The Pacific Northwest is the home to several different species such as: rats, mice, beavers, opossums, bears and more. These animals inhabit this place as means for their living, finding food, and survival. The Pacific Northwest is composed of the western United States portion which is composed of: California, Canada, Oregon and various other states. Much of this region is composed of various plants and seedlings, which most of these animals feed off of. The animal I will focus on primarily is the mountain beaver. I will discuss their identification, range, habitat, food habits, reproduction, behavior, and how to prevent the damage that these rodents cause us humans.
Before highlighting the various characteristics about the beaver let’s talk about a fun fact: In previous times, beavers were used as meals by our Native American tribes. Additionally, these beaver were used for their fur for protection during the winter months, as for use inside of the teepees to sleep on. America is heavily populated with rodents. Beavers are related to the rodent family. Rodents consist of mice, rats, and various other mammals. One of the most commonly and directly related rodents to the mountain beavers are squirrels. We often see squirrels eating acorns, or strolling through neighborhood parks.
Beavers are related to the rodent family. Rodents consist of mice, rats, and various other mammals. One of the most commonly and directly related rodents to the mountain beavers are squirrels. We often see squirrels eating acorns, or strolling through neighborhood parks. These species carry various diseases, and are harmful to our wellness if approached. Mountain beavers are found in North America. They are often seen in various cities in California: Moun...
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...Beaver Problems in the Forests of California, Oregon and Washington. N.p.: U of California, 2004. Print.
Campbell, Dan L. "MOUNTAIN BEAVERS AND CONTROL OF MOUNTAIN BEAVER DAMAGE." Mountain Beaver (Aplodontia Rufa) Control and Management. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2014.
Gould, Edwin, George McKay, and David Kirshner. Encyclopedia of Mammals. San Francisco, CA: Fog City, 2003. Print.
Hartwell, Harry D., and Larry E. Johnson. Mountain Beaver Tree Injuries in Relation to Forest Regeneration. Olympia, WA: Washington State Dept. of Natural Resources, Forest Land Management Division, 1992. Print.
Hooven, Edward F. The Mountain Beaver in Oregon: Its Life History and Control. Corvallis, Or.: Forest Research Laboratory, School of Forestry, Oregon State U, 1977. Print.
Verts, B. J., and Leslie N. Carraway. Land Mammals of Oregon. Berkeley: U of California, 1998. Print.
These are very difficult questions for me personally to answer because I live in the Pacific Northwest, and I have seen the beauty of the old growth forests first-hand.
In this research paper, I will address the changes that occurred within the ecosystem of Yellowstone National Park since the reintroduction of the grey wolves. The paper will consist of four sections; the first section will include the history behind the extirpation and subsequent reintroduction of the gray wolf in Northern America. The second section will explore the political controversy that surrounds the reintroduction of the gray wolf in Yellowstone. The third section will contain discuss the gray wolf and its impact on the ecosystem of Yellowstone. I will conclude my essay by explaining how the gray wolves act as climate change buffers in Yellowstone amidst global warming.
U.S. Department of the interior, National Park Service. (2013). Endangered Species. Retrieved from website: http://www.nature.nps.gov/biology/endangeredspecies/index.cfm
Once the gray wolf population had declined in the National Park, many ecological impacts were observed. Without a sustainable wolf population in the park, the elk population began to take over and increase in size. Due to this increase in elk, many of the deciduous woody species began to become overgrazed. With the e...
Fischer, Mary. "Introduced Species Summary Project Grey Squirrel (Sciurus Carolinensis)."Columbia.edu. Columbia University, 2 Mar. 2002. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
In the last decade, from the Rockies to New England and the Deep South, rural and suburban areas have been beset by white-tailed deer gnawing shrubbery and crops, spreading disease and causing hundreds of thousands of auto wrecks. But the deer problem has proved even more profound, biologists say. Fast-multiplying herds are altering the ecology of forests, stripping them of native vegetation and eliminating niches for other wildlife. ' 'I don 't want to paint deer as Eastern devils, ' ' said Dr. McShea, a wildlife biologist associated with the National Zoo in Washington, ' 'but this is indicative of what happens when an ecosystem is out of whack. ' ' The damage is worse than anyone expected, he and other scientists say. Higher deer densities have affected growth, survival, and reproduction of many plant species which have aesthetic, economic or ecological value. In some cases, many species of trees have also been shown to have reduced growth as a result of high deer density (Environmental Benefits of Hunting, 1). Deer prefer certain plant species over others and frequently feed on economically valuable tree species. For example, they prefer oak and sugar maple seedlings, as well as acorns, over less palatable species like American Beech and striped maple. Thus, less marketable species are more likely to survive to maturity,
Since beavers are energy maximizers (Jenkins 1980, Belovsky 1984) and central place feeders (McGinley and Whitam 1985), they make an excellent test animal for the optimal foraging theory. Beavers eat several kinds of herbaceous plants as well as the leaves, twigs, and bark of most species of woody plants that grow near water (Jenkins and Busher 1979). By examining the trees that are chewed or not-chewed in the beavers' home range, an accurate assessment of food preferences among tree species may be gained (Jenkins 1975). The purpose of this lab was to learn about the optimal foraging theory. We wanted to know if beavers put the optimal foraging theory into action when selecting
Idaho Fish and Game. (n.d.). Fish and Game Idaho. Retrieved July 20, 2010, from www.fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/hunt/wolf/wolfrules.pdf
The author provides information describing the deer population in parts of New Jersey; yet, he does not include any data regarding the population in the rest of the United States, nor does he include any sources of where this information was obtained. A reader may be more
Thesis: The population of white-tail deer in Alabama has drastically increased over the past century causing significant damage to property and homeowners, caused by hunters being less active.
The project at Yellowstone was met with some apprehension. Biologists there feared that without the fear of predation during the past few generations, the resident moose at Yellowstone would not fear the wol...
The cuteness of otters is worldwide accepted. These creatures are fuzzy, social, and incredibly intelligent. Male otters are called boars, females are sows, and the babies are called pups. This essay contains a brief synopsis of the types of otters, the anatomy of an otter, the threats they face, its social nature, motherly instinct, how it eats, and its daily life.
Porcupines African Crested Porcupines Order: rodent. A porcupine's habitat and range: forests, deserts, and grasslands of North and South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. Porcupines can weigh from 2 to 60 pounds depending on the species. A prickly coat of needle-sharp quills is the porcupine's best defense. Ordinarily the quills lay flat. But if an enemy approaches the porcupine will raise the quills and spread them, usually deterring the enemy. If the animal is not deterred the quills may lodge in the enemy's flesh when the porcupine brushes against the animal. New quills grow in to relace the lost ones. The porcupine cannot throw its quills. There are two groups of porcupines. They differ in habits and appearance. The porcupines of the Americas also climb trees. Some have been seen using their tails to hold on to branches. In the winter the North American porcupine eats evergreen needles and bark. When spring arrives they feed on leaves, buds, stems, and fruit. Depending on the species, the gestation period is from 2 to 7 months, bearing 1 to 4 young. The life span of captive porcupines can be as much as 20 years. The Future of the Porcupine They are nearsighted, have a deep red shine to their eyes, and four toes on each front foot and five toes on each hind foot. Porkies are the second-largest rodent in Wisconsin after the North American beaver. They can weigh 30 pounds or more in summer but their weight drops dramatically during the lean months of winter. Porcupines live in the northern two-thirds of the state in a territory that extends in a V-shape from about the Ellsworth area in Pierce County down to Wisconsin Dells and back up toward Green Bay. Porcupines, like most rodents, are vegetarians. Their winter diet consists of conifer needles, buds and the bark of pines, hemlock, maples and birch. How these critters survive on foods with a protein content of only two to three percent is truly amazing. Porcupines are sloppy eaters who drop a lot of greenery that provides a welcome snack for white-tailed deer during deep snows. If you spot a small pile of freshly-snipped branches on a winter walk, it's likely porcupines are nearby. Their winter dens are easy to find -- just follow your eyes and nose. Porcupines winter in caves and hollow logs. They travel the same paths every day.
Sikes, Roberts. and William L. Gannon. "Guidelines of the American Society of Mammalogists for the Use of Wild Mammals in Research." Journal of Mammalogy 92.1 (Feb. 2011): 235-253. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 5 Oct. 2011.
The study area consisted of Latah and Benewoh in Idaho, USA. The research used a total of 105 sites to collect data; ranking the areas from lowest to highest elevation. The methods implemented in this research consisted of wetland sampling, mail survey and habitat modelling. The combined results allowed for better insight for the conservation of these species. The first section of the experiment consist...