What is wild life?

745 Views

Wildlife traditionally refers to non-domesticated animal species, but has come to include all plants, fungi and other organisms which grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans.Unique wildlife habitats should be preserved and protected. Wildlife can’t thrive in areas dominated by intensive energy development projects for oil, natural gas, and coal. We need to do more to protect our incredible wildlife habitats and give wildlife more natural wilderness areas that are not impacted by all the pollutants, garbage, and other negatives produced by human “civilization.”

North America is home to an estimated 432 species of mammals, 311 diffent kinds of reptiles, 295 amphibians, over 800 species of birds, and 1,154 fish species.

Wild life that exist in all of the lower 48 states includes:

    • White-tailed deer

    • Bobcat

    • Raccoons

    • Muskrat

    • Striped skunk

    • Barn owls

    • American mink

    • American beaver

    • North American river otter

    • Red fox

The red-tailed hawk is one of the most widely distributed hawks not only in the U.S., but in the Americas.

In most of the Western U.S. there are:

    • Mule deer

    • White-tailed antelope squirrels

    • Mountain lions (cougers)

    • American badgers

    • Coyotes

    • Hawks

    • Several species of snakes and lizards

    • Raccoon

    • Spotted Skunk

    • The American black bear occurs in most western states, including Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona and Colorado.

Northwestern US species include:

    • North American beaver and mountain beaver live in forested areas of Washington, Oregon and Northern California.

    • While the American black bear lives throughout the U.S., brown bears and grizzly bears are more common in the northwest and in Alaska.

    • The gray fox occurs throughout the Western U.S.

    • Virginia opossum, which occurs throughout California and coastal areas in Oregon and Washington.

    • The red fox occurs mostly in Oregon and Washington.

    • North American Porcupine

    • Mule Deer

    • White tailed deer

Along the West Coast:

    • Several species of whales

    • Sea otters

    • California sea lions

    • Eared seals

    • Northern elephant seals

    • Black tailed deer

Channel Islands

The Channel Islands of California are a chain of eight islands located in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Southern California along the Santa Barbara Channel. The Channel Islands are part of one of the richest marine biospheres in the whole world.

The island fox is a native to six of the eight Channel Islands. These islands are also famous for their marine life and endemic species such as the Channel Islands spotted skunk, Garibaldi, island fence lizard, island scrub jay, bald eagle, and their non-native Catalina Island bison herd.

Inland Desert Areas

In the dry, inland desert areas of states such as California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico there are some of the world’s most venomous lizards, snakes and scorpions. The most notorious might be the Gila monster and Mohave rattlesnake, both found in deserts in the Southwest. The Sonoran Desert has eleven species of rattlesnakes – more than anywhere else in the world.

Along the southwestern border there are:

    • Jaguars

    • Ocelots

Southwestern Wild Life:

    • The kit fox lives throughout Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

    • The ring-tailed cat occurs throughout Arizona, New Mexico, Western Texas, Utah, Colorado, and most of California.

Southern United States:

The South has a large variety of habitats, from swampland in Louisiana, coastal marshes and pine forests in the east in the Carolinas, hills throughout Tennessee and Kentucky, desert in Western Texas, mountains of West Virginia, and grassland prairie in Missouri, Oklahoma, and the Texas Panhandle.

Animal species occurring throughout the region include:

    • White tailed deer

    • Virginia opossum

    • Collared peccary

    • Ring-tailed cat

    • Line-banded armadillo

The American alligator lives in every coastal state between North Carolina and Texas, while the less widespread American crocodile is only found in southern Florida.

The alligator snapping turtle and more than forty other species of turtle are found in the swampland of the southern U.S. The coypu is a large intrusive rodent species which is similar to a beaver or muskrat, and also thrives in the swamp areas.

Some of the other species thriving in the southern wetlands include the Carolina anole, razor-backed musk turtle, broad-headed skink, and the coal skink.

The gray- and red fox are found throughout the South, while the swift fox is found in northern Texas and Oklahoma. The white-nosed coati is found in southern parts of New Mexico and Texas.

There have also been records of jaguars and ocelots in southern New Mexico and Texas.

Other mammals include the American black bear, which is found in the woodlands of states such as Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Florida and the Carolinas.

The North American porcupine and American beaver can be found throughout the South with the exception of Florida.

Rabbits are common in the South; the eastern cottontail is found throughout the region, while the desert cottontail and black-tailed jackrabbit is primarily found in Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska. The swamp rabbit is found in wetlands of states like Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Arkansas. Tens of thousands desert bighorn sheep live in the southwestern U.S.

Central United States

The Central United States is mostly grasslands. Some of the species that occupy every central state include:

    • Red fox

    • Bobcat

    • White-tailed deer

    • Raccoons

    • Eastern spotted skunk and striped skunk

    • Long-tailed weasel

    • American badger

    • American beaver

    • Wild boar

    • American mink live in every central state with the exception of Texas. The least weasel is found around the Great Lakes as well as states such as Nebraska, the Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

    • Gray fox is found in Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and also around the Great Lakes region.

    • Ring-tailed cats are found in the southern region, including in Texas, Missouri, and Oklahoma.

    • There are many species of squirrels in the central parts of the U.S., including the fox squirrel, eastern gray squirrel, Franklin’s ground squirrel, southern flying squirrel, and the thirteen-lined ground squirrel.

    • Voles include the prairie vole, woodland vole and the meadow vole. The plains pocket gopher lives throughout the Great Plains. Shrews include the cinereus shrew, southeastern shrew, North American least shrew, and the Elliot’s short-tailed shrew.

Other indigenous mammals include the American bison, eastern cottontail, black-tailed jackrabbit, plains coyote, black-tailed prairie dog, muskrat, opossum, raccoon, prairie chicken, wild turkey, white-tailed deer, swift foxes, pronghorn antelope, the Franklin’s ground squirrel and several other species of ground squirrels.

Reptiles include bullsnakes, common collared lizard, common snapping turtle, musk turtles, yellow mud turtle, painted turtle, western diamondback rattlesnake and the prairie rattlesnake.

Some of the typical amphibians found in the region are the three-toed amphiuma, green toad, Oklahoma salamander, lesser siren and the plains spadefoot toad.

In the Rocky Mountains and other mountainous areas of the inland is where the bald eagle is most observed, even though its habitat includes all of the Lower 48, as well as Alaska.

Rabbits live throughout the Great Plains and neighboring areas; the black-tailed jackrabbit is found in Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas, the white-tailed jackrabbit in the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin, the swamp rabbit in swampland in Texas, and the eastern cottontail is found in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas, and every state in the Eastern U.S.

Virginia opossum is found in Missouri, Indiana, Iowa, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas.

The nine-banded armadillo is found throughout the South and in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma.

The muskrat is found throughout the Central U.S., excluding Texas, while the American beaver is found in every central state.

The groundhog is widespread throughout Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Minnesota.

Eastern United States

Some species of mammals found throughout the Eastern U.S. include:

    • Red fox and gray fox

    • North American beaver

    • North American porcupine

    • Virginia opossum

    • Eastern mole

    • Coyote (including in cities)

    • White-tailed deer

    • American mink

    • North American river otter

    • Long-tailed weasel

    • Bobcat

    • Raccoon

    • Striped skunk

    • The black bear lives in most states.

In the Appalachian Mountains and the Eastern United States are many animals that live in forested habitats. They include deer, rabbits, rodents, squirrels, hares, woodpeckers, owls, foxes and bears.

The New England region is particularly famous for its crab and the American lobster living along most of the Atlantic Coast.

The American black bear lives throughout most of New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, the Virginias, and parts of the Carolinas and Florida.

Shrews are common: the cinereus shrew, long-tailed shrew and American water shrew are widespread in the New England region, while the North American least shrew and southeastern shrew are common in the southeastern states. The American pygmy shrew, smoky shrew, and northern short-tailed shrew are found from the Appalachian Mountains to New England. The star-nosed mole lives throughout the Eastern U.S., while the hairy-tailed mole is more common from the Appalachians to New England in the north.

Hares are also common: the snowshoe hare thrives from the Appalachians to New England, the Appalachian cottontail is only found in the Appalachians, the New England cottontail is only found in New England, while the eastern cottontail is widespread throughout the east.

While the white-footed mouse and muskrat are common throughout the east, with the exception of Florida, the meadow vole is found from the Appalachians to New England and the southern red-backed vole is found in New England. The brown rat and the house mouse were both introduced and their habitat ranges throughout the Eastern U.S.

Weasels such as the fisher and short-tailed weasel are found in the northeast. The eastern chipmunk, fox squirrel, eastern gray squirrel and the woodchuck are found throughout the region, while the southern flying squirrel and northern flying squirrel are more common in the southeast, the American red squirrel is more common in the northeast.

The least weasel is native to the Appalachian Mountains.

The wild boar is the wild ancestor of the domestic pig and found in most of the southeastern region.

The Canada lynx is found in parts of New England.

Species of bats found throughout the east includes the eastern pipistrelle, silver-haired bat, eastern red bat, hoary bat, big brown bat, little brown bat, northern long-eared myotis, and in most regions the eastern small-footed myotis, gray bat and Indiana bat.

The American beaver is found throughout the U.S., except for Florida, California, Nevada and Hawaii.

Of the marine life, the harbor seal is the most widely distributed species of seal and found along the east coast. Whale species are found along the entire Atlantic coastline, and include the Gervais’ beaked whale, common minke whale, fin whale, sei whale, blue whale, humpback whale, sperm whale, dwarf sperm whale, pygmy sperm whale, killer whale, Cuvier’s beaked whale, True’s beaked whale, and the Blainville’s beaked whale. The northern bottlenose whale and the long-finned pilot whale are also common along the New England coast.

The Risso’s dolphin, short-beaked common dolphin, striped dolphin, Atlantic spotted dolphin and the common bottlenose dolphin are common along the entire Atlantic coastline. Dolphin species found in New England include white-beaked dolphin and Atlantic white-sided dolphin, while species roaming the southeastern parts of the coastline include the Fraser’s dolphin, pantropical spotted dolphin, Clymene dolphin, spinner dolphin, and the rough-toothed dolphin.

Several sea turtles live along the Atlantic coast, including the hawksbill sea turtle, Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, and loggerhead sea turtle. The green sea turtle and leatherback sea turtle are more common species along the southeastern coastline. Land turtles and tortoises found throughout most of the Eastern United States are the common snapping turtle, painted turtle, spotted turtle, diamondback terrapin, spiny softshell turtle, eastern mud turtle, northern red-bellied cooter, common musk turtle, eastern box turtle, and the yellow- and red-eared slider.

In the northeast, the Blanding’s turtle, wood turtle, and bog turtle are common species. In the southeastern U.S. gopher tortoise, pond slider, Escambia map turtle, Barbour’s map turtle, eastern river cooter, striped mud turtle, loggerhead musk turtle, and the Florida softshell turtle are the common species. The smooth softshell turtle is found in the Ohio River and the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania.

Some of the snake species found in much of the Eastern U.S. includes the eastern racer, De Kay’s snake, northern copperhead, ringneck snake, timber rattlesnake, eastern hog-nosed snake, milk snake, northern water snake, western rat snake, northern redbelly snake, plainbelly water snake, midland water snake, scarlet kingsnake, common kingsnake, queen snake, smooth earth snake, ribbon snake, and the common garter snake. Snake species mostly found in the northeast includes the smooth green snake, northern ribbon snake, and the eastern worm snake.

Snakes limited to the southeast includes the southeastern crown snake, pinesnake, eastern diamondback rattlesnake, coral snake, pygmy rattlesnake, southern copperhead, water moccasin, eastern coral snake, eastern indigo snake, southern hognose snake, coachwhip snake, banded water snake, brown water snake, green water snake, Nerodia clarkii clarkii, salt marsh snake, mole kingsnake, pine woods snake, glossy crayfish snake, striped crayfish snake, short-tailed snake, swamp snake, rim rock crown snake, rough earth snake, southern black racer, rough green snake, western rat snake, eel moccasin, and the mud and corn snakes.

The eastern fence lizard is common throughout the Eastern United States, with the exception of New York and New England.

Alaskan Wildlife

Life zones in Alaska range from grasslands, mountains, tundra to thick forests, which leads to a huge diversity in terrain and geology throughout the state.

Alaska has also over 430 species of birds and the largest population of bald eagles in the nation. From pygmy shrews that weigh less than a penny to gray whales that weigh 45 tons, Alaska is the “Last Frontier” for animals as well as people. Many species endangered elsewhere are still abundant in Alaska.

The primary wildlife in Alaska includes:

      • Polar bears

      • Kodiak bears (a kind of brown bear)

      • Grizzly Bears

      • Black Bears

      • Moose

      • Caribou

      • Mountain Goats

      • Muskox

      • Walrus

      • Several species of seals

      • Narwhal

      • Whales

      • Arctic foxes

      • Wolves

      • Puffins

      • Bald Eagles

      • Canadian lynx

      • Snowshoe hare

Wildlife in the Hawaiian Islands

Much of the wildlife in Hawaii has developed special adaptations to their home and evolved into new species. Today, nearly 90% percent of the animals in Hawaii are endemic, meaning that they exist nowhere else on Earth.

The small Asian mongoose is widespread throughout the archipelago, except on the islands of Lanaʻi and Kauaʻi. Kauaʻi is home to the largest number of tropical birds, mainly because there are no mongooses on the island.

Sea life around the Hawaiian Islands is abundant. There are more than forty species of shark and the Hawaiian spinner dolphin is widespread. Hawaii’s coral reefs are home to over 5000 species, and 25 percent of these are found nowhere else in the world.

In Hawai’i, three species of sea turtles are considered native: honu, honu’ea and the leatherback sea turtle. Two other species, the loggerhead sea turtle and the olive ridley sea turtle, are sometimes observed in Hawaiian waters.[17] The Hawaiian green sea turtle is the most common sea turtle in Hawaiian waters.

Famous birds include ʻiʻiwi, nukupu‘u, Kauaʻi ʻamakihi and ʻōʻū.

The hoary bat is found in the Koke’e State Park on Kauaʻi, wild horses live in the Waipio Valley, wild cattle by the Mauna Kea and the Australian brush-tailed rock-wallaby live by the Kalihi Valley on Oʻahu.

The Hawaiian monk seal, wild goats, sheep and pigs live throughout most of the archipelago.