The Great Basin Desert is a vast region of the western United States stretching from the Wasatch Mountains to the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Although it is home to a variety of plant and animal species, the area does technically qualify as a desert. It is actually referred as a cool desert to its high elevation. Many beautiful and exotic animals call this arid expanse of land home, several of which would be an amazing sight to see should you be so lucky.
Mountain Lion
Mountain Lion is actually a panoramic piece of nomenclature that covers animals commonly called pumas, cougars, wildcats and even panthers. Mountain Lions are America’s equivalent of Africa’s large cats with the exception that they are considerably smaller, usually weighing around no more than 250 pounds. Watching these graceful felines soar 30 feet above the ground at a running jump is one of the most astonishing animal sights available in North America.
Badgers
You likely will not actually get to see a badger if you find yourself in the Great Basin Desert. That is probably a good thing as badgers have earned their reputations for ferocious defenders of their space. They belong to the weasel family and are also related to skunks. The reason you rarely find them is that they burrow underground where they find smaller animals to eat. About the only time you’d want to come across a badger if you also startle a rattlesnake because badgers both enjoy the taste of rattles while having some kind of immunity to their venom in most cases.
Coyotes
The Great Basin is located in the west so you have to expect to hear the plaintive howl of the coyote as the night drapes over you. If you go camping in Great Basin Desert National Park be sure to cover up your food in containers because coyotes will eat just about anything they can smell. Be careful about approaching what looks like a stray dog in this desert because chances are that’s not a dog at all, but rather a coyote.
Bats
Those aren’t birds, those are bats. The plentiful number of caves that are scattered through the Great Basin make it a perfect home for bats. It is important to keep in mind that these caves do belong to the bats that are so important to the ecological continuance of plant life in the desert. When entering a cave here take the extra effort to do so as quietly and peacefully as possible because human interaction tends to cause stress in the bat population inside.
Rattlesnakes
A variety of reptiles call the Basin home, but the one you most want to be aware of is the rattlesnake. Fortunately, this snake was evolutionarily equipped with a distant early warning system, but that doesn’t mean you won’t hear the rattle a little too late. Always take care to watch where you step so that you don’t realize that rattler is there before it’s too late.
Fish
The words desert and fish don’t naturally connect with most people, but the Great Basin offers up a wealth of freshwater marine life. There are four main species of fish to be found here: Bonneville cutthroat trout, mottled sculpin, redside shiner and speckled dace. Thanks to a healthy stocking program you can also find non-native species like trout of the rainbow, brook, and brown varieties.
