Red foxes are the most frequently encountered fox species in Colorado, and while I've encountered a pair of them emerging from bushes on a moonlit evening, and a couple in the driveway, I've never seen one napping peacefully on my lawn. That's what happened to my photographer friend Virginia Lee in Boulder, not far from a busy street, where she was ready with her camera. She caught the same fox sleeping in the crook of a backyard tree, and his expression on waking wasn't all that different from a family dog when interrupted mid-nap...
Meanwhile, just over a hundred miles southwest of Boulder, in Alma, Colorado, the highest incorporated town in the US, somebody was peeking around a garden shed...
That somebody turned out to be an American marten, a mink relative now on the rebound in some areas after being decimated by the fur and logging trades. These martens enjoy a wide range across Canada and Alaska, but in the American West are only found in forested mountainous regions, including the Rockies, the Sierras and the Cascades, where these smallish omnivores (16 to 31 in. long including a tail averaging 10", up to 3.1 pounds) can find small rodents, birds and berries wherever dense forests remain.
Winter conditions can arrive early at nearly 10,600 feet, and not far from that garden shed in Alma, another small visitor decided to curl up and take a nap. Unlike martens, coyotes are adaptable enough to survive in all the climates and landscapes of North America, including desert, sea coasts and high mountains. Pups, usually born from March into May, require lots of attention from both parents, as they are initially blind, opening their eyes by the two-week mark and exiting the den to play a week or two later. They are usually weaned by the 8-week mark, leave their parents in the fall, and are fully grown at 12 months. Adults in this region can weigh 20 to 50 pounds, so this little pup has some way to go...
Fast runners and good swimmers, white-tailed deer are active at dawn and dusk like the mountain lions who can prey on them. To evade those lions they can run up to 35 mph and jump an 8 foot fence. Bucks shed antlers annually and weigh up to 300 pounds, does up to 200. Like the red fox at the beginning of this essay, this one took a liking to Virginia's yard, where the deal seems to be deer-friendly landscaping in exchange for photo ops...
But maybe large ungulates just like following Virginia Lee around. This buck with female companions showed up in the garden area of an Estes Park hotel each day of her stay there. Like all members of the deer family, males grow and shed antlers annually. The antlers come in handy during mating season, when bucks fight over territorial mating rights, To fuel antler growth and wanderings over territory ranging from hundreds to thousands of acres, elk can eat up to 30 pounds of foliage per day. Bucks can weigh 700 pounds and stand up to 5 feet at their shoulders, while cows weigh a couple hundred pounds less. Males famously bugle during mating season (early September to mid-October in Colorado), and elk live in herds divided by gender until mating season.
Moose are the largest deer relatives, up to 1,800 pounds and 6 to 7 feet at the shoulder for the males. They can easily eat 70 pounds of food per day.; that food can include grasses, dandelions, clover and aquatic plants, as well as leaves, twigs and buds of trees. Winter food focuses on those twigs and especially bark. The word "moose" originates in the Algonquin word for bark stripper. Moose prefer cold temperatures, and mountainous, wooded areas...
Which included a winter picnic not far from where the marten showed up, a cabin in Alma being renovated by old friends Matt and Beth...
Though we've seen a mountain lion in a tree and a neighbor saw one in our garden, none of our feline wildlife visitors have posed for a photo like this bobcat perched on a garden wall in Alamo, CA. Photographer Reiko Fujii caught the graceful cat lounging; they normally hunt for prey ranging from rodents to rabbits and even small deer at dawn and dusk hours. Perhaps that's why this cat was taking a break...
...which included a tour of the surrounding garden. Beyond the signature short tails, these North American natives have tufted ears. They share retractable claws with domestic cats, and also a high strength to weight ratio. In the case of bobcats, weights range from 8 to 30 pounds.
Great horned owls compete with bobcats, hunting at night for prey ranging from fish, small reptiles, small birds to rabbits rodents and skunks, and this one showed up in the same Alamo garden as the bobcat, ironically the home of the author of "Suburban Owls", right in line with our subject of wild animals in the WUI. Wingspan is up to 5 ft., despite weight rarely exceeding 5.5 pounds. That would be for a female, which could be 10 to 30 percent larger than a male. Females have a higher voice than males...
...and this becomes apparent when a mated couple hoots to mark territory. Great horned owls generally mate for life, and may find another mate only when one dies.
They are sharp-eyed, opportunistic raptors who prefer to hunt at night, though they sometimes search for prey in winter daylight.
This trio of Anna's hummingbirds didn't seem too worried about receiving a visit from that owl, though owls' diets can include any small plant-eating birds, as well as smaller raptors. The most populous species of hummingbird on the West Coast, they are happy to visit parks and gardens, especially where humans have added feeders, and trees offering nectar and sites for nesting. In this case, they're taking advantage of a garden waterfall in Alamo, California, unaware they are visiting Reiko Fujii, who created "Anna's Hummers", a book about them.
Hummingbirds are the only bird species that can fly backwards, owing to a shoulder joint allowing a figure 8 wing motion. The males among Anna's hummingbirds show the striking red and green color scheme here, while the females are a kind of metallic green on top with gray below, often with smaller red markings on their throats. Weight is only 3 to 6 grams, with females a bit lighter than males. Strength is impressive, though, as can be seen below, where a male enjoys a waterfall without being swept over the edge. We're happy that none of the wild animals featured here are on the endangered list, which may provide a bit of hopeful news for those of us in need of it.
Photo Credits:
Top & 2nd from top: Virginia Lee Zukowski
3rd thru 5th from top: Matt Kennan
6th & 7th from top: Virginia Lee Zukowski
8th & 9th: Matt Kennan
10th to bottom (last 7 photos): Reiko Fujii
Notes on featured photographers: Virginia Lee Zukowski's photographic work can be viewed at Virginia Lee Photography, Wilderness Studios, 2810 Wilderness Place, Boulder CO 80301, and she can be emailed at Zukowsk1@msn.com. Reiko Fujii's art is currently on display at the San Ramon, California, City Hall Gallery. For previous exhibit locations and availability of her books "Anna's Hummers" and "Suburban Owls", see reikofujii.com. Matt Kennan can be emailed at mattkennan@comcast.net.
Footnote: Part 1 of "Close Encounters" was posted here on September 26, 2025.
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