U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge 2145 Key Wallace Dr. Cambridge, MD 21613 410/228 2677 Blackwater Fax: 410/221 7738 Email: [email protected] http://www.fws.gov/blackwater National Wildlife U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Refuge http://www.fws.gov

For Refuge Information 1 800/344 WILD Mammals

Federal Relay Service for the deaf and hard-of-hearing 1 800/877 8339 Voice and TTY

July 2008

Red Fox Kit ©Mary Konchar Mammals Although the mammals A mammal is a warm-blooded animal with hair. Female mammals have mammary glands that produce milk of Blackwater are often for their young. overlooked in favor of Konchar©Mary Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), Common. the more abundant and Gray with buff underfur and a bushy flattened tail. Seen in the refuge woodlands. Prefers nut-producing conspicuous bird life, hardwood trees. A tree-dweller, more the refuge hosts a wide so than the fox squirrel. Delmarva Fox Squirrel variety of mammals, Gray Squirrel (Sciurus niger cinereus), Common. Seen in the woods bordering Wildlife Drive. Light gray fur and larger than from the opossum to the the gray squirrel. Spends more time on the ground than the gray squirrel. white-tailed deer. Feeds in corn and soy bean fields. Currently listed as an endangered species. Forest management programs are oriented towards protecting this squirrel.

Southern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys volans), Uncommon. A nocturnal small squirrel with a silky gray-brown coat and a fold of skin between front and hind legs.

Rice Rat (Oryzomys palustris), Common. Body and tail gray-brown above and white below. Found throughout the brackish marshes.

White-footed Mouse (Peromyscus leucopus), Common. Body is rich reddish-brown above with a white belly and feet. Abundant in wooded and brushy areas.

Meadow Vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus), Common. A “field mouse” with variable color, long tail and silver-tipped hair on belly. Abundant in the marsh, where it builds its nest in muskrat houses. Delmarva Fox Squirrel ©Mary Konchar USFWS Woodland Vole Opossum (Pitymys pinetorum), Common. (Didelphis virginiana), Common. Commonly called a pine vole. White-gray with a white head and Reddish-brown fur, buff underside throat. Seen in wooded areas and and a short tail. Likes dry land wood margins. Occasionally seen habitats. along roadsides at night. It is the only USFWS Opossum mammal with a pouch in the U.S.

Least Shrew (Cryptotis parva), Common. Gray- brown body with a short tail. Seen in the marsh or grassy fields.

Masked Shrew Muskrat (Sorex cinereus), Uncommon. Resembles a mouse with a long Muskrat pointed snout. Has a brown body, a (Ondatra zibethicus), Common. silver-gray belly and a long brown Dense dark brown fur, which is tail. Likes moist habitats. lighter on sides and white on throat. Long, naked tail that is higher than Short-tailed Shrew it is wide. One of the most abundant (Blarina brevicauda), Common. The mammals at Blackwater. Their large largest shrew in North America. dome-shaped houses may be seen Brown coloring all over and a short throughout the marsh. tail. Found in damp woodland soil USFWS habitats.

Starnose Mole (Condylura cristata), Common. Has black fur, a long hairy tail and twenty two pink fleshy tentacles on nose. Lives in damp soil.

Eastern Mole (Scalopus aquaticus), Common. Short, velvety fur ranges from gray Nutria to brownish-tan. Has no visible eyes and a very short, naked tail. Found in Nutria cultivated fields. (Myocastor coypus), Uncommon. An invasive, aquatic rodent with a brown Little Brown Bat body, rounded tail and long orange (Myotis lucifugus), Common. Glossy front teeth. Often mistaken for a fur of varying shades of brown and a beaver. The nutria compete with the hairless wing. Roosts in hollow trees. native muskrat, waterfowl and other marsh residents for habitat resources. Big Brown Bat They are causing considerable (Eptesicus fuscus), Uncommon. A damage to the wetlands through large glossy brown bat with a paler their feeding activities. Most nutria belly and black wings. Varied habitat. have been removed from the refuge and efforts are being made to control nutria in surrounding marsh areas. River Otter River Fox Red Common. Very vulpes), (Vulpes and chin underparts, white with Red white a with tail bushy Long, throat. brushy areas and wooded Inhabits tip. rodents, rabbits, on feeds it where birds. and fox Gray , cinereoargenteus) (Urocyon with gray Grizzled Uncommon. tipped black a and accents reddish areas. wooded heavily Prefers tail. Otter River Uncommon. canadensis), (Lutra broad body, elongated with Aquatic Seen feet. webbed and head flattened Drive. Wildlife of banks along Beaver A Common. canadensis), (Castor brown soft,dark with rodent large is that tail black large, a Has fur. paddle- and flattened horizontally habitats. aquatic in Found shaped. Weasel Longtail Uncommon. frenata), (Mustela short and long-bodied Brown, in Common tail. long a with legged marsh. and brushland,fields Mink Uncommon. vison), (Mustela long fur, black to chocolate Lustrous chin. on spots white and tail bushy habitats. aquatic all in found be May USFWS

Bat Eastern Red (Lasiurus Common. , borealis) on white with chestnut to red Bright in Seen shoulders. and breast back, woodlands. Bat Evening Uncommon. , humeralis) (Nycticeius and below paler body, brown Reddish habitat. Woodland wings. hairless Rabbit Eastern Cottontail Common. floridanus), (Sylvilagus white a with rabbit gray-brown A brushyin Seen tail. cottony dikes. and roads bordering thickets and spring during seen Frequently summer. Rat Black Brown Uncommon. Rattus), (Rattus sparsely scaly long, a with gray or tail. haired NorwayRat norvegicus),(Rattus Common. shorter tail scaly a with Brown-gray rat. black the than Mouse House Gray- Common. musculus), (Mus around seen and over all brown areas. wild in and buildings refuge Woodchuck (MarmotaCommon. monax), are groundhogs or Woodchucks bushy a with over all brown grizzled areas. wooded and fields in Seen tail.

Woodchuck

Cottontail Rabbit Cottontail Eastern Melissa Zarou/USFWS ©Larry Hitchens USFWS Striped Skunk (Mephitis mephitis), Common. Black with two broad white stripes on head and shoulders. Common in brushy areas of the refuge. USFWS

Raccoon Sika Deer Sika Deer Raccoon (Cervus nippon), Very Common. (Procyon lotor), Very Common. Medium sized with many white spots Brown with black and gray below. on back and sides and a large white Black face mask outlined in white and rump patch. Found in the more a ringed tail. Seen in wooded areas secluded areas of the refuge. bordering water. Varied diet.

©Jim Bowser Mammals that Northern Long-eared Bat may occur on the (Myotis septentrionalis) refuge: Silver-haired Bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans) May be seen during migration (March- April, October- November).

Eastern Pipistrell (Perimyotis subflavus)

Hoary Bat (Lasiurus cinereus) May be seen during migration.

Southern Bog Lemming White-tailed Deer (Synaptomys cooperi) White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus viginianus), Very Meadow Jumping Mouse Common. Tan, red-brown or gray (Zapus hudsonius) with brown tail edged in white. Often seen at dusk in tree-bordered fields. Coyote (Canis latrans) U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Blackwater is one of more than 550 The mission of the national wildlife refuges administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Wildlife Refuge U.S. Fish and Wildlife System is a network of lands and waters managed specifically for the Service is working protection of wildlife and wildlife habitat, and represents the most with others to conserve, comprehensive wildlife management program in the world. Units of the system stretch across the United protect and enhance States from northern Alaska to the Florida Keys and include small fish, wildlife, plants and islands of the Caribbean and South Pacific. The character of refuges is as their habitats for the diverse as the nation itself.

The Service also manages national continuing benefit of the fish hatcheries, and provides federal leadership in habitat protection, American people. fish and wildlife research, technical assistance and the conservation and protection of migratory birds, certain marine mammals, and threatened and endangered species.