The Amazing Wildlife in Cades Cove

-
In 2017, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park welcomed over eleven million visitors. These visitors come from all across the country to see the beautiful scenery and all the wildlife that resides in the Smoky Mountains. The Smoky Mountains is teeming with wildlife and the best place to see these animals is in Cades Cove. In this week’s blog, Cades Cove Heritage Tours will tell you all about the wildlife to watch for on your next trip through Cades Cove. Make sure you bring your camera!

Black Bear

Always the crowd favorite! There are about 1,500 black bears that live in the Great Smoky National Park and the best place to spot one is in Cades Cove. Bears are primarily vegetarian. They eat berries, nuts, insects, and plants so watch for them in the wooded areas and don’t forget to look up in the trees! Spotting a bear in Cades Cove is very common. Keep an eye out in the field edges where the grasses meet the forest. The best time to look for bears is early in the morning or early in the evening.

White Tail Deer

White Tail are a very common sight throughout the Smokies. Look for them in the wooded areas and as they graze on grasses in open fields. With Cades Coves open meadows, it is the best place to go to spot them.

Fox

Both red and gray foxes are found in the Smokies. The habitat of woods and open fields draw a lot of foxes to Cades Cove.

Bobcat

Consider yourself very lucky if you spot a bobcat in Cades Cove. These guys are mostly nocturnal and are very reclusive. They are thought to be the only felines that live in the park.

Coyote

Like the bobcat, coyotes are mostly active at night. Although coyotes live in many different habitats all over the country and are plentiful here, it’s fairly rare to spot one. If you feel lucky, watch for them at dawn or dusk when they are on the move. 

Beaver

The popularity of the beaver hat at the beginning of the twentieth century almost eliminated beavers in the United States. Beavers have been reintroduced and released in the North Carolina side of the park and beavers are migrating to Cades Cove. The beavers love the areas with slow waters and plentiful trees!

Raccoon

Most visitors to Cades Cove will not get a chance to see these cute little critters. Not because of the lack of them, they are nocturnal and mainly come out after dark and after Cades Cove loop road has closed. 

Otters

Otters were once very common in Cades Cove. They were almost eliminated from the park in the 1920s. 140 otters were reintroduced in the 1980s and under protective regulations, the otters are making a comeback, especially in Abrams Creek and Little River.

Bonus: Elk

Another fan favorite is the Elk! Hunted to extinction in the Smoky Mountains by the mid-1800s, elk were reintroduced to the Smoky Mountains National Park in 2001 and now the numbers are as many as 200 elk in the park! To see these amazing animals, you will have to venture to the North Carolina side of the park. Most of the elk stay in the Cataloochee Valley. 

Cades Cove Heritage Tours offers both elk and bear viewing tours with retired NPS wildlife resource officer Kim Delozier. Check out our website for dates and all the details! With many tours offered at Cades Cove Heritage Tours the special opportunity to see the wildlife of the Smoky Mountains is in your favor here in Cades Cove. Keep your eyes out and look for that great photo opportunity to catch these majestic creatures in their natural setting.


CADES COVE HERITAGE TOURS
865-448-8838
P.O. Box 268
Townsend, TN 37882-0268
info@cadescoveheritagetours.org


Location: Townsend, TN 37882, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Best Smoky Mountains Tour Experience!

-
Image
Cades Cove Heritage Tours offers the best tours of the Great Smoky Mountains National Par k! Some people choose to try and tour the Smokies on their own. but did you know that, on average, only 1 in 100 people come into contact with a Park Ranger when visiting the Cades Cove area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park? The vast area can be overwhelming to try touring on your own, and you may miss several interesting stops and turns along the way. Schedule a tour with Cades Cove Heritage Tours to experience the ecology and history of Cades Cove like never before! Read on to learn more about why touring with us is the best way to experience Cades Cove at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park ! Celebrity Tour Guides The guides at Cades Cove Heritage Tours are hand-picked for their expertise in the area and their unique ability to captivate their audience. In 2019, we've had three celebrities guiding groups through the Smoky Mountains while providing interesting st
Read more

How the 1900s Logging Boom Shaped the Great Smoky Mountains

-
Image
The Great Smoky Mountains boast a gorgeous landscape, but they also have a rich history that dates back to the 1900s. Read on to learn some of the events that shaped the Smokies into the incredible destination it is today. You can learn even more about the history that shaped this beautiful place by booking a tour with Cades Cove Heritage Tour s and one of our several expert guides. We love sharing the story of the Great Smoky Mountains with visitors! Check our availability here . Early Settlers White settlers started arriving to this Cherokee Indian Territory in the late 1700s and early 1800s. These settlers lived of the land – hunting, fishing, raising livestock, and growing crops to feed their families. They also used timber from the area to build their homes and fences. While they were utilizing the land’s resources, they were self-sufficient and not depleting the supply in massive quantities. That was all about to change. Logging Boom The lumbering industry arrived at
Read more