PNW Wildlife Reference

Last weekend, the guy camping next to us was a wildlife photographer from Minesota. (Who was going to be working on a book until in the Olympics September ... lucky him.) He had a few questions I was a little embarrassed not to know the answers to. For instance, "when do blacktails have their fawns?" and "what do douglas squirrels like to eat?" and "when do salmon run?"

I realized that my field guides are OK for identification of this critter or that, but really don't help beyond that.

Can anyone recommend something more in depth than a fields guide?

Thanks,
Sean

P.S. If you happened to see 6 or so copies of this post, remind me to go easy on the back button after posting ... sorry for the spam.

Try:

Mammals of the Pacific Northwest: From the Coast to the High Cascades

Atlas of Oregon Wildlife: Distribution, Habitat, and Natural History .

A Common Fate: Endangered Salmon and the People of the Pacific Northwest
at:
http://oregonstate.edu/dept/press/env_nat.html


Pete

Blacktails are fawning right now.

Thanks Peter! That's exactly what I was hoping for. Now to hit the bookstore to see some details ....

Jerry, I seem to remember seeing fawns along Obstruction Point road a few years ago at a PNWNP outing mid July. They were old enough to follow mom into plain sight, but young enough to still have spots. I have no idea what that means in terms of age.

Do you know if fawning season is elevation dependent? Dependent on abundance of food?

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean,

For Mammals a fairly basic/general information reference you may want to review is the "National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mammals" it will provide information such as Description, Similar Species, Breeding, Sign, Habitat, Range, and so on. There are also a number of specific National Audubon Field Guides for other topics, Fishes, Trees, ...

Regards, Simon

Here's a link to the book Simon mentions:

National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mammals

Here is an incredible resource for Alaskan wildlife, some of which overlap into the PNW. Bookmark it for your own use on future trips, but pass it along to him.