Gray Wolf (Canis lupus)

Coyote (Canis latrans) Coyotes are among the most adaptable mammals in North America. They have an enormous geographical distribution and can live in very diverse ecological settings, even successfully making their homes in suburbs, towns, and cities. They are omnivorous, eating plants, animals, and carrion. Socially, coyotes live in a variety of arrangements. Some live alone, others in mated pairs, and others in packs, which may consist of one mated pair, their new young, and offspring from the previous season that have not yet left their parents. Packs are an advantage when preying on larger mammals such as deer, or defending food resources, territory, and themselves. Range: 750 1,000 mm Range: 8 20 kg males; 7 18 kg females Canis latrans eastern animals are larger (top); typical western animal and pups are shown below Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) Gray wolves usually live in packs, led by an "alpha pair." The pack includes some of the alpha pair's offspring and may include some unrelated wolves. A pack's territory can be as large as 13,000 square km. Howling probably helps advertise who "owns" a particular piece of territory. When pups are born, the mother stays near them for the first three weeks, and her mate and others in the pack bring food to her. The pups are weaned when they about nine weeks old. As adults, they may travel as far as 72 km a day with their pack and run as fast as 70 km per hour. Wolf, Timber Wolf, Tundra Wolf, Lobo, Prairie Wolf, Mexican Wolf, Arctic Wolf Average: 1,100 mm males; 1,050 kg, females Range: 1,000 1,300 mm males; 870 1,170 mm females Average: 55 kg males; 45 kg females Range: 30 80 kg males; 23 55 kg females Canis lupus typical coloration, standing left; black variant, inset; white variant, standing right; juvenile, center Red Wolf (Canis rufus) Common Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) Conservation Status: Critically Endangered. The map shows the probable range of the red wolf when European settlers first came to North America. In the centuries that followed, red wolves were driven almost to extinction, coyotes moved into their former range, and sometimes the two species interbred. The tiny red wolf populations that now exist in the wild are the result of animals that were bred in captivity and then reintroduced. In 1997, biologists counted about 80 red wolves at two locations. In addition, there were 160 animals then living in captivity. In their natural environment, red wolves live in packs and hunt mostly at night, although they may be somewhat active in the daytime in winter. They use dens only to raise their pups. Southern Wolf, Timber Wolf Males are about 10% larger than females. Range: 1,300 1,700 mm Range: 20 38 kg males; 18 30 kg females Canis rufus right (shown with eastern Canadian wolf, C. lupus lycaon) Gray foxes are adept at climbing trees. They are active at night and during twilight, sleeping during the day in dense vegetation or secluded rocky places. Nursing mothers and pups use a den a hollow log, abandoned building, tangle of brush, or cracked boulder for shelter. When she is nursing small pups, the female stays within a few hundred meters of the den, but otherwise adults may range over a 2 5 square km area. Pups begin to forage on their own at about four months of age, and maintain close ties with the mother until they are about seven months old. By about ten months, both males and females are old enough to reproduce, and most females will have a litter annually from then on. Zorra, Zorra Gris, Gato de Monte None Range: 800 1,130 mm Range: 3 7 kg

Kit Fox (Vulpes macrotis) The kit fox has been thought by some to be a subspecies of the swift fox. This fox currently inhabits desert and semi arid regions between the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Rocky Mountains and on down into Baja California and the North Central states of Mexico; it is also found in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Several features distinguish the kit fox from the swift fox. Kit fox ears are larger and set closer together than the swift fox. The head of the kit fox is slightly broader between the eyes and the snout is narrower. The kit fox has a longer tail, relative to the body, than the swift fox. Their diet consists of the most readily available small mammals in the region, especially rodents and rabbits. The relationship of kit fox populations to populations of banner tailed kangaroo rats (Dipodomys spectabilis) in the San Joaquin Valley and to black tailed jack rabbits (Lepus californicus) in Utah have been well documented. Range: 730 840 mm Vulpes macrotis Kit Fox Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) Red foxes are the most widely distributed wild carnivores in the world, occurring in North America, Asia, Europe, and North Africa. They are also widespread in Australia, where they were introduced in about 1850 so that fox hunters would have something to hunt. Their range in North America has expanded since colonial times as their competitors, wolves, were eliminated, but their range has also contracted in areas where they are in competition with coyotes. Red foxes prey on voles, rabbits, hares, and other small mammals, and also eat birds, fruits, and invertebrates even beetles and earthworms. A male female pair typically inhabits a territory, and older, usually female, siblings help care for the younger offspring by bringing them food. Red foxes are among the main carriers and victims of rabies. Males can be 15% 25% heavier than females. Range: 827 1,097 mm Range: 3 7 kg Vulpes vulpes typical coloration, top; silver fox, lower left; cross fox, lower right Range: 1.4 2.7 kg Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) Margay (Leopardus weidii) Conservation Status: The Texas Ocelot, Leopardus pardalis albescens, is Endangered. Ocelots occur in a wide range of habitats, from rain forest to savanna to dry, scrubby terrain, at mid to low elevations from Texas and Arizona to northern Argentina. They are feed on small mammals, and also frequently include birds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects in their diet. Some also take domestic poultry. Males occupy territories of 4 18 square km that may encompass the territories of one or more females, who use home ranges of 2 11 square km. Ocelots have litters of 1, 2, or occasionally 3 kittens, and raise them in a den. The den can be a bare area in a dense thicket, a hollow tree, or a cave. The young are born fully furred, but with their eyes closed. When they are about a year old, males disperse to lead solitary lives. Young females, who are sexually mature at about 15 22 months of age, often settle on or near their mother's territory. Ocelots are threatened by habitat loss and hunting for the fur trade. Ocelote, Tigrillo Average: 1,078 mm males; 1,022 mm females Range: 950 1,367 mm males; 920 1,209 mm females Average: 10 kg males; 8.8 kg females Range: 7 14.5 kg males; 7 10.8 kg females Margays are small spotted cats that closely resemble ocelots, but are about half the size and lack the ocelot's two prominent black cheek stripes. Margays are forest dwellers and good climbers and jumpers, so agile that captives have been seen running along a clothesline, jumping 4 m horizontally and as high as 2.5 m vertically, and hanging by their hind feet to manipulate objects with their front paws. They probably often hunt in trees in the wild, for monkeys, sloths, opossums, squirrels, and other small mammals. They probably also prey on birds they are known to go after poultry and some reptiles and amphibians, and may occasionally eat fruits and vegetables. It is unclear if there ever was a viable Margay population in the United States, where they are reported to have occurred in Texas. Work carried out in Central America suggests that the species is declining in response to human activities in the tropics and subtropics and they are protected in many areas.. Caucel, Cunaguaro, Margay Cat, Tiger Cat, Tigrillo Average: 931 mm males; 907 mm females Range: 862 1,300 mm males; 805 1,029 mm females Range: 3 7 kg males; 3 5 kg females

Bobcat (Lynx rufus) Jaguar (Panthera onca) The Bobcat is the most widely distributed native cat in North America. Bobcats occupy many habitat types, from desert to swamp to mountains. They are mostly nocturnal predators, taking quarry ranging in size from mouse to deer. Rabbits and hares make up a large part of the bobcat's diet. Like Lynx, male and female Bobcats maintain territories by scent marking. An individual s territory does not overlap with another Bobcat s of the same sex, but females home ranges can fall within the territories of males. Females breed sooner than males, at about one year of age; males are ready to breed when they are about two. One litter, with an average of three kittens, is born each year. Wildcat, Bay Lynx, Barred Bobcat, Pallid Bobcat, Red Lynx Average: 869 mm males; 786 mm females Range: 475 1,252 mm males; 610 1,219 mm females Average: 12 kg males; 9 kg females Range: 7.2 31 kg males; 3.8 24 kg females Conservation Status: Near Threatened. Once native to the southwestern United States, breeding populations of Jaguars no longer exist in the region, and populations in Central and South America have become very small. Only in parts of the Amazon rain forest and the Pantanal are they relatively abundant. These giant spotted cats are the largest felids in the Americas. They are flesh eaters, hunting by day or night; they concentrate on the most common of the large mammals living in their particular area. Very capable swimmers, they also sometimes hunt along watercourses, taking prey such as caiman, turtles, and fish. The home range of a Jaguar varies from 10 170 square km. They are not territorial, but do avoid one another, occasionally by calling out in a series of deep grunts, sounds that travel well through thick forest Tigre Males are 10% 20% larger than females. Range: 1,100 1,850 mm Range: 31 158 kg Cougar (Puma concolor) Jaguarundi (Puma yaguarondi (Herpailurus yaguarondi)) Conservation Status: Two subspecies P. concolor coryi, the Florida Panther, and P. concolor cougar, the Eastern Cougar, are Critically Endangered; the parent species is Near Threatened. Cougars avoid open habitats such as flat, shrubless deserts and farm fields, but can make a living in swamps, forests, and desert scrub habitat. They live solitary lives at low population densities, and usually avoid humans, but about four attacks are reported annually in the United States and Canada. Cougars hunt at night, either stalking their prey or waiting in ambush to pounce. They take hoofed mammals, sometimes including domestic livestock, and other prey, including rabbits, hares, porcupines, bobcats, coyotes, beavers, opossums, skunks, and even other Cougars. They rarely bed down in the same place two days in a row unless they are watching young or consuming a large kill. Some states and provinces allow Cougars to be hunted for sport Mountain Lion, Puma, Florida Panther, Catamount Males are significantly heavier than females. Average: 1,270 mm males; 1,140 mm females Range: 1,020 1,540 mm males; 860 1,310 mm females Conservation Status: The Texas Jaguarundi, Puma yaguarondi cacomitli, is Endangered. Jaguarundi are uniformly colored rather than spotted and are either reddish brown or dark gray. Both colors can appear in the same litter of kittens. This cat is less nocturnal than any other in the United States, yet it is extremely secretive, preferring areas of dense, low cover in tropical and subtropical habitats. Jaguarundi stalk their prey which includes reptiles, birds, and small mammals alone or in pairs. When they hunt near farms, they often find poultry easy prey. This bad news for the farmer usually quickly turns into worse news for the Jaguarundi. They are not hunted for their fur, but feel the effects of habitat loss and conflicts with humans who have taken over their habitat. Onza, Gato Moro, Leoncillo, Yaguarundi None Range: 888 1,372 mm Range: 4.5 9 kg Average: 62 kg males; 42 kg females Range: 36 120 kg males; 29 64 kg females

North American Hog nosed Skunk (Conepatus leuconotus) Conservation Status: A subspecies, the Big Thicket Hog nosed Skunk, Conepatus mesoleucus telmalestes, is Extinct. Skunks are seldom thought of as useful animals, but Hog nosed Skunks can be helpful to farmers because they eat crop destroying insects. They have powerful forelimbs and long claws, suited to digging up insect larvae and grubs. They also eat plant matter and sometimes small rodents if the opportunity arises. Like Striped and Spotted skunks, they are best known for the scent produced by, and sprayed from, their anal glands. Spraying is a last resort. The skunk's dramatic black and white coat serves as a warning signal to other mammals, and its first response is to run. A frightened Hog nosed Skunk may then turn around to face its adversary, stand on its hind feet, and take a few steps forward, then come down on all fours and hiss. If that doesn't work, the next step is to bare its teeth, raise its tail, and bite, spray, or both. Gulf Coast Hog nosed Skunk, White Backed Skunk, Rooter Skunk, Texan Skunk, Badger Skunk, Conepat Conepatus leuconotus eastern variant (base of tail is black) Hooded Skunk (Mephitis macroura) The Hooded Skunk is a desert animal, preferring rocky canyons and valleys, and the vegetation along stream edges. It lives at elevations of less than 2,000 m above sea level. It forages at night for meals that may include small mammals, birds, and some plants, and it digs for beetles and other insects, which seem to be its preferred food. Striped, Spotted, and Hog nosed skunks are all found within the Hooded Skunk's range. The four species coexist by adopting different behavioral and ecological strategies. White Sided Skunk, Southern Skunk, Zorrillo Range: 560 790 mm Range: 820 1,200 g Mephitis macroura double, thin striped variant, upper right; single wide striped variant, lower left Average: 636.5 mm males; 589.7 mm females Range: 444 934 mm males; 445 840 mm females Range: 1,135 4,500 g Striped Skunk (Mephitis mephitis) Eastern Spotted Skunk (Spilogale putorius) The Striped Skunk is the most common skunk in North America, yet most of what we know about it comes from studies of captive individuals. Like all skunks, it has a superb defense system, the ability to spray a foul smelling fluid from two glands near the base of its tail. Skunk musk is oily and difficult to remove. If sprayed in the eyes, it causes intense pain and temporary blindness. Skunk kittens can spray when they are only eight days old, long before they can aim, a skill they exhibit only after their eyes open at about 24 days. Skunks attempt to give a warning before they spray: both Hooded and Striped skunks stamp their front feet before turning around and spraying. Like all skunks, Striped Skunks are nocturnal and eat a variable diet, mostly of insects, but also including small mammals, carrion, and some vegetation. Skunk, Big/large Skunk, Polecat Males are 15% larger than females, but females have longer tails. Range: 575 800 mm Mephitis mephitis typical pattern, lower left; white tail variant, upper right Spotted skunks are smaller than Striped skunks and more weasel like in appearance. Like all skunks, they have anal scent glands and can emit a foul smelling spray to protect themselves. The Spotted Skunk usually sprays as a last resort, if stomping with its front paws or doing a handstand is not sufficient to warn off an intruder. Spotted Skunks are good climbers, able to scurry up and down trees like squirrels, and prefer forested areas to open countryside. They sometimes dig burrows to use for denning, and sometimes choose such places as barns, haystacks, dens abandoned by other mammals, or crevices in trees. Usually they live alone, although in cold weather, several skunks may den together. Civet cat, Little Spotted Skunk, Hydrophoby Cat, Little Pole cat, Four striped Cat Average: 459 mm males; 422 mm females Range: 310 610 mm males; 270 544 mm females Range: 276 885 g males; 207 475 g females Range: 1,200 5,300 g

Northern River Otter (Lontra canadensis (Lutra canadensis)) River Otters can be thought of and in a very real sense are semi aquatic weasels. Like fishers, martens, and mink, they have long, slender bodies, short limbs, and a short face, plus a set of adaptations for their aquatic lifestyle: an oily, waterproof coat, webbed toes, and small external ears. River Otters are good swimmers and divers, able to stay underwater for up to eight minutes. They feed on crayfish, crabs, fish, birds, small mammals, and some aquatic plants. They once lived in streams, rivers, lakes, swamps, and coastal areas throughout Canada and the United States. Now they are gone from the central and eastern United States, and extinct or rare in Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia. Scientific studies have shown them to be sensitive to pollution. Still these animals are commercially harvested: 20,000 30,000 are taken annually for their lustrous fur. River Otter, Common Otter Range: 889 1,300 mm Range: 5 14 kg Long tailed Weasel (Mustela frenata) Long tailed Weasels are voracious predators, foraging day and night for small vertebrates, and scavenging for carrion when necessary. In captivity, adults can consume an amount equal to one third their own body weight in 24 hours. In the wild they may store food in a burrow or near a kill site. They are solitary except for the July August breeding season. Both males and females maintain territories, marking them with chemical secretions from anal glands. Litters usually comprise 4 5 pups, born in a den. In 12 weeks they reach full adult body weight and begin hunting for food, pursuing mates, and establishing territories. Foxes, raptors, Coyotes, domestic dogs and cats, and rattlesnakes all prey on Long tailed Weasels, and although they can live in a variety of habitats, population densities are low. In some locations they are endangered, and in others, considered threatened or species of concern. Bridled Weasel Range: 330 420 mm males; 280 350 mm females Range: 160 450 g males; 80 250 g females Mustela frenata winter coat, left; summer coat, center; "Bridled Weasel", right American Mink (Mustela vison) American Badger (Taxidea taxus) The American Mink, with its luxurious brown coat, is now bred on farms, or mink ranches, to provide fur to the clothing industry. This has relieved some of the stress natural populations endured from trapping over the past two centuries. The nocturnal, semi aquatic Mink is now common along streams, lakes, and marshes throughout much of North America. Like other mustelids, Mink are good hunters. They consume crayfish, frogs, fish, birds, and small mammals. For some reason, few animals prey on them. Males are about 20% heavier than females. Range: 550 700 mm males; 470 600 mm females Range: 550 1,250 g males; 550 1,000 g females Badgers look like short, shaggy, medium sized dogs. They are powerful diggers. One, taken to a football game as a mascot, escaped and dug its way under the field. They dig after and feed on ground squirrels and pocket gophers, and also eat toads, frogs, birds, snakes, insects and insect grubs, wasps, bees, and worms. They sleep through most of the winter in a den, spending about 29 hours at a time in a state of torpor, rousing briefly, and then sleeping again. In torpor, which is not true hibernation, the Badger's heartbeat slows to about half the normal rate and its temperature drops. Humans are the Badgers' worst enemy, trapping and poisoning them, but they are now protected in some states and provinces. North American Badger, Tlalcoyote, or Blaireau Taxidea taxus typical coat pattern, right; southwestern variant with longer dorsal stripe, left Range: 600 790 mm Range: up to 12 kg in the wild, 18 kg in captivity

Ringtail (Bassariscus astutus) FAMILY: Procyonidae Ringtails are nocturnal, cat sized carnivores. They are good climbers and are found in habitats that range from dry canyons to wet woodlands, in highland and lowland terrain. They prey on small mammals, but their varied diet also includes other vertebrates, insects, nuts, and fruit. These animals are solitary and territorial, marking their home ranges by depositing urine and feces. Babisuri, Bandtailed Cat, Basaride, Bassarisk, Cacomistle, Cacomixtle, Civet Cat, Comandreja, Guayanoche, Mico de Noche, Mico Rayado, Onza, Pintorabo, Ring tailed Cat, Rintel, Sal Coyote None Average: 793 mm males; 756 mm females Range: 616 811 mm Range: 0.9 1.3 kg White nosed Coati (Nasua narica) FAMILY: Procyonidae White nosed Coatis are the most diurnal members of the family Procyonidae. They often sleep curled up in trees, and come down at dawn to forage, rooting with their long, mobile snouts and digging with long, curved claws for insects, larvae, eggs, and small vertebrates. Adult males often live alone, but females and young coatis travel together in bands, vocalizing and grooming each other. They do not hunt cooperatively or share food, but they join forces to defend against male coatis and other intruders. Females raise their young alone, in a nest. Mortality can be high when the young first leave the nest, from predators including male coatis, big cats, monkeys, and boa constrictors and accidents and disease. Coatimundi, Gato Solo, Pizote Range: 750 1,350 mm Range: 2.5 5.5 kg Nasua narica male, upper left; females and young, lower right Northern Raccoon (Procyon lotor) FAMILY: Procyonidae Raccoons are among the most adaptable of the Carnivora, able to live comfortably in cities and suburbs as well as rural and wilderness areas. They use small home ranges, as small as 1 3 square km, and show flexibility in selecting denning sites, from tree hollows to chimneys to sewers. A varied diet is at the root of their adaptability. Raccoons eat just about anything, finding food on the ground, in trees, streams, ponds, and other wet environments, and from unsecured trash cans, which they open adroitly by hand. They can live anywhere water is available, from the deep tropics well into southern Canada. Even in the suburbs, Raccoons can occur at densities of almost 70 per square km. Females can breed when they are not yet a year old, and typically have litters of four young, which they raise themselves. The female nurses her cubs for about 70 days. The cubs' eyes open at 18 24 days and they begin exploring the world outside the den when they are 9 10 weeks old. By 20 weeks of age they can forage on their own. Coon Males are 10% 30% larger than females. Range: 603 950 mm Range: 1.8 10.4 kg American Black Bear (Ursus americanus) FAMILY: Ursidae Most Black Bears hibernate for up to seven months, and do not eat, drink, urinate, or exercise the entire time. In the South, where plant food is available all year, not all bears hibernate but pregnant females do. The female gives birth to 1 6 cubs (usually 2 or 3) in January, while she is deep asleep in her den. The newborn cubs snuggle next to her for warmth and nurse while she fasts. They grow from a birth weight of 200 450 g each (about 7 16 pounds) to the 2 5 kg they will weigh when the family leaves the den in the spring. Black Bears eat a little meat, and some insects, but they rely on fruit, nuts, and vegetation for the bulk of their nutritional needs. They are not all black. Most are, with brown muzzles, but in some western forests they are brown, cinnamon, or blond, and a few, in southern Alaska and British Columbia, are creamy white or bluish gray. Many common names are given to the many subspecies that have been described, such as: Olympic Black Bear, Glacier Bear, California Black Bear, Florida Black Bear. The largest males may be nearly twice as heavy as the heaviest females. Range: 1,44 2,000 mm males; 1,200 1,600 mm females Average: 120 kg males; 80 kg females Range: 47 409 kg males; 39 236 kg females Ursus americanus eastern, black variant

Brown Bear, Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos) FAMILY: Ursidae Conservation Status: The Mexican Grizzly Bear, Ursus arcos nelsoni, is Extinct. Brown Bears are solitary, powerful predators who can be aggressive to one another. There is a social hierarchy: adult males are dominant, and females with cubs are dominant over juvenile males and females without cubs. Brown Bears are omnivorous, consuming everything from mosses, fungi, herbs, grasses, fruits, berries, small vertebrates, insects, birds, and fish especially salmon during their spawning run to other mammals. They dig after burrowing mammals and take down large hoofed mammals caught in deep snow or otherwise disabled. They are excellent swimmers and have acute senses of hearing and smell, but poor eyesight, and can attack humans without warning. The largest North American males weigh more than 600 kg (1,325 pounds). Bears from the interior of Alaska and Canada usually have pale tipped guard hairs, and are called Grizzly Bears. Males are 8% 10% larger than females. Average: 1.28 m Average: 389 kg males; 207 kg females Range: 80 >600 kg The Mammals of Texas - Online Edition Caribbean Monk Seal Order Carnivora : Family Phocidae : Monachus tropicalis (Gray) Description. The Caribbean monk seal was a relatively small seal, the upperparts nearly uniform brown, tinged with gray; sides paler; underparts pale yellow or yellowish white; soles and palms naked; pelage very short and stiff; nails on anterior digits well developed, on posterior digits rudimentary. Dental formula: I 2/2, C 1/1, Pm 4/4, M 1/1 X 2 = 32. Total length of males about 2.25 m; females slightly smaller. Weight, 70-140 kg. Distribution in Texas. Now extinct, the Caribbean monk seal was the only seal native to the Gulf of Mexico. They were tropically distributed but limited to the Gulf of Mexico coast, Yucatan Peninsula, western Caribbean Sea, the Greater and Lesser Antilles, the Bahamas, and the Florida Keys. Records from Texas include one sighting in 1932 and several instances of remains recovered from coastal archaeological sites. M. tropicalis probably became extinct by the mid-1950 s. Habits. Notwithstanding the fact that this seal has been known from the time of Columbus, no specimens reached museums until the middle of the last century when its numbers were already so depleted that it had become rather rare. Likewise, very little life history information is at hand. in the Triangle Keys during this time had welldeveloped fetuses. No information is available on their food habits but they probably ate fish and molluscs. These seals preferred sandy beaches for haulingout grounds, such as the low, sandy islets making up the Triangle Keys west of Yucatan. While on land they were sluggish and had no fear of man, a trait that permitted their slaughter to the point of extinction. In former years they were used extensively as a source of oil. Virtually nothing was learned about the life