I'm planning a hike in the White Mountains of California; see also this related question. So far, all my hiking have either been day hikes in the densely populated hikes, or treks for up to three weeks in the mountains of Sápmi (where the only significant risks are river crossings and getting lost). Hiking in desert mountains in spring will certainly be a different experience, requiring additional considerations.
The question As an experienced backpacker in the Eastern US, what should I know before hiking in the Western US? inquires what an eastern US backpacker should know in the western US, and probably all those points apply to me as well (although coming from Europe, there may be points an eastern-US backpacker would be aware of, but not me...). An answer raises three points: Altitude, Wildlife, and Weather. The altitude and wildlife points clearly apply directly to me. My question is specifically about wildlife. Quoting from the answer:
Be aware of what [wildlife] each region has and how to identify and deal with them
Wilderness.net describes the White Mountains, including one sentence about wildlife:
The variety of steep terrain, rolling plateaus, and deep canyons makes for excellent habitat for desert bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope and mule deer
Considering backpacking practices, do I need to take any specific consideration of those animals? Are there other animals that I need to take into consideration, such as bears or pumas? Do they live in the desert at all?
I may be naive not to expect any dangers from these pronghorn antelopes. Source: USDA via Wikimedia Commons