FAUNA Gray Fox Image by: R Robinson - NPS Photo Mammals - The Red Rocks Trail, an eastern foothills life zone, is home to many animals. The seasons are an important factor in deciding which animals live here throughout the year. Many larger grazing animals like mule deer and elk migrate down to the foothills in the winter and go to the higher areas from late spring to fall. The lower foothills may be quite hot and dry in the summer. Most of the animals then are smaller, like nuttall's cottontail rabbits and rock squirrels. Their predators (coyotes, bobcats, and gray foxes) stay and hunt them. (Colorado Division of Wildlife, n.d.)

Reptiles - Milksnake – native to Colorado This photo is exciting to have included because it was obtained live vs. from an indirect internet source. The direct experiences in the outdoors offer a whole different taste of nature that cannot be had on the web. This snake eats “anything,” including eggs, birds and mammals.

Birds – Great-Horned Owl These birds have extremely acute hearing and swoop down, catching their prey by surprise in their powerful talons. They feed on a variety of animals including rabbits, squirrels, marshbirds, hawks, rodents, fish, and insects (Colorado Division of Wildlife, 7/2010). They live in many North American areas, but have been observed and monitored in the Red Rocks Trail area for quite a few years. Cliffs offer them one nesting site.

Male American Kestrel - This image is a work of a Bureau of Land Management* employee, taken or made during the course of an employee's official duties. As a work of the U.S. Federal Government, the image is in the public domain. *or predecessor organizationBureau of Land Management The kestrel (aka sparrow hawk) finds the Red Rocks Trail area a good habitat. It likes open areas for hunting and tall places to perch. It is the only North American falcon or hawk that nests in cavities, i.e. tree cavities, under eaves, in woodpecker holes and in nesting boxes (NatureWorks, n.d.) This makes the rock cliffs in the Red Rocks area an ideal habitat.