Acadia National Park - FLOW: Mammals

Mount Desert offers an environment rich with the presence of somewhat shy and secretive wildlife. Many leave signs of their presence such as nipped-off twigs, scats, tracks, eggshells, shed hairs, or nut hulls.

Perhaps the most effective strategy for observing wildlife is to sit quietly for an hour or so in some secluded spot and wait for local species to declare themselves in the course of their daily lives. It may take repeated visits over many years to a variety of habitats to spot even half the species listed below, but the result is apt to be highly satisfying as a revelation of the hidden residents of the watersheds of Mount Desert Island.

BEARS black bear (uncommon)

CANIDS coyote --edges of second growth forests, open brushy fields, forest openings red fox --prefers a mixture of forest and open areas

FELINES bobcat --mixed deciduous-coniferous and hardwood forests broken by fields and roads; (rare)

HARES snowshoe hare --woodlands with dense brushy understory; coniferous swamps

HOOFED BROWSERS white-tailed deer --forest edges, swamp borders, woods interspersed with fields moose --second-growth boreal forests with semi-open areas and swamps or lakes (uncommon)

RACCOONS raccoon --wooded areas interrupted by fields and water courses

RODENTS Eastern chipmunk--deciduous woodlands with abundant cover woodchuck --edges of woodlands, open cultivated land, pastures, meadows gray squirrel --deciduous and mixed forests red squirrel --coniferous, mixed, and occasionally deciduous forests Northern flying squirrel--mixed mature coniferous and deciduous forests beaver --slowly flowing brooks, usually bordered by woodland deer mouse--coniferous or mixed forests, field borders, stone walls, out-buildings boreal red-backed vole--cool moist deciduous, mixed, or coniferous forests meadow vole --fields, pastures, orchards, marshes and meadows, swamps, bogs muskrat --marshes, shallow portions of lakes, ponds, swamps, streams, ditches house mouse--buildings, fields, corncribs meadow jumping mouse--moist, open grassy and brushy marshes and meadows white-footed mouse --forests and fields; not habitat specific woodland jumping mouse--brush and herbaceous vegetation in forests, near water porcupine --mixed or coniferous forests, especially northern hardwood-hemlock house mouse (uncommon) Norway rat--wherever food is abundant; waterfronts, farms, towns, dumps (uncommon) Southern flying squirrel (uncommon)

SHREWS AND MOLES masked shrew --woodlands with grasses, rocks, logs, or stumps; bogs water shrew--wet areas along ponds and streams in coniferous forests Northern short-tailed shrew --both timbered and fairly open habitats star-nosed mole --low wet ground near bodies of water short-tailed shrew hairy-tailed mole--open woods and meadows with light, sandy loam (uncommon) smokey mole (uncommon)

WEASELS ermine--wooded or open country with thickets, rock piles, and other heavy cover long-tailed weasel--open woods and woodland edges, grasslands, river bottomlands mink--streambanks, lakeshores, marshes striped skunk --semi-open country, woods and meadows, agricultural lands, suburbs river otter--borders of streams, lakes or other wetlands in forested areas