have to work to see this sly fellow)
• Weasels (short and long tailed)
• Badger (spotted annually along Elk Lake Road)
• River Otter (regular visitors to Hidden and Elk Lake)
• Wolverine (usually at least one sighting annually)
• Striped Skunk (occasional sightings)
• Wolf (several yearly sightings - heard howling up Narrows Creek early the summer of 2006)
• Red Fox (at least one female with kits lives near the lodge - stops by for snacks summer and winter)
• Coyote (seen and/or heard regularly)
• Cougar (occassional sightings)

Ungulates
• Elk (inhabit the draws around Elk and Hidden Lakes)
• White-Tailed Deer (seen regularly)
• Mule Dear (seen regularly)
• Shiras Moose (regular valley inhabitants, summer or winter)
• Pronghorn (seen regularly in the valley)
• Bison (none sighted in the last few years)

Rodents
• Wyoming Ground Squirrel ('thick as fleas' at times on the valley floor)
• Yellow-Bellied Marmot (seen frequently when hiking)
• Deer Mouse (yep, we have mice - we encourage them to live "outside")
• Meadow Vole (often mistaken for a mouse, we have many)
• Long-Tailed Vole (another 'mouse-like' critter which 'turns grass into foxes')
• Yellow Pine & Least Chipmunks (several cute little fellows live around the lodge)
• Red Pine Squirrel (abound in the woods)
• Northern Pocket Gopher (unfortunately they like our lawn)
• Beaver (there are a few around)
• Muskrat (seen once in a while in a local lake or stream)
• Porcupine (they always let us know where they've been)

Rabbits, Pikas, and Hares
• Pika (most common in the high alpine rocky outcroppings)
• White-tailed Jackrabbit (commonly seen - particularly at dusk)

Bats
• Little Brown Myotis (several help keep the bugs down around the lodge)