08/26/2026
Happy wild life Wednesday! Ever wanted to know more about some the animals you see around the lodge?⬇️
Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel: Often mistaken for a giant chipmunk. It has a coppery-gold head and shoulders with one white stripe bordered by black on each side of its back. Unlike its tiny and more solitary chipmunk cousin, golden-mantled squirrels do not have stripes on their face, and tend to live in groups. The golden-mantled is one of 6 squirrel species in western Colorado. 🐿️
Broad-tailed hummingbird: A jewel of high mountain meadows, male Broad-tailed Hummingbirds fill the summer air with loud, metallic trills as they fly. They breed at elevations up to 10,500 feet, where nighttime temperatures regularly plunge below freezing. To make it through a cold night, they slow their heart rate and drop their body temperature, entering a state of torpor. Often mistaken for the Ruby Throated hummingbird, the Broad-tailed Hummingbird lives in the western mountains and has a rose-magenta throat plus a loud wing whistle. The Ruby-throated Hummingbird lives in the eastern states and has a fiery red throat with silent wings. Their geographic ranges rarely overlap. The bird in this picture is likely an immature male or female, both of which lack the bright colored throat. Four species of hummingbirds spending their summers in western Colorado, all of which migrate south for the winter, some flying over 8,000 miles to Guatemala and Belize! 🪹
The White-lined Sphinx Moth is a common, native Colorado pollinator often called a hummingbird moth because it hovers at flowers during the day and twilight. It features a robust 2.5 to 3.5-inch wingspan, dark olive-brown forewings marked with distinct white lines, and striking pinkish-orange bands on the hindwings. Colorado is home to an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 native moth species, with over 2,600 species formally documented statewide. 🪻
Can anyone identify the drought-tolerant ornamental plant they are all feasting on? Bonus if you know exactly WHERE on the lodge grounds this prolific plant is located!
📸-Lyn Petty
