Wild turkeys are also common.
The black-tailed deer are still common and generally distributed. In
winter the heavy snow drives them to a lower range in the pinon belt
toward the Little Colorado and also down the slope of Tonto Basin, both
of these areas lying outside the reserve. The Arizona white-tailed deer
is resident throughout the year in comparatively small numbers on the
brushy slopes of Tonto Basin, and sometimes strays up in summer into the
border of the pine forest. Antelope were once plentiful on the plains
of the Little Colorado, and in summer ranged through the open yellow
pine forest now included in the reserve. They still occur, in very
limited numbers, in this forest during the summer, and at the first
snowfall descend to the lower border of the pinon belt and adjacent
grassy plains. Both species of bears occur throughout the pine forests
in summer, often following sheep herds. As winter approaches and the
sheep are moved out of the higher ranges, many of the bears go over "The
Rim" to the slopes of Tonto Basin, where they find acorns, juniper
berries and other food, until cold weather causes them to hibernate.
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