Mammals of Flower Hill Farm Retreat
Our native four-legged mammals offer thrilling and sometimes frustrating moments not so unlike experiences with two-legged mammals. We have a diverse group of predator and prey. Bears have hibernated near the house or come into the gardens to harvest apples and blueberries. And when I fed the birds, they came too close for both our well being. I have enjoyed and been unnerved by very close encounters with our resident bears. Coyotes can be unpredictable, as all wild animals, and have on more than one occasion frightened me out of my reverie in the night gardens. Prickly porcupines eat my apple trees, rabbits eat my veggies, while bobcats, fox, and weasels help me by eating rabbits, mice, and voles. I especially admire the graceful deer that leave their young fawns to nap in the gardens while they go off to graze for the day. These and other mammals are featured here on my mammal page.
Family ~ Bats – Vespertilionidae
Little Brown Myotis or Little Brown Bat – Myotis lucifugus
I have never had an encounter with a bat that allowed me to get a portrait. I have, however, delighted in watching one or more flying above the garden at dusk. One of our most important mammals now considered endangered due to White-nose syndrome.
Family ~ Opossum – Didelphidae
Opossum – Didelphis Virginiana
Family ~ Cats – Felidae
Bobcat – Lynx rufus
Family ~ Canidae
Coyote – Canis latrans
Red fox – Vulpes vulpes
Family ~ Bears – Ursidae
American Black Bear – Ursus americanus
Family ~ Cervidae
White-tailed deer – Odocoileus virginianus
Family ~ Porcupine – Erethizontidae
Porcupine – Erethizon dorsatum
Family ~ Weasels – Mustelidae
Short-Tailed Weasel – Mustela erminea
Family ~ Raccoon – Procyonidae
Raccoon – Procyon lotor
Family ~ Rabbits – Leporidae
Eastern cottontail – Sylvilagus floridanus
