Beth Pratt has spent decades giving voice to Yosemite’s wild residents, from bears and bighorn sheep to tiny salamanders and alpine butterflies. In her new book, Yosemite Wildlife, Pratt brings readers into the hidden world of creatures that live among the park’s iconic cliffs, waterfalls, and valleys — animals whose stories are as fascinating as the landscapes they inhabit.
Yosemite Wildlife is the first book in nearly a century that is entirely devoted to Yosemite’s wildlife, capturing both their remarkable behaviors and the challenges they face in a changing world. Through Pratt’s inviting prose and thoughtful observations — accompanied by Robb Hirsch’s stunning photography — Yosemite Wildlife highlights why these animals matter, why Yosemite matters, and why every visitor can play a role in protecting the park.
Join Beth Pratt in this Q&A to discover the inspiration behind Yosemite Wildlife, the encounters that shaped it, and what she hopes readers will take away after turning the final page.
What inspired you to write Yosemite Wildlife?
In 1992, I visited Yosemite National Park for the first time. I wandered through Yosemite Valley in the middle of a snowstorm, made a snowman in the Valley, did snow angels under the watch of El Captain, and gazed in amazement at a coyote who strolled by and stopped to consider me for a moment.
Never before had I seen a coyote in the wild. And never had I seen such grandeur, in size and in spirit, like the Yosemite landscape. “Yosemite claimed me,” as the actor and environmentalist Robert Redford once said.
And on that day, the book Yosemite Wildlife was born. I recorded the experience in my journal, and from that moment, I began to write a book on Yosemite’s amazing wildlife.
In 1993, I created a handmade book and have been working on this goal ever since.
Also important to me, however, was continuing the incredible legacy of Joseph Grinnell and Tracy Irwin Storer, who published their seminal and pioneering work, Animal Life in the Yosemite in 1924. Their book quickly became my “bible” early on, and it surprised me that no other book solely focused on the park’s wildlife had been published since then. My mission for most of my adult life has been to correct this oversight.
Is there one encounter from your time in Yosemite that stands out as especially meaningful?
For me, every wild encounter, whether it be with a bear or a butterfly, is full of marvel. I recount so many meaningful encounters in the book — it’s hard to pick just one.
A sighting that truly does stand out was an incident I witnessed while watching pika in a talus field. A marmot had been sunbathing near me. Suddenly, the marmot stood up at full attention, screeched loudly, and charged a coyote that had approached.
The coyote, surprisingly, fled.
Moments like that certainly challenge the traditional notions of predator-prey relationships. I love getting glimpses like that into the wild world and seeing behavior that challenges our human assumptions.
The book features everything from black bears and great gray owls to tiny creatures like dragonflies and frogs. How did you decide which species to include?
I spent decades observing in the field, conducting library research, and doing interviews and even social media polls to help me narrow down what species to feature in Yosemite Wildlife. I focused on the stories of the animals who are unique to Yosemite or the Sierra Nevada or who have unique stories within the context of this landscape.
The American robin, for example, while a favorite of mine, is a well-known bird and doesn’t need as much ink in this book as, say, the Mount Lyell salamander, a rare endemic of the region.
Yosemite Wildlife features a stunning 16-page spread, “An Ode to Yosemite’s Black Bear,” in which Pratt highlights what an amazing creature the black bear truly is. Photo by Robb Hirsch.
What’s one surprising fact or story from the book that might change how people think about Yosemite’s wildlife?
The most surprising fact for me that came out of my research was that some snakes are really good rock climbers! I had no idea. When I did interviews with people who spend time on Yosemite big walls, I couldn’t believe at first how many recounted sightings of rattlesnakes or king snakes — even 1,000 feet up these cliffs.
Many readers know you as an advocate for connecting people with the natural world. How can spending time in Yosemite and learning about its wildlife deepen that connection?
Connecting with wildlife connects us to a world bigger than ourselves. In Yosemite, it’s easy to get lost in the magnificence of the landscape, but seeking out the stories behind the scenery of the living animals who call the park home is inspiring. I think of the pika who live a tough existence under the snow all winter eating dried vegetation to survive, or of the alpine butterflies who flutter over 12,000-foot mountain passes with tattered wings. Stories like these challenge the idea of a pyramid of life with humans at the top — instead, we start to see us all as interconnected.
What do you hope readers take away from Yosemite Wildlife?
That amidst the grandeur of Yosemite’s scenery, a magical and marvelous wild world exists. People may come to gaze at El Capitan and Half Dome, but I want people to also realize these iconic Yosemite landscapes are also somebody’s home.
I also hope readers will get lost in Robb Hirsch’s incredible photography and the stories his images tell about the lives of these animals. His experience over decades in photographing the wild world made him the perfect photographic partner for the book.
And I hope readers will not just fall in love with some of Yosemite’s remarkable wildlife — like the incomparable pika or the charming American dipper — but also become advocates for their protection. Yosemite and all national parks are critical refuges for wildlife.
Whether you’re a lifelong Yosemite visitor or discovering the park’s wonders for the first time, Yosemite Wildlife offers a window into the secret lives of the animals that call this iconic landscape home. The book is both a celebration and a call to care for Yosemite’s wild world.
“I made a commitment thirty years ago to give a voice to Yosemite’s wild world — to tell their stories,” says Pratt. “It’s been a wonderful journey of discovery. And spending so much time with these animal friends has only deepened my commitment to them and advocating for their continued protection and the protection of special places like Yosemite.”
Order your copy today at shop.yosemite.org and explore the park through the eyes of Yosemite’s remarkable wildlife!
