View 2012 Anza-Borrego Sheep Count Results

For the past 42 years, a count of Anza-Borrego's sheep has taken place over the fourth of July weekend, utilizing volunteers positioned at watering sites, to count the number of sheep coming to drink.  It's a tough assignment, hiking in to a remote location in mid-summer with temperatures that can reach 115 degrees. But the annual sheep count plays an important role in monitoring the health of Anza-Borrego's bighorn population.

Deer do most of their foraging around dawn and dusk and are most likely to be seen in the open at these times.  During the main part of the day mule deer will generally bed down in secluded locations not far from their foraging areas.

Mountain lions are the primary natural predator of adult mule deer but bobcats and coyotes may prey upon young or unhealthy animals.

Coyotes are the ultimate survivors, found in virtually all environments and urban settings across North America.  Native Americans often portrayed the coyote as cunning and intelligent, and they live up to this image by their adaptability, able to survive with whatever food their environment provides for them.  They are opportunistic feeders, and their diet will include small mammals, birds, snakes, lizards, carrion, fruit, vegetation, domestic animals and small pets, and larger animals if they are impaired or unprotected.

Coyotes are very social animals, and the basic structure is the family group, a female with cubs, an adult male, and perhaps some adolescent animals.  The range of sounds that they make, high pitched and varied, are to call the group together and to communicate their position.

Coyotes do not hunt in packs like wolves but they do often will hunt in pairs.  In situations where they encounter humans on a regular basis they will loose their fear of humans and pay little attention.  But dependence on humans is not something to be encouraged, and as fascinating as they may be, it is never a good idea to put food out for the coyotes. 

Kit foxes are often seen in the headlights, crossing the road as you drive through the desert.

When you see a kit fox for the first time the thing that may seem most striking is the size of their ears.  The oversize ears not only help with hearing but are also an adaptation to assist with cooling.  The desert adaptations do not stop there; these foxes have a digestive system that gets most of the water they need from the food that they eat.  They rarely need to drink water.

Kit foxes feed primarily feed on rodents, rabbits, ground birds, insects, snakes, and lizards. 

Kit foxes are not nearly as vocal as coyotes, but they will bark to communicate with pups or when they feel that their den is threatened.

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Like the coyote, bobcats are very adaptable creatures and vary their diet and hunting style to take advantage of whatever the local environment provides.  

Bobcats are exceptional hunters, slowly approaching their prey with great patience, and then making the kill with a final powerful leap. Their preferred prey consists of cottontails and jack-rabbits, rodents, birds, and insects but they are capable of taking animals as large as deer, particularly if they are weakened or young.

This photo of an Anza-Borrego bobcat was taken by Jason Rothmeyer, who just happened to have the camera ready when this cat took a look as it was passing by

More Information:

UC Davis Veterinary Medicine

Mountain Lion Project

The UC Davis Veterinary Medicine program has sponsored a mountain lion project in southern California since 2001, capturing lions using road-killed deer as bait, and then releasing them with radio collars to track their movements.  These large cats can have very large hunting territories;  one Anza-Borrego cat roamed an area that extended from the mountains south of Palm Springs to south of the Mexican border.

Mountain lions are extremely secretive in their movements and normally have an natural aversion to humans.  They rarely disclose their position.  But if you do see one in the wild, with males weighing up to 150 pounds, you are best to follow the advice of the Mountain Lion Federation: "If you see a mountain lion, no matter how thrilled you are to be one of the very few gets such an opportunity, stay well back, and take the encounter seriously." 

Shrubs, trees grasses, and other vegetation are their preferred foods.  Like many desert animals, the black-tailed jackrabbit gets most of the water it needs from the plants that make up it's diet. 

Jackrabbits spend the hot part of the day resting and keeping cool in shallowed-out depressions in the sand.  Like cottontails, when trying to escape from a threat, the jackrabbit can run at high speed, up to 30 mph and run in a zig zag pattern. 

It's natural enemies are the same as many of the small mammals found on this page, coyotes, foxes, bobcats, hawks, owls, and snakes.

Food consists of grasses and other vegetation, and these rabbits rarely need to drink water, obtaining most of what they need from the foods that they eat.  Like most other rabbits and hares, desert cottontails eat their feces, giving their bodies a second chance to glean the maximum nutrition out of the plant materials that they consume.

The desert cottontail has many predators in Anza-Borrego, including coyotes, bobcats, birds of prey, and  snakes.

Diet consists of seeds, cactus fruits, other vegetation, and insects.

This tiny rodent has adapted perfectly to live in a dry desert environment.  Kangaroo rats do not need to ever drink water: they metabolize water from the dry seeds and other foods that they eat.

The kangaroo rat has a complex system of burrowing; the burrow not only provides a place to hide from predators and the heat of the desert sun, but also has different chambers for caching food, sleeping, and living.