Camping Grand Canyon
Camping Grand Canyon
Anyone familiar with the wildlife in the Grand Canyon?
I am planning to hike the Grand Canyon and I am not familiar with the wildlife there. I am used to backpacking/camping through the woods of the Midwest. The most harmfull thing in these woods would be a water moccasin or a coyote, which is not too bad. What anamils are in the Grand Canyon? What should I look out for? What animals are a threat? Also, any suggestions on how to animal proof camp would be helpfull also.
If you are backpacking in the canyon, than your biggest danger is going to be mice, squirrels and other rodents (and to a lesser degree ravens and other birds) getting into your gear and food.
At the most popular backcountry camping sites (Bright Angel, Indian Gardens, Cottonwood) they have a couple of metal ammo boxes at each campsite to store food in and poles to hang your packs from. You are required to use these and if you do, than you should not have any problems. Just make sure you put ALL of your food or other smelly items in the ammo boxes or hung from the poles.
At other more remote campsites, you will have to fend for yourself. At the backcountry office, they sell fine metal mesh bags to store food in - they are light weight and rodents can not chew through them. You can also hang your food, but tall trees are not that common in the canyon itself. Again, avoid having food or smelly items in your tent or pack as critters can chew their way through (the damage to the tent/pack usually being a bigger pain than the food loss).
Even with the above warnings, I would say that rodents in the canyon - while something to be careful of - are not as bad as many other places that I have backpacked. by following the above precautions, I have never had rodents get my food or get into my gear.
As far as animals that might attack you directly, you don't really have to be too concerned. The canyon does have a good population of mountain lions, but these are shy and rarely seen. In dozens of backpacking and hiking trips to the canyon, I have only briefly seen one and it was running away from me as fast as possible.
Likewise, there are black bears in the more remote forested regions of the North Rim, but here too they will generally try to stay away from you and they are rarely seen.
I do not believe there has been a single recorded incident of a serious bear or lion attack in the canyon in the last 50 years. If you happen to even see one, you should consider yourself lucky for the experience.
The Grand Canyon is also home to a unique form of pink rattlesnake and I have seen these occasionally (usually lower down in the canyon). But they too, tend to be shy. To be safe, it just good standard practice to not put your hands or feet any place that you can't see (rock ledges, etc).
Scorpions are one thing that you should be aware of in the inner canyons. Several species, including the extra potent bark scorpion, are quite common and easy to find if you look. Just avoid walking around in bare feet at the bottom and shake out your boots in the morning. Most scorpion stings are on par with a bee sting. The bark scorpion is generally not fatal unless you are a baby or very eldery - but you will not be a happy camper for a couple of days.
Aside from the above, they do occasionally have problems with deer, coyotes and mountain big horn sheep around the lodge areas on the rim that get too used to people and get into trash, etc. Such animals could potentially be dangerous if people try to get too close, but I have not heard of any actual injuries or attacks. A few years ago, they actually had a couple of wild turkeys down at Phantom Ranch that would follow people around and try to steal food - a little intimidating at times (those are big birds), but not life threatening (they have since been removed).
As far as animals in general, which are not a threat, but are really cool to see... ravens are quite common around the canyon and fun to watch (they are quite curious and playful), the condors are quite famous and a wonderful experience to see. Big horn sheep are also a joy to come across in the canyon and if you go to the bottom, you might be lucky enough to spot the eagles that nest near Phantom Ranch.
Overall, there is less of a threat from animals in the Grand Canyon than in many National Parks (like Yosemite or Glacier). Your biggest dangers (and the thing that causes the most deaths and problems) is heat exhaustion, dehydration and people pushing themselves too hard physically.
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