Golden eagles were frequently observed on the study area. 

 Three nests were located on cliffs in the same area (Figure 

 32). One of the nests was active in 1980 and fledged one 

 female eagle (Table 44). Many other suitable nest sites 

 existed for eagles in large pine trees on ridges and large 

 cottonwoods in the creekbottoms. Sone nests may not have 

 been detected due to the difficulty of finding stick nests 

 in ponderosa pine forests. Most of the golden eagle observations 

 were located around two ridges covered with ponderosa pine 

 forest, indicating possible nests. 



Harriers : 'larsh hawks were common along the hay meadows on 

 Hanging Woman Creek. They probably nested on the study area, 

 but no nests were located. 



Falcons : One prairie falcon aerie was located on a cliff 

 (Figure 32). Other suitable nest potholes were located on 

 cliffs in the north end of the study area. Prairie falcons 

 were usually seen hunting over the hay meadows along Hanging 

 Woman Creek. 



Kestrels were the most common falcon in the study area. They 

 mainly utilized dead pine snags found along ridges for nesting. 



Owls : Great horned owls were common in the study area. Two 

 nests were found in 1979, one in an old magpie nest and the 

 other in a pothole on a cliff. 



One pair of burrowing owls nested on a prairie dog town in 1979 

 and 1980 (Figure 32). They fledged five young in 1979. No 

 brood counts were made in 1980. Another burrowing owl was 

 sighted along a road at the north edge of the study area on 

 26 June 1980 (Figure 32). It may have been associated with a 

 prairie dog town located just off the study area. 



Non-game Mammals 



Fifteen species of mammals were observed on the study area 

 (Table 45). The blacktail prairie dog was listed by Flath 

 (1979b) as a species of special interest or concern. 



Two small-mammal traplines were located in the study area, one 

 in grassland and one in sagebrush habitat (Figure 31) . 

 Table 46 lists the total trap nights, trapping success, and 

 numbers of each species caught in each habitat. The sagebrush 

 habitat supported the most species and the highest trapping 

 success, 



Blacktail prairie dog towns are shown in Figure 34o Exact 

 locations and approximate size are given in table 47„ All towns 

 were searched for sign of black-footed ferrets with negative 

 results. 



