Large Mammals
White-Tailed Deer
White-Tailed Deer
Habitat: adaptable creatures
Feeding Habits: herbivores, forbs, browse, shrubs, acorns, fungi, grasses
Life cycle:
1. Rut- October to November, dominant buck mating several does
2. Bucks establish territory
3. After 7 months, does give birth, normally May or June
4. Fawns are spotted at birth, with almost no odor
5. Usually spend their entire life within a 1-square-mile area
6. Average life expectancy is around 8 to 10 years, can live up to 16 years.
7. Mortality is high during first 6 months
Elk
Elk
Habitat: semi-open forest areas in mountains, mountain meadows,
and foothills; found in higher elevations
Feeding Habits: herbivores, grasses, forbs, brush and bark
Life cycle:
1. Rut- September
2. Bulls “bugle” or call to attract cows to advertise their presence
3. Gather herds of cows, polygamous
4. Cows gestation is 8.5 months, giving birth in May or June, twins
are rare
5. Calves are hidden for two weeks
6. Average life expectancy is around 8 to 10 years, can live up to 14
years.
Moose
Moose
Habitat: bogs, swamps, river bottoms, and other water sources
Feeding Habits: herbivores, mainly aquatic plants
Life cycle:
1. Rut- early fall
2. Bulls are very aggressive and mate with as many cows as possible
3. Calves, often twins, are born in the spring, do not have spots
4. Calves remain hidden for several days
5. Adults are vulnerable in winter, when snow limits mobility
Caribou
Caribou
Habitat: Northern tundra of Canada and Alaska
Feeding Habits: herbivores, grasses, lichens, shrubs, fungi
Life cycle:
1. Rut- September, Bulls breed as many cows as possible
2. Bulls gather harem of a dozen so cows guard them
jealously from challengers
3. Single calves (sometimes twins) are born in late May or
June
4. Calves are not spotted
5. Rarely exceed 6 to 8 years of age
Bison
Bison
Habitat: North America, found in largest numbers on open plains
Feeding Habits: herbivores, grazer of various grasses
Life cycle:
1. Breeding season is July and August
2. Bulls fight furiously over cows and breed as many as possible
3. Single calves (twins are rare)
4. Calves are not weans for 6 to 7 months of age.
5. Bison may live 10 to 20 years in the wild and 30 in captivity.
Pronghorn
Pronghorn
Habitat: Prairies and Plains
Feeding Habits: herbivores; browse and graze on sagebrush and a
variety of grasses
Life cycle:
1. Breeding Season is October to November
2. Dominant bucks gathering a harem of does
3. Does give birth to one to three young, often twins in May or June
4. Fawns are able to follow their mothers shortly after birth until
they can outrun the coyotes at 3 to 4 weeks of age
5. Average life span is 5 years
Mountain Goat
Mountain Goat (antelope)
Habitat: most inaccessible mountain tops in North America
Feeding Habits: herbivores; graze and browse on scrubs,
grasses, sedges, and lichens
Life cycle:
1. Breeding in November
2. Fights with other Billies
3. One to two kids are born in late April, May, or June
4. Young are capable of running within an hour of their birth
5. Follow their mother back to the herd in 3 to 4 days
6. Life span in the wild is about 10 years
Black Bear
Black Bear
Habitat: swamps, bogs, forested areas, and mountains,
rarely found in open areas
Feeding Habits: Omnivorous, very opportunistic, insects
or berries or grasses
Life cycle:
1. Solitary animals except when a female is in estrus
2. Young are born in January, weighing 8 ounces, 1 to 3
3. Stay with their mothers for 2 years
4. Life span is 12 to 15 years
Mountain Lion
Mountain Lion
Habitat: Forests, mountains, swamps, and deserts
Feeding Habits: carnivores, feeds heavily on white-tailed deer and mule deer.
Also feed son smaller mammals, such as dogs and livestock
Life cycle:
1. Solitary animals, except when females are receptive to male’s advances
2. Require vast areas of largely uninhabited space in which to survive.
3. Young are born in April or May, although cats are capable of breeding
anytime of the year
4. Two to five spotted kittens, dependent on mothers for two years
5. Females raise a litter every other year
6. Males sometimes kill kittens, so females are very protective of their
young
7. Can live up to 20 years in captivity, but 10 to 12 in the wild
Gray Wolf
Gray Wolf
Habitat: Open forests and tundra
Feeding Habits: carnivores, eat anything from mice to a moose, as well as ripe
fruit and berries on occasion
Life cycle:
1. Very social animals.
2. Mate for life
3. The dominant males and female in the pack produce all the offspring.
4. Raising the young is a community affair
5. 4-6 pups are born in a den selected by the female
6. Young are helpless
7. Young are on their own after about 1 year of age, though they may live
15 years, 10 years is more common in the wild.
American Pine Marten
American Pine Marten
Food: Voles, mice, squirrels, rabbits, small birds, nuts, fruits
Habitat: Mature forests of dense evergreens or conifer
hardwood mix
Life Cycle:
1. Young Martens or kits are born around April.
2. They will each adult size about three to four months of
age although they don't really mature until they are about
two years old.
3. The mother will have two to three kits each time she has
her babies.
4. When they are born, the kits are naked, blind, and deaf.
5. Life span: may reach 10 years or more in the wild
River Otter
River Otter
Food: Fish, crayfish, birds, small mammals
Habitat: Rivers, streams and lakes; Creates dens in stream banks with
underwater entrance or builds den in hollow logs
Life Cycle:
1. Delayed Implantation
2. Mating January-March
3. Males do not help raise young otters.
4. Females retreat to their underground dens to deliver litters of 1 to
6 young which are 5 ounces and don’t open their eyes until they
are 4 weeks old.
5. When the young are only about two months old, they get an
advanced swimming lesson—their mother pushes them into the
water.
6. Otters are natural swimmers and, with parental supervision, they
soon get the hang of it.
7. Live 15 to 20 years in captivity and 8 to 9 in the wild
Fisher
Fisher
Food: Snowshoe hares, voles, squirrels, carrion, mice,
porcupines
Habitat: Forest of dense conifers or mixed deciduous and
conifer forests
Life Cycle:
1. Fishers mate in March and April.
2. The female gives birth ten to eleven months after mating.
3. She has one to six babies in a nest in a hollow tree.
4. The babies are blind at birth.
5. If the nest is disturbed, the female will move her babies.
Sources
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http://www.cowhampshireblog.com/2008/08/15/new-hampshires-state-animal-white-tailed-deer-odocoileus-virginianus/
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http://boompowtwang.blogspot.com/2011/05/countdown-for-elk.html
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http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&tbo=d&biw=1366&bih=690&tbm=isch&tbnid=xXj7c-UEv0FlTM:&imgrefurl=http://www.brucefarnsworth.com/andes-chocoforest/mountain-lion-with-cub94_13_498.html&docid=gj6YecGxi9NRJM&imgurl=http://www.brucefarnsworth.com/data/photos/498_1mountain_lion_cub_a33974.jpg&w=1784&h=1216&ei=zTiUM_EFoGCrAGFooHYAw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=2&vpy=265&dur=214&hovh=185&hovw=272&tx=135&ty=144&sig=109154165638188548617&page=2&tbnh=133&tbnw=189&start=2
7&ndsp=35&ved=1t:429,r:55,s:0,i:340
http://www.cosmostv.org/2011/07/environmentalists-government-debate.html