Next month I have a quick story running on Backpacker‘s website: THE TOP TEN CUTEST ANIMALS IN OUR NATIONAL PARKS.
This is a dangerous task. If I screw the list up the internet will basically destroy me, so I decided to first choose the cutest animal in every national park using the following rules:
1.) Smaller is cuter.
2.) Fatter is cuter.
3.) Fluffier is cuter.
4.) The animal must be native.
5.) NO SNAKES. Snakes are not cute.
6.) In the end, the list is completely arbitrary.
The final list is possibly mankind’s greatest achievement: this is my Pieta, my Sistine Chapel, my In Search of Lost Time. It is simply too important not to share. Since I don’t want to spoil the final TOP 10 list, I’ve marked those that made final selection as REDACTED. You’ll have just have to read the article when it comes out (which I’ll link to HERE and on the Lesser Places homepage).
Acadia: REDACTED
American Samoa: Humpback Whale
Photo Credit: NOAA
You wish you were big enough to give a humpback whale a hug.
Arches: Desert Cottontail
Photo Credit: Andrew Kuhn/NPS
Would you have really been upset if this entire list had just been rabbits?
Badlands: Black Tailed Prairie Dog
Photo Credit: Brocken Inaglory
There is no love purer than prairie dog love.
Big Bend: Javelina
Photo Credit: Ed Ouimette
Sure, Javelinas do attack people and pets occasionally, but their babies look cute all of the time.
Biscayne: REDACTED
Black Canyon of the Gunnison: Mule Deer
Photo Credit: USFWS
This mule deer might be caught out in the cold, but it melted my heart.
Bryce Canyon: REDACTED
Canyonlands: REDACTED
Capitol Reef: Striped Skunk
Photo Credit: Alison Wardman
Maybe skunks really just need more hugs.
Carlsbad Caverns: Ornate box turtle
Photo Credit: Patrick Feller
The name might be a little pretentious, but that’s not really the turtle’s fault, is it?
Channel Islands: Island Fox
Photo Credit: NPS
These little guys are are critical to the local ecosystem. More importantly: they love posing for over the shoulder pictures.
Congaree: Eastern Screech Owl
Photo Credit: NPS
The name doesn’t do it any favors, but one thing is true: this big ball of fluff is freaking cute.
Crater Lake: Golden Mantled Ground Squirrel
Photo Credit: Eborutta
“DON’T YOU DARE QUESTION MY CUTENESS.”
Cuyahoga Valley: American Beaver
Photo Credit: Stevehdc, flickr
Though once extirpated throughout the park, American beavers are making an amazing comeback throughout the Cuyahoga Valley. That’s lucky for us, because now we can spend all day staring at their fat little faces.
Death Valley: REDACTED
Denali: Caribou
Photo Credit: Jacob W. Frank/NPS
Yes, caribou are big and intimidating; however, they cuddle all winter to stay warm. What could be cuter than that?
Dry Tortugas: Masked Booby
Photo Credit: Drew Avery
There are few things sadder in the world than knowing this masked booby will grow up to be less fluffy.
Everglades: American Alligator
This little guy wants to eat your heart out.
Gates of the Arctic: Arctic Ground Squirrel
No wonder arctic ground squirrels can hibernate all winter—just looking at them makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.
Glacier: Mountain Goat
Photo Credit: USFWS
Goats? Cute. Goats with beards? Impossibly cute.
Glacier Bay: Harbor Seal
Photo Credit: Andreas Trepte
“My smile is cuter than your smile.”
Grand Canyon: California Condor
Photo Credit: USFWS
Is it possible to be so ugly that you are actually cute?
Grand Teton: Short-Tailed Weasel
Photo Credit: Ken Law
Its hard to forgive the short-tailed weasel for eating another star of this list, REDACTED, but then you look at that face and all is forgiven.
Great Basin: Pygmy Rabbit
Photo Credit: BLM
Do tiny rabbits eat tiny plants?
Great Sand Dunes: Ord’s Kangaroo Rat
Photo Credit: NPS
Do kangaroo rats fill their cheeks with seeds so they can eat later or so they can look cute now? No one knows.
Great Smokey Mountains: Black Bear
Photo Credit: USFWS
“Do you need a hug? You look like you need a hug.”
Guadalupe Mountains: Gray Fox
Photo Credit: James Marvin Phelps
If you don’t find the gray fox cute you are probably a terrible person.
4 thoughts on “The Cutest Animal In Every National Park: Acadia to Guadalupe Mountains”