page_title: Lava Beds National Monument
section_title: Fauna
hierarchical_section_title: Lava Beds National Monument / Flora and fauna / Fauna
caption_attribution_description: Mule Deer at Lava Beds Monument
context_page_description: Lava Beds National Monument is located in northeastern California, in Siskiyou and Modoc counties. The monument lies on the northeastern flank of Medicine Lake Volcano and has the largest total area covered by a volcano in the Cascade Range.
  The region in and around Lava Beds National Monument lies at the junction of the Sierra-Klamath, Cascade, and Great Basin physiographic provinces. The monument was established as a national monument on November 21, 1925, and includes more than 46,000 acres.
  Lava Beds National Monument has numerous lava tubes, with 25 having marked entrances and developed trails for public access and exploration. The monument also offers trails through the high Great Basin xeric shrubland desert landscape and the volcanic field. In 1872 and 1873, the area was the site of the Modoc War, involving a band led by Kintpuash. The area of Captain Jack's Stronghold was named in his honor.
context_section_description: Despite harsh, semi-arid conditions, native wildlife has adapted to the environmental constraints present in the region. There are no terrestrial water resources in Lava Beds National Monument. Some animals obtain water from caves, while others fly about twenty km (12 miles) north to Tule Lake. Federal and state animal species of special concern in the Monument include the Cooper's hawk (Accipiter cooperii), fringed myotis (Myotis thysanodes), long-eared myotis (Myotis evotic), long-legged myotis (Myotis volans), pallid bat (Antrozous pallidus), silver-haired bat (Lasionycteris noctivigans), Townsends big-eared bat (Corynorhinus townsendii), western small-footed myotis (Myotis ciliolabrum), and American badger (Taxidea taxus).
  Because of a lack of surface water, amphibian presence in the monument is limited. The most common species found in the monument is the Pacific tree frog (Pseudacris regilla). This species is also found in the biologically rich cave entrances in the monument. Reptile species found in the monument include the northern sagebrush lizard (Sceloporus graciosus graciosus), Great Basin fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis biseriatus), western skink (Eumeces skiltonianus skiltonianus), Rocky Mountain rubber boa (Charina bottae utahensis), gopher snake (Pituophis melanoleucus), desert night snake (Hypsiglena torquata deserticola), and western rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis).
  Key animal species by habitat:
  Bunch grass-sagebrush grasslands: mule deer, gopher snake, coyote, prairie falcon, western meadowlark, Anderson's larkspur, yellow-bellied marmot, kangaroo rat
  Ponderosa-juniper brushlands: pronghorn, bobcat, scrub jay, jackrabbit, mountain bluebird,
  Pine forest: mountain lion, bald eagle (winter resident), golden-mantled ground squirrel
  Rocky lava flows: western fence lizard, western rattlesnake
  Cave mouths and interior passages: violet-green swallow, Brazilian free-tailed bat, Townsend's big-eared bat, Pacific tree frog, pika, bushy-tailed woodrat
  Lake shore areas: skunk, raccoon, great horned owl, short-eared owl.
caption: Mule deer
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