Mammals of Maine Ermine Oak Beech Red Squirrel Gray Squirrel Chipmunk Little Brown Bat Flying Squirrel Fisher Opossum Porcupine Raccoon Mink Woodchuck American Marten Skunk Beaver Muskrat Otter New England Cottontail Bobcat Snowshoe Hare Red Fox Canada Lynx Mountain Lion (extirpated) Coyote Wolf (extirpated) Black Bear Drawings by Carol H. Kutz© 2001 Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife 284 State Street, SHS 41 Augusta, Maine 04333 Moose www.mefi shwildlife.com White-tailed Deer White Pine Black Spruce Oak Mammals of Maine Beech 8 species grow in a often found growing in variety of habitats Red Squirrel Gray Squirrel pure stands in moist, rich statewide found statewide common in Maine‛s central & southern soils at the top of the feeds heavily on pine seeds habitats beechnuts are important wildlife food list leaves ‘middens‛ or piles of shredded found strictly around mast (nut) fall food for bears, squir- acorns are favorites of cones on tree stumps or the forest fl oor producing trees rels, raccoons & gamebirds deer, bear, squirrels, also eats fungi, bird eggs & insects can have 2 litters a year if the beech mast crop turkeys, woodducks & important prey for fi sher, marten & er- smells its way to the nuts it buries; fails for a season, many spe- small rodents mines even in winter under a foot of snow cies of wildlife goes hungry Ermine Chipmunk Flying Squirrel Little Brown Bat also called the long-tailed weasel active during the day found statewide but seldom seen win- the only mammal that can fl y changes pelage from summer brown to ter nests in hollow trees & bird houses wingspan of 8-9” eats nuts, berries, mushrooms & even winter white baby birds & eggs visits bird feeders at night may catch up to 600 moths & must eat 2/3 of its body weight each likes open woodlands, backyards does not ‘fl y‛ but glides from tree to thousands of mosquitoes a night day to maintain its metabolic needs will climb trees tree on large skin fl aps that open up colonizes & roosts in groups in feeds on mice, squirrels, frogs, insects from its sides buildings, attics, caves & tree cavities spends most time foraging on the ground found statewide in open woods, strictly nocturnal hibernates or migrates south lives underground during winter where meadows, suburban areas food is cached eats acorns, nuts, seeds; even bird very susceptible to rabies uses previously excavated burrows or does not hibernate eggs & young large brushpiles for denning Fisher Porcupine Raccoon Opossum one of the few predators of lives throughout Maine name comes from Native American the only marsupial (pouched) animal on porcupines; also feeds on snowshoe hare prefers hardwood/hemlock forests word arakunem the N. American continent & squirrels cannot throw its 20,000+ quills but habitats include woods, suburbs, has 50 teeth, more than any other N.A. arboreal - often found in trees swats attackers with a strong tail and agricultural fi elds, wetlands land mammal; an omnivore, it eats fruits, found in coniferous & mixed forests embeds quills into their bodies omnivorous; eats anything edible worms, insects, eggs, & anything edible dens in hollow trees, logs, or ground gives birth to one pup annually does not hibernate but during periods recently expanded its range northward holes under large boulders craves salt & may gnaw on wooden tool of very cold weather may den up & sleep to include Maine; been reported to north active throughout winter handles suseptible to canine distemper & rabies central part of the state breeds in March; delayed implantation uses its keen sense of touch to feel when cornered, falls into a deathlike produces 1-6 kits 1 year later for food in streams, under logs, etc. state (playing ‘possum) Mink Woodchuck Beaver Striped Skunk lives statewide in wetland habitats a true hibernator; body temperature the only animal that can alter habitats; found throughout Maine in suburbs, open along streams, ponds & rivers drops from 97 to less than 40 degrees (by damming rivers & streams) woodlands & agricultural fi elds eats fi sh, frogs, ducks, mice, for up to 6 months eats bark, twigs, buds, inner cambium an omnivore, skunks eat insects, berries, freshwater mussels & insects digs burrows up to 5‛ wide and 30‛ long builds ‘lodges‛ of sticks & mud in which fruits, birds‛ eggs, nuts, corn and more mainly nocturnal eats clover, dandelions, fruits, garden families spend the winter months skunk musk is composed of butylmer- look for the characteristic white chin & vegetables may build homes in river or lake banks captan, a sulfur-alcohol compound secre- slim dark brown body active mornings & late afternoon important furbearer in Maine; but ated by the anal glands in a mist or droplet active year-round abandoned burrows provide denning becoming a nuisance animal when its dam stream an important furbearer in Maine sites for opossums, raccoons, foxes & work fl oods woodlots, roads & fi elds bold stripes advertise ‘do not disturb‛ skunks historically & economically important as a routine prey item for great horned owls gives a sharp whistle as an alarm call early trappers explored Maine territory American Marten Muskrat Snowshoe Hare New England Cottontail commonly called the ‘pine marten‛ found statewide in wetlands with dense lives in open woodlands with dense at the northern limit of its range in found in a variety of mixed forest emergent vegetation shrubby cover statewide southern Maine; uncommon to rare here habitats in northern Maine eats cattails, reeds, rushes & pond- eats clover, grasses, twigs, buds & bark lives in brushy, scrubby habitat like eats voles, moles, red squirrels, birds weeds; some mussels, insects, crayfi sh changes pelage from summer brown to abandoned farmland which is becoming & fruits, nuts, berries builds small lodges out of aquatic plants winter white quite rare in southern Maine important Maine furbearer active year-round most important prey for lynx eats clover, grasses, twigs, buds, & bark prefers to den in tree cavities important furbearer in Maine very large feet allow it to move freely distinguished from Eastern Cottontail breeds late June-Sept. with 7-8 stays under water for up to 15 minutes on top of snow pack by shorter ears with a black line on the months of delayed implantation; young creates a ‘V‛ shaped wave as it swims can leap up to 12 feet in a single bound edges, smaller body, & a black spot born mid March-April & reach speeds of up to 30mph between ears Otter Canada Lynx Bobcat Mountain Lion the most aquatic member of the long an uncommon carnivore in northern likes brushy, rocky woodlands considered extirpated in Maine although weasel family; lives in/along rivers, & western Maine interspersed with old roads & clearings hundreds of sightings have been reported streams, ponds & lakes prominent ear tufts, longer legs, larger takes rabbits, squirrels, birds & deer some tracks here have been verifi ed eats fi sh, frogs, crayfi sh, mussels, tur- paws & tawny-grey fur distinguish it from for food no known breeding population tles & even young beavers a bobcat can swim well but would rather not called catamount, puma, cougar, painter highly mobile ‘circut riders‛; maintain a principle food is snowshoe hare nocturnal; but in winter active during preys on beaver, deer, moose, small circular travel route over 20 miles Maine, Washington & Montana only daytime, too mammals; caches larger prey otter ‘slides‛ on grass, mud or snow are states in lower 48 with lynx populations a limited annual hunting & trapping preferred habitats are wooded swamps, signatures of its fun-loving nature listed as a federally threatened species season riparian areas, mountain forests an important Maine furbearer protected from hunting/trapping an important Maine furbearer protected by state/federal law Red Fox Coyote Wolf Black Bear found statewide roams statewide in habitats from deep extirpated from Maine since the early one of our most important game animals likes open woods & farm lands but has woods to city streets 1900s; recent occurrences here in 1993 & lives in forest landscapes interspersed with adapted to city life, too will eat anything edible 1996; completely protected by law clearings, wetlands & regenerating stands may avoid areas with established keeps its tail down as it runs nearest wolf population in Quebec only are not true hibernators, but go through coyote populations at dawn & dusk barks, yelps, yaps and 75 miles from the Maine state border ‘carnivorean lethargy‛; den up for up to 6 eats fruits, berries, small mammals, howls IFW conducts winter wolf snow track months/yr but can easily be awakened birds & carrion stalks prey by freezing its position & surveys; & has conducted howling surveys classifi ed as carnivores, yet larger part may use abandoned woodchuck burrows then pouncing with limited response from coyotes only of diet is insects, fruits, grasses, to den responds to hunting pressure by having runs with its tail horizontal to its body beechnuts, acorns & hazelnuts an important Maine furbearer larger litters of pups long legs also distinguish from coyotes 1-3 cubs born Jan.-Feb. every other year White Pine Moose White-tailed Deer Black Spruce is the Maine state tree & fl ower largest North American land mammal a Maine population of over 300,000; prefers wet soils & bogs found statewide found throughout Maine; expanding its about 10-15% harvested each year are found statewide valuable for wildlife cover, range south our deer herd has increased since the cones, needles & twigs provide