Winter is a time of difficulty for most animals. Some of them like the ground squirrels hibernate and sleep the winter away, but the majority must rustle their “daily bread.” Winter storms drive the mule deer down from the high country. Mice tunnel through the snow in search of food. The white-tailed jackrabbit and the snowshoe hare change their coats from brown to white. In particularly hard winters the animals die in great numbers, first the weak and old, then the young, and sometimes even animals in prime condition fail to survive. The reptiles that make their homes in the Quarry Area of Dinosaur National Monument are few in number. The rattlesnake is rare and seldom seen. The only common snake is the bull or gopher snake. This snake can appear very threatening as it swells its body and hisses loudly, but it is not poisonous. Gopher snakes climb well and are often seen in trees where they hunt for eggs and young birds. Two lizards are commonly seen here during the summer. The side-blotched lizard is about 1¾ to 2⅛ inches long with a somewhat longer tail. These small brown lizards are frequently seen among the rocks near the parking and picnic areas. The name, side-blotched lizard, is taken from the black or bluish-black area behind the foreleg of the males. These lizards are also called brown utas. The western whiptail is also a very common lizard. As its name suggests, it has a very long slender tail which it lashes from side to side as it runs. This lizard is easily distinguished from the side-blotched lizard by its larger size, longer more slender tail, and the presence of bars and spots of black upon its back. In late summer, junior-sized young whiptails appear, but their 3-inch total length is unimpressive compared to 8-inch adults. The young are quite handsome with pleasing body colors and bright-blue tails. Often lizards are seen whose tails are missing. When the tail is pulled or injured it can be shed by its owner. The shed tail may wriggle for several minutes and attract the predator’s attention while the lizard escapes. The tailless lizard soon grows another one that is usually recognizable by its subdued or otherwise different color pattern. Sometimes the broken tail does not fall off so it and the new tail form a fork. In summary then, we see that this apparently lifeless desert does support a wide variety of living things and a great number of individuals. Some of them, the plants and small animals, live here all year round while others, such as most birds, live here only part of the time. But whatever the length of stay, all living things must adapt themselves to existing conditions at the time of their stay. If they cannot adapt to static or changing conditions they must move or become extinct.