A badly scanned photo of a cinnamon colored black bear in the early 1990's.

More Wildlife

While most people who visit McGregor Mountain Lodge and Rocky Mountain National Park are thrilled to see our most visible critters such as elk, mule deer and bighorn sheep, a very few get to experience the thrill of seeing some of the more secretive animals that roam our mountains.

There is a very healthy population of Mountain Lions in the area. They take great advantage of the overpopulation of elk and the numerous mule deer in and around the National Park. While there are a good number of lions, it is extremely rare to see one and even more so to get a picture of one. We have had several kills over the past few years and were fortunate enough to see the lion and even set up a motion/heat sensitive camera to capture some great images of this beautiful cat.

Bears are seen quite a bit more often than the lions, but still a rare treat. While I have seen many bears on the property over the years, I have never gotten a decent picture of one. However, as always, guests come through and have gotten some great shots. The bears are a little more blunt with their presence on the property, but typically run for the hills at the first sight of a human. With that said, if you do see a bear on the property, please keep a great distance as I have seen their speed and strength for myself and it is something to be highly respected!

We also have the occasional Coyote stroll through the property in search for a ground squirrel or a rabbit.

Keep an eye out, especially at dawn and dusk as you never know what may show up on your front porch!

Wild Life News - wild life news...

A small black bear on the back porch of the Old Caretakers Cottage.



Doing a little climbing up by the barn.



Again on the porch of the Caretakers Cottage.

A Mountain Lion feeding on its elk kill on the north end of the property. Nov.2003



Chowing down on whats left of the elk.



Coming over to check out the remote camera.



The Coyotes helped eat the elk carcass during the daylight hours.