Mount Rushmore National Memorial - Animals

Mount Rushmore National Memorial is just a small, 1,200 acre portion of the Black Hills. Because Mount Rushmore is a small part of something larger, the entire Black Hills ecosystem, it is still possible to see a wide variety of wildlife. Listen as you walk around the grounds at Mount Rushmore, you may hear a mouse scurry through the grass or a squirrel chattering down at you from his perch in a ponderosa pine. You might even hear the quiet click of the hoofs of a mountain goat on the walkways at Mount Rushmore. The wildlife at Mount Rushmore is wild so remember to keep a safe distance between you and the wildlife, no matter how friendly they seem to be.


Below the famous sculpture of the four Presidents are the habitats of many different animals. An animal"s habitat consists of four essential elements: a source of food, water, shelter and space. Mount Rushmore provides these elements to wildlife large and small. The Ponderosa pine forest that surrounds the Memorial provides shelter. The hollow dead trees provide a place for red squirrels and some song birds to nest. The needles that have fallen to the ground provide cover for small mammals like voles and insects. The cones from the Ponderosa provide food as do berries and other plants and grasses. Water can become harder to find by the end of summer but there are many spring fed and snowmelt streams flowing around the Black Hills in the spring and early summer. Grizzly Creek, part of which is within Mount Rushmore National Memorial, is fed by springs and even supports a beaver pond. After a snow storm tracks identified as mountain lion were found at the base of Mount Rushmore. The Black Hills are rugged and a lot of space has been left open for wildlife in Custer State Park, Wind Cave National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, the Black Elk Wilderness in Black Hills National Forest and Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

Explore Mount Rushmore and the place where you live using all your senses to find more than just what you can see before you.