Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board name that animal

climbing mt elbert, colorado, last week i saw a small animal above tree line and can't identify it. i could only get about 30 yards from them so this is the best description i can give. they looked much darker than a marmot, almost black from how i saw them. they were about the same length and height as a marmot but more slender and stood up on the hind legs as it scampered amongst the rocks.

Mark
It would help to have a picture...could the animal be a prarie dog...Colorado is full of them?
Ed

Weasel or possibly mink. Were you near a watercourse?

Sounds like a pika.

Sounds more like a weasel to me. Pikas are roundish & short...like a very small rabbit, only with little round ears. We've seen them numerous times on the Whitney trail. We did see a long, slender creature fitting the description you gave @ Trail Camp a couple years ago. It was dark, & definitely longer & much more slender than a marmot. Everyone in our group who saw it agreed it was some type of weasel.

Agree with Randuf. Below is from the Colorado Division of Wildlife website.

"Description: Of the eight members of the weasel family known in Colorado, only two actually are called weasels: the long-tailed weasel and the ermine, or short-tailed weasel. Both of these species have black-tipped tails, but they are readily distinguished from each other by size. The long-tailed weasel is 14 – 18 inches long, weighs about five ounces, with a tail about half the length of the body. Short-tailed weasels are eightti ten inches long, weigh only 1 1/2 ounces with a tail less than one-third the length of their body. Typical of weasels, males are about 20 percent larger than females. Both species turn white in winter, except for the tip of the tail, and both species are brown in the summer; although the long-tailed weasel is yellowish to orange below, whereas the short-tailed weasel has a white belly.

Range: The weasel is distributed over all of Colorado although it seems to be most abundant in the mountains at moderate to high elevations.

Habitat: Long-tailed weasels live statewide in Colorado in most habitats, perhaps favoring brushy areas at the edge of forests where their rodent prey is most abundant. Short-tailed weasels occur mostly in the mountains. "

Thanks, ML.

I don't mean to change the topic, but last summer, a gentleman posted a trip report where he climbed Whitney on a trip from either Horseshoe Meadows or the HST, and he spent the night on top. While on top, he photographed a different animal... was it a Pacific Fischer?

I can't seem to remember any keywords to search for his report. He put his report on a separate web site.

Perhaps Chupacabra is making it's way to higher altitude.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chupacabra

I recall the post, but none of the specifics.

However, I think the Fisher in California is not a Pacific Fisher. The California version is known just as a Martes Pennanti and the Pacific Fisher is known as a Martes Pennanti Pacifica. I know this difference is probably miniscule but I'm sure the biologists have their reasons. I think Washington, Oregon and Idaho are the only states with known populations of this extremely rare breed of the weasel.

But for sake of comparison, both of the above are very similar to the long tailed weasel described on the Colorado Department of Wildlife website.

Here is a picture of a couple of marmots I saw while descending the North Rib of MT Tyndall Saturday, June 2nd



I also saw this grouse on the Shepherd Pass trail on my way back to the TH



and these 2 deer while I was ascending the snow chute to Shepherd Pass (since I was solo, these were my climbing buddies)



I also got to see a young buck with his fuzzy antlers. All et all, an exciting solo day hike of MT Tyndall offering lots of Eastern Sierra wildlife to keep me company! Praise GOD!

I think that's an Ivory-billed woodpecker camouflaged as Sierra Grouse.

Ok, I found the trip report: Whitney: 7-Day Solo Trip August 2006 Author is Joe Dawson.

He identified the animal as an American Marten -- not sure where I got Fisher out of that.

Here is his picture:

Steve,
You are not too far off. See American Marten and Fisher.

Thanks Steve for finding that post. I read with interest his west side approach. Seems his pace is similar to mine and helps me wiht my trip planning.

Also interesting to find the American Marten at that elevation since it prefers conniferous and mixed forests.

I lost a gibbon in that area, I think that must have been it. My kazoo is missing also, I think he may have taken it when he left; did you notice if he was carrying a small silver object?
8^)