In subalpine and alpine habitats, hoary marmots are common and can be seen and heard whistling at any sign of predators, such as golden eagles and coyotes. Occasionally elk, moose and mountain goats can be found here. Mule deer, including the black-tailed deer subspecies, are the most common ungulates (hoofed mammals) in the North Cascades. Nocturnal and seldom seen, all bats found in the Cascades are insectivorous and most are closely associated with mature forests. Among those species found in the Cascades, the western small-footed bat weighs as little as four grams. National Park Service biologists, recently conducting a parkwide bat inventory, documented eight bat species using habitats within the park. Twelve species of bats are thought to inhabit the North Cascades. The National Park Service, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Conservation Northwest, are working to reintroduce fishers to their former ranges in Olympic National Park, Mount Rainier National Park, and North Cascades National Park Service Complex.īats, the only mammals capable of true flight, are among our least understood mammals. Fishers are listed as Endangered by the State of Washington, and Cascade red fox is a Species of Concern. Both species were trapped for fur over the turn of the century and never recovered. Other species associated with wilderness areas that have been documented in the North Cascades include black bear, wolverine, river otter, cougar, lynx, and bobcat.įisher and Cascade red fox historically ranged throughout the Cascade mountains, but have not been detected for decades. Both are emblematic of the need for large contiguous areas of undisturbed wilderness that are necessary for these species to exist. Grizzly bears and gray wolves have both been documented as residing in rugged terrain. predators that prey mostly on mammals such as rabbits and rodents. Three species ( gray wolf, grizzly bear, and Canada lynx) are listed as "threatened" or "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act. Wolverine populations are currently known in the North Cascades Range in Washington. 75 mammal species in 21 families can be found in the North Cascades. Wilderness of the North Cascades hosts wildlife less common in the more populated areas of Washington State. Their fur was used to line parkas, though this practice is far less common today and the animals are protected in many areas.Bat studies reveal secrets of North Cascades Wolverines sport heavy, attractive fur that once made them a prime trapper's target in North America. Kits sometimes live with their mother until they reach their own reproductive age-about two years old. Females den in the snow or under similar cover to give birth to two or three young each late winter or early spring. Males scent-mark their territories, but they share them with several females and are believed to be polygamous. Such finds sustain them in winter when other prey may be thinner on the ground, though they have also been known to dig into burrows and eat hibernating mammals.
These opportunistic eaters also feed on carrion-the corpses of larger mammals, such as elk, deer, and caribou. Wolverines easily dispatch smaller prey, such as rabbits and rodents, but may even attack animals many times their size, such as caribou, if the prey appears to be weak or injured.
Wolverines eat a bit of vegetarian fare, like plants and berries, in the summer season, but this does not make up a major part of their diet-they are tenacious predators with a taste for meat. Because of these habitat requirements, wolverines frequent remote boreal forests, taiga, and tundra in the northern latitudes of Europe, Asia, and North America.
Individual wolverines may travel 15 miles in a day in search of food.
0 kommentar(er)
