fauna
The desert is home to more than 130 species of mammals. Some of these mammals include the mule deer, white-tailed deer and pronghorn. The kit fox home territory is in the northern of the desert. the larger predators of this desert are the large cats, bobcats and mountain lions. The difference between these two mammals are the bobcat is smaller in size. Coyotes plague farmers' herds all over the desert. Bighorn sheep are common in the area. The desert also is home to North America's largest prairie dog colony. Desert bighorn have been successfully reintroduced to numerous of the desert mountain ranges in the northern Chihuahuan Desert. Other common mammals include the collared peccary, ringtail, , spotted ground squirrel, a number of skunk species, woodrats, and many nocturnal mice. The larger species have struggled for survival, as shelter is hard to find for larger animals, but black bears are returning to the northern desert. Grizzly bears were found in a few mountain ranges until the late 1960s.
The desert has nesting sites for more than 500 species of birds, including the roadrunner, western kingbird, the golden eagle and the red-tail hawk. The Big Bend National park, in Texas, has more recordings of different species of birds than any of the other 59 national parks in America.
More than 110 native freshwater fish species splash about in the huge rivers.
Among the agave cacti, thousands of species of reptile scurry about. Such animals are the greater earless lizard, gopher snake, westernblack diamond rattlesnake and the collared lizard. One of the most common frogs are the Rio Grande frog and the spadefoot toads. These vicious reptiles' prey are the desert cottontail, blacktailed jackrabbits and some deadlier species of the common rattlesnake chase the native bighorn sheep.
The desert has nesting sites for more than 500 species of birds, including the roadrunner, western kingbird, the golden eagle and the red-tail hawk. The Big Bend National park, in Texas, has more recordings of different species of birds than any of the other 59 national parks in America.
More than 110 native freshwater fish species splash about in the huge rivers.
Among the agave cacti, thousands of species of reptile scurry about. Such animals are the greater earless lizard, gopher snake, westernblack diamond rattlesnake and the collared lizard. One of the most common frogs are the Rio Grande frog and the spadefoot toads. These vicious reptiles' prey are the desert cottontail, blacktailed jackrabbits and some deadlier species of the common rattlesnake chase the native bighorn sheep.