Mammals of Arizona Field Guide

by Stan Tekiela

Overview

Identify Arizona mammals with this easy-to-use field guide, organized by family and featuring full-color photographs and helpful information.

Whether you happen upon an animal track or actually see wildlife in nature, interacting with mammals is a thrill. Learn to identify mammals in Arizona. With Stan Tekiela’s famous field guide, mammal identification is simple and informative. The Mammals of Arizona Field Guide features all 144 species found in the state, organized by family and then by size. When you see a mammal, you can determine its family by common visual characteristics and then turn to the corresponding section to find out what it is! Fact-filled information contains the particulars that you want to know, while full-color photographs provide the visual detail needed for accurate identification.

Inside you’ll find:

• All 144 of Arizona’s mammals, from mice to mountain lions
• Facts about size, habitat, food, young, and more
• Times each animal is most likely to be active and signs it might leave behind
• Professional photos, range maps, and track patterns
• Stan’s naturalist notes and fascinating facts

Grab this second edition of the Mammals of Arizona Field Guide for your next outing to help ensure that you positively identify the wildlife you see.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781647554231
Publisher:	Adventure Publications, Incorporated
Publication date:	12/05/2023
Series:	Mammal Identification Guides
Edition description:	2nd Revised ed.
Pages:	376
Sales rank:	514,646
Product dimensions:	4.30(w) x 5.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Naturalist, wildlife photographer, and writer Stan Tekiela is the author of more than 190 field guides, nature books, children’s books, and playing cards, presenting many species of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, trees, wildflowers, and cacti in the United States. With a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural History from the University of Minnesota and as an active professional naturalist for more than 30 years, Stan studies and photographs wildlife throughout the United States and Canada. He has received various national and regional awards for his books and photographs. Also a well-known columnist and radio personality, his syndicated column appears in more than 25 newspapers and his wildlife programs are broadcast on a number of Midwest radio stations.

Read an Excerpt

White-tailed Deer
Odocoileus virginianus couesi

Family: Deer (Cervidae)

Size: L 3-6' (.9-1.8 m); T 6-12" (15-30 cm); H 3-4' (1-1.2 m)

Weight: M 70-120 lb. (32-54 kg); F 50-75 lb. (23-34 kg)

Description: Reddish brown during summer, grayish brown during winter. Large ears, white inside with black edges. A white eye-ring, nose band, chin, throat and belly. Brown tail with a black tip and white underside. Male has antlers with many tines and an antler spread of 12-36" (30-90 cm). Female has a thinner neck than male and lacks antlers.

Origin/Age: native; 5-10 years

Compare: Slightly smaller than the Mule Deer (pg. 323), which has a small thin white tail with a black tip. Elk (pg. 327) has a dark mane and is much larger and heavier than White-tailed Deer.

Habitat: all habitats, all elevations

Home: no den or nest; sleeps in a different spot every night, beds may be concentrated in one area, does not use a shelter in bad weather or winter, will move to a semisheltered area (yard) with a good food supply in winter

Food: herbivore; grasses and other green plants, acorns and nuts in summer, twigs and buds in winter

Sounds: loud whistle-like snorts, male grunts, fawn bleats

Breeding late Oct-Nov mating; 6-7 months gestation

Young: 1-2 fawns once per year in May or June; covered with white spots, walks within hours of birth

Signs: browsed twigs that are ripped or torn (due to the lack of upper incisor teeth), tree rubs (saplings scraped or stripped of bark) made by male while polishing antlers during the rut, oval depressions in snow or leaves are evidence of beds; round, hard brown pellets during winter, cylindrical segmented masses of scat in spring and summer

Activity: nocturnal, crepuscular; often moves along same trails to visit feeding areas

Tracks: front hoof 2-3" (5-7.5 cm) long, hind hoof slightly smaller, both with a split heart shape with a point in the front; neat line of single tracks; hind hooves fall near or directly onto fore prints (direct register) when walking

Stan’s Notes: Almost extirpated in the 1920s, it has recovered well and is now found in most river bottoms in southeastern Arizona. In Arizona the White-tailed Deer is actually subspecies known as Coues White-tailed Deer. Coues Whitetails look the same as White-tailed Deer (O. virginianus), their eastern counterpart, except that they are smaller and weight less. Also called Virginia Deer or just Whitetail.

Much longer guard hairs in winter give the animal a larger appearance than in summer. Individual hairs of the winter coat are thick and hollow and provide excellent insulation.

In summer, antlers are covered with a furry skin called velvet. Velvet contains a network of blood vessels that supplies nutrients to the growing antlers. New antler growth begins after the male (buck) drops his antlers in January or February. Some females (does) have been known to grow antlers.

Deer are dependent on the location of the food supply. In winter large groups move to low moist areas (yards) that have plenty of food. Yarding behavior provides some protection from predators. Eats 5-9 pounds (2.3-4.1 kg) of food per day, preferring acorns in fall and fresh grass in spring. Its four-chambered stomach enables the animal to get nutrients from poor food sources, such as twigs, and eat and drink substances that are unsuitable for people.

Able to run up to 37 miles (60 km) per hour, jump up to 8 1⁄2 feet (2.6 m) high and leap 30 feet (9.1 m). Also an excellent swimmer.

The buck is solitary in spring and early summer, but seeks other bucks in late summer and early fall to spar. Bucks are polygamous. The largest, most dominant bucks mate with many does.

For a couple weeks after birth, fawns lay still all day while their mother is away feeding. Mother nurses them evenings and nights.

Table of Contents

Introduction

• Arizona’s Mammals
• What Is a Mammal?
• Identification Step-by-Step
• Taxonomy of Arizona’s Mammals
• Caution
• Quick-Compare Pages
• Sample Pages

The Mammals

• Shrews
• Pocket Mice
• Jumping Mouse
• Harvest Mice
• Mice
• Grasshopper Mice
• Kangaroo Rats
• Cotton Rats
• Woodrats
• Rats
• Voles
• Muskrat
• Beaver
• Bats
• Chipmunks
• Ground Squirrels
• Tree Squirrels
• Prairie Dogs
• Pocket Gophers
• Rabbits
• Jackrabbits
• Weasel
• Ferret
• Badger
• Otter
• Skunks
• Ringtail
• Raccoon
• Coati
• Porcupine
• Opossum
• Foxes
• Coyote
• Wolf
• Ocelot
• Jaguarundi
• Bobcat
• Mountain Lion
• Jaguar
• Javelina
• Pronghorn
• Deer
• Elk
• Burro
• Horse
• Sheep
• Bison
• Bear

Glossary

Helpful Resources

Appendix: Taxonomy of Arizona’s Mammals

Checklist/Index by Species

Photo Credits

About the Author