Quick facts about some of the animals we have seen today.
Black bears eat mostly berries, nuts, grasses, carrion, and insect larvae.
White-tailed deer are the most popular large game animal in the USA.
The mouth of an opossum holds an impressive 50 teeth.
Black bears have color vision and a keen sense of smell.
A raccoon can run at speeds of up to 15 miles per hour.
Black bears are good tree climbers and swimmers.
In spring, female raccoons give birth to three or four young. The baby raccoon’s eyes do not open until 20 days or so after birth. It won’t have rings on its tail, or a mask around its eyes, until it’s older. Baby raccoons stay in the den for eight to ten weeks. The mother raccoon is very protective of her babies—she won’t even let the father near them.
Black bears very intelligent and curious.
Squirrels communicate with each other through various vocalisations and scent marking. They also use their tails as a signalling device, twitching it when uneasy to alert other squirrels of potential danger.
Black bears can run up to 35 miles per hour.
White-tailed deer are browse for food at dawn and dusk.
Black bears weigh an average of 125 to 600 pounds.
White-tailed deer have good eyesight and hearing.
Muskrats generally live about 1 year in the wild, occasionally up to 4 years. In good habitat and with little competition, muskrats are prolific. However, populations appear to be cyclical in nature and influenced by the availability of food. High populations of muskrats can greatly reduce aquatic vegetation, making the habitat less suitable for muskrats and other wildlife species.
Black bears go without food for up to 7 months during hibernation in northern ranges.
The bird really is named after the nation of Turkey. Early European visitors to the Americas saw the creature and it reminded them of a bird familiar to them back home known as a “Turkey bird.” It seems that the African guinea fowl made it to Europe in the Middle Ages via Turkey and the similarity to the American bird gave rise to the same name being applied.
On the mammal IQ scale raccoons rank higher than cats and just below monkeys.
Muskrats can remain underwater for as long as 20 minutes. With their webbed hind feet acting as paddles and their tail as a rudder, they swim at a speed of up to 3 miles per hour and can even swim backwards. Muskrats also can give a warning slap with the tail, similar to the beaver.
Black bears usually give birth to 2 to 3 cubs during the mother's sleep every other year.
Turkeys’ gobbles can be heard a mile or more away and they are fast on their feet with a top running speed of about 25 miles per hour or about the same as a human track star.
Raccoons have been kept as pets (President Coolidge and his wife had one named Rebecca), and while young, seem happy to be in human company. As they mature, especially during mating season, they can become increasingly destructive and aggressive.
White-tail deer are good swimmers and will use large streams and lakes to escape predators.
Christopher Columbus is the first individual we know of to have written about the species.
Black bears can live over 25 years in the wild (average age in the wild is 18).
The wild turkey’s bald head can change color in seconds with excitement or emotion. The birds’ heads can be red, (pink) white or blue.
A raccoon’s hands are so nimble they can unlace a shoe, unlatch a cage and deftly retrieve coins as thin as dimes from your shirt pocket.
Black bears are typically shy and easily frightened.
Only male deer grow antlers, which are shed each year.
Squirrels tend to run in erratic paths. This is intended to deceive potential predators as to its chosen direction so that it may escape.
Raccoons have a large array of vocalizations. Scientists have determined that they can make over 51 different sounds! They purr, whistle, growl, hiss, scream and even whinny.
A young deer is called a fawn. An adult male deer is called a buck. The female is called a doe.
The raccoon’s scientific name, Procyon lotor, means “washer dog” although it is a closer relative to the bear family.
A fisher has a long, slim body with short legs, rounded ears, and a bushy tail. Fishers are larger and darker than martens and have thick fur. Fishers are agile and swift and are also excellent climbers.
Squirrels are very trusting animals, and are of the very few wild animal species which will eat out of a person’s hand.
The raccoon has the ability to rotate their hind feet a full 180 degrees to allow for their ability to climb down from trees head first.
The squirrel is the Native American symbol for preparation, trust and thriftiness.
Adult male turkeys are called toms and females are called hens. Very young birds are poults and adolescents are called jakes.
The word raccoon, derived from the Algonquin Indian word “arakun” means “he scratches with hands”.
Opossums have superpowers against snakes. They have partial or total immunity to the venom produced by rattlesnakes, cottonmouths and other pit vipers.
Tom turkeys show courting behaviors much like the peacock with displays of their tails. Males also use other of their birdlike “junk” to attract hens including a bright snood on top of their beaks and a wiggling wattle under their beaks
Opossums are mostly immune to rabies, and in fact, they are eight times less likely to carry rabies compared to wild dogs.
Raccoons are more likely to be killed by an automobile than by another predator.
When a squirrel is scared and feels that it is in danger, it will at first remain motionless. If it is on the ground, it will run to a nearby tree and climb to safety, and if it is already in a tree it will circle the trunk and press up against the bark tightly with its body.
The wild turkey’s bald head can change color in seconds with excitement or emotion. The birds’ heads can be red, (pink) white or blue