Mammals Management

Mesaxonic, projecting long and narrow nasal bone, selenolophodont

Order: Perissodactyla

Family: Equidae

Genus and species: Equus caballus

Common name: horse

Habitat: grasslands, savanna, deserts

Management issues: charismatic yet cause considerable erosion and competition with native wildlife

Tusk-like upper canines oriented upwards, bunodont cheek teeth

Order: Artiodactyla

Family: Suidae

Genus species: Sus scrofa

Common name: domestric pig / boar

Habitat: domestic variety, wild moist forests and shrublands with reeds

Management issues: introduced and imported, but very destructive to everything, diseases impact agriculture

Tusk-like upper canines oriented downwards, small paraoccipital process

Order: Artiodactyla

Family: Tayassuidae

Genus species: Dicotyles tajacu

Common name: collared peccary

Habitat: brushy deserts, rocky canyons southern tropical rainforests

Management issues: habituated urban nuisances

Elongated premaxillaries, short and broad nasals, deep lacrimal depression, wing-shaped supraoccipital shield

Order: Artiodactyla

Family: Cervidae

Genus species: Alces alces

Common name: moose

Habitat: northern boreal forest, often young or disturbed but moist and covered

Management issues: hunted for meat and sport, dangerous, hinder reforestation of pine and spruce

Vomer forming vertical partition extending to the rear of the palate, and upper vestigial canines present

Order: Artiodactyla

Family: Cervidae

Genus species: Rangifer tarandus

Common name: caribou

Habitat: mountain ridges, bogs, tundra, and old boreal forest

Management issues: hunted for meat fur and antlers to endangerment

Deep lacrimal depression, nasolacrimal gap, vomer bone extends to the back of the palate; V-shaped branching of antlers

Order: Artiodactyla

Family: Cervidae

Genus species: Odocoileus hemionus

Common name: mule deer

Habitat: mountains, forests, deserts, and brushlands

Management issues: game species, prey, over-browsing, pests, traffic hazards

Shallow lacrimal depression, nasolacrimal gap, vomer bone extends to the back of the palate; 90 degree branching of antlers,

Order: Artiodactyla

Family: Cervidae

Genus species: Odocoileus virginianus

Common name: white-tailed deer

Habitat: lowland, forest edges and open woodlands, old fields, brushland

Management issues: game species, prey, over-browsing, pests, traffic hazards

Very deep lacrimal depression, nasolacrimal gap, vomer bone does not extend to the back of the palate

Order: Artiodactyla

Family: Cervidae

Genus species: Cervus canadensis

Common name: elk

Habitat: generalists, mostly forested areas through the Holarctic

Management issues: game species, prey, over-browsing, pests, traffic hazards

Vomer bone does not extend to the back of the palate, smaller than other Cervidae; palmate antlers

Order: Artiodactyla

Family: Cervidae

Genus species: Dama dama

Common name: fallow deer

Habitat: introduced, non-native, exotic

Management issues: competition

No lacrimal depression; pronghorns

Order: Artiodactyla

Family: Antilocapridae

Genus species: Antilocapra americana

Common name: pronghorn

Habitat: prairies, deserts, or plains

Management issues: second most popular game species, endemic

No lacrimal canal or depression; short sharply curved true horns

Order: Artiodactyla

Family: Bovidae

Genus species: Bos bison

Common name: American bison

Habitat: prairie, but now a lot in captivity

Management issues: meat, huge comeback, vital component of grasslands

No lacrimal canal or depression; variable slightly curved true horns

Order: Artiodactyla

Family: Bovidae

Genus species: Bos taurus

Common name: domestic cattle

Habitat: captivity

Management issues: dairy, meat, leather, carry diseases, damage natural ecosystems, competition

No lacrimal canal or depression, braincase descending steeply to occipital ridge, premaxillaries not widely separated from nasals and not expanded

Order: Artiodactyla

Family: Bovidae

Genus species: Capra hircus

Common name: domestic goat

Habitat: captivity

Management issues: destructive to habitats

No lacrimal canal or depression; smooth black true horn

Order: Artiodactyla

Family: Bovidae

Genus species: Oreamnos americanus

Common name: mountain goat

Habitat: steep rocky areas

Management issues: damage to endangered plants, but very sensitive to disturbance

No lacrimal canal or depression; wide ridged brown true horn

Order: Artiodactyla

Family: Bovidae

Genus species: Ovis canadensis

Common name: bighorn sheep

Habitat: meadows, grassy mountains, foothill country, in proximity to rugged rocky cliffs and bluffs

Management issues: susceptible to diseases

5/4 incisors, fenestrated palate, inflected angular process; marsupial pouch

Order: Didelphimorphia

Family: Didelphidae

Genus species: Didelphis virginiana

Common name: virginia opossum

Habitat: deciduous forests or urban and suburban environments

Management issues: introduced competition

1/1 incisors, protrogomorphous; vestigial tail

Order: Rodentia

Family: Aplodontiidae

Genus species: Aplodontia rufa

Common name: mountain beaver

Habitat: most forests, dense brushy areas

Management issues: raid crops or damage vegetation

1/1 incisors, sciuromorphous, 5 cheekteeth; gray body white belly, bushy tail

Order: Rodentia

Family: Sciuridae

Genus species: Sciurus griseus

Common name: western gray squirrel

Habitat: forests

Management issues: hunted, dispersers, pests, cause power outages

1/1 incisors, sciuromorphous, 5 cheekteeth; grayish brown body white belly, bushy tail

Order: Rodentia

Family: Sciuridae

Genus species: Sciurus carolinensis

Common name: easter gray squirrel

Habitat: parklands and residential areas

Management issues: hunted, dispersers, pests, cause power outages

1/1 incisors, sciuromorphous, 4 cheekteeth; grayish red body lighter belly, bushy tail

Order: Rodentia

Family: Sciuridae

Genus species: Sciurus niger

Common name: eastern fox squirrel

Habitat: mature forests and urban parks

Management issues: hunted, dispersers, pests, cause power outages

1/1 incisors, sciuromorphous, 4 cheekteeth; gray body red belly, bushy tail

Order: Rodentia

Family: Sciuridae

Genus species: Tamiasciurus douglasii

Common name: douglas’ squirrel

Habitat: temperate conifer forests

Management issues: hunted, dispersers, pests

1/1 incisors, sciuromorphous, pterygoids touch auditory bullae; patagium, bushy tail

Order: Rodentia

Family: Sciuridae

Genus species: Glaucomys oregonensis

Common name: Humboldt’s flying squirrel

Habitat: northern conifer forests near water

Management issues: pests, but dispersers

1/1 incisors, sciuromorphous, 5 cheek teeth, non-yellow incisors; grayish tan

Order: Rodentia

Family: Sciuridae

Genus species: Cynomys ludovicianus

Common name: black-tailed prairie dog

Habitat: temperate grasslands with well drained soils

Management issues: destroy crops and burrows may be hazardous, but benefit grazers

1/1 incisors, sciuromorphous, large, interorbital depression; bulky body, bushy tail

Order: Rodentia

Family: Sciuridae

Genus species: Marmota flaviventris

Common name: yellow-bellied marmot

Habitat: talus slopes and mountain meadows burrowed under rocks or scree

Management issues: pests

1/1 incisors, sciuromorphous, v-shaped temporal ridge; grainy gray body with dark patch, white belly, bushy tail

Order: Rodentia

Family: Sciuridae

Genus species: Otospermophilus beecheyi

Common name: California ground squirrel

Habitat: stubble fields, grazed pastures, road sides, agricultural fields

Management issues: agricultural pests

1/1 incisors, sciuromorphous, u-shaped temporal ridge; stripes up to shoulders

Order: Rodentia

Family: Sciuridae

Genus species: Callospermophilus lateralis

Common name: golden-mantled ground squirrel

Habitat: mixed forests and chaparral habitat

Management issues: harm reforestation efforts, vector for zoonotic diseases

1/1 incisors, sciuromorphous, u-shaped temporal ridge, small post orbital processes; white stripe up to shoulder, underside of tail is white

Order: Rodentia

Family: Sciuridae

Genus species: Ammospermophilus leucurus

Common name: white-tailed antelope squirrel

Habitat: desert succulent shrub, riparian, and wash areas, as well as chaparral and grasslands

Management issues: pests on farmland, but dispersers

1/1 incisors, sciuromorphous, no temporal ridge; stripes up to the eyes, bushy tail

Order: Rodentia

Family: Sciuridae

Genus species: Neotamias senex

Common name: Allen’s chipmunk

Habitat: dense, moist, mature forests

Management issues: prevent reforestation, but dispersers

1/1 incisors, sciuromorphous, no postorbital process; leather-like flattened tail

Order: Rodentia

Family: Castoridae

Genus species: Castor canadensis

Common name: North American beaver

Habitat: lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams

Management issues: keystone species in riparian habitats, dam waterways, but foresters consider them a pest

Hystricomorphous, tiny; long and bare tail, no cheekpouches, white belly

Order: Rodentia

Family: Zapodidae

Genus species: Zapus trinotatus

Common name: pacific jumping mouse

Habitat: marsh ecosystems along coastal redwood forests

Management issues: dispersers, but habitat is decreasing due to livestock and introduced deer

Myomorphous with perforated maxilla, auditory bullae extends past zygomatic arch; external cheek pouches, hair on feet

Order: Rodentia

Family: Heteromyidae

Genus species: Dipodomys spp.

Common name: kangaroo rat

Habitat: endemic to California plains

Management issues: habitat loss due to agriculture and solar farms

Myomorphous with perforated maxilla, auditory bullae does not extend past zygomatic arch; external cheek pouches, no hair on feet

Order: Rodentia

Family: Heteromyidae

Genus species: Perognathus spp.

Common name: pocket mouse

Habitat: arid and semiarid with grasses sagebrush and other scrubby vegetation

Management issues: endemic and currently being reintroduced

Myomorphous with nonperforated maxilla; external cheek pouches

Order: Rodentia

Family: Geomyidae

Genus species: Megascapheus bottae

Common name: Bott’s pocket gopher

Habitat: borrows in mountains deserts and agricultural areas

Management issues: destruction of underground utility cables and irrigation pipes, pests to farmers and gardeners

Myomorphous, prismatic cheekteeth, four pointed projections on lingual side of last upper molar, no zygomatic arch; brown

Order: Rodentia

Family: Cricetidae

Genus species: Microtus californicus

Common name: California vole

Habitat: chaparral woodland shrubland

Management issues: conflict with crop production, but important prey

Myomorphous, prismatic cheekteeth, skull > 50 mm; large, glossy brown, laterally compressed scaly tail, partially webbed hind feet

Order: Rodentia

Family: Cricetidae

Genus species: Ondatra zibethicus

Common name: muskrat

Habitat: brackish and fresh water marshes, ponds, rivers, and streams

Management issues: furbearer, agricultural pests

Myomorphous, semi-prismatic cheeckteeth, skull > 40 mm; brown back, white belly, tail not bushy

Order: Rodentia

Family: Cricetidae

Genus species: Neotoma fuscipes

Common name: dusky-footed woodrat

Habitat: under cover near water

Management issues: carries parasites and diseases

Myomorphous, premaxilla does not extend beyond end of nasals; bicolored tufted tail not longer than head and body, white feet

Order: Rodentia

Family: Cricetidae

Genus species: Peromyscus sonoriensis

Common name: western deermouse

Habitat: nest in trees in plant communities

Management issues: vector of diseases

Myomorphous, grooved upper incisors; brown back, ears lined with orange hair

Order: Rodentia

Family: Cricetidae

Genus species: Reithrodontomys megalotis

Common name: western harvest mouse

Habitat: open areas including grasslands prairies meadows and marshes

Management issues: prey

Myomorphous, prismatic cheekteeth, three projections on lingual side of last upper molar; orange back, short round furry ears, tail shorter than body

Order: Rodentia

Family: Cricetidae

Genus species: Arborimus pomo

Common name: Sonoma tree vole

Habitat: canopies of conifers

Management issues: uniquely feeds on needles, prey

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