National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mammals [antikvár]

The mammals of North America are a diverse and fascinating group. However, because most mammals are nocturnal, secretive, and make few sounds audible to our ears, they tend to be elusive. In a morning's walk on a tract of woods in the midwesrern U.S., for instance, we can expect to see perhaps only five or six species of wild mammals: Eastern Fox Squirrels, Eastern Chipmunks, Eastern Cottontails, Woodchucks, pond-dwelling Common Muskrats, and occasionally a White-tailed Deer or two. We may also see or hear as many as 30 species of birds and 10 species of amphibians and reptiles, creatures that are much more easily seen though not necessarily more numerous. However, those woods contain many other kinds of mammals that are not immediately apparent. If we knock with a stick on the bases of enough dead upright trees with old woodpecker holes we are likely to rouse a Southern Flying Squirrel. If we examine the mud around small streams and pools we will see an abundance of tracks made by the Common Raccoon. In the dusty road along the edge of the woods, Virginia Opossum tracks are often discernible. Rabbit and deer droppings are common throughout the area. Ridges of earth pushed up by the Eastern Mole meanderI