Mammals of Texas Field Guide

by Stan Tekiela

Overview

Identify Texas 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 Texas. With Stan Tekiela’s famous field guide, mammal identification is simple and informative. The Mammals of Texas Field Guide features all 157 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 157 of Texas’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 Texas Field Guide for your next outing to help ensure that you positively identify the wildlife you see.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781647554255
Publisher:	Adventure Publications, Incorporated
Publication date:	12/05/2023
Series:	Mammal Identification Guides
Edition description:	2nd Revised ed.
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	4.40(w) x 5.90(h) x 0.80(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 4–7' (1.2–2.1 m); T 6–12" (15–30 cm); H 3–4' (0.9–1.2 m)

Weight: M 100–300 lb. (45–135 kg); F 75–200 lb. (34–90 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 small tines originating from a central beam and an antler spread of 12–36" (30–91 cm). Female is overall smaller, has a thinner neck, and lacks antlers.

Origin/Age: native; 5–10 years

Compare: Mule Deer (pg. 359) has a black—tipped white tail and forked tines from the main beam. Sika Deer (pg. 347) is darker brown, has a small head and short ears and antlers. Fallow Deer (pg. 343) has white spots and distinctive flattened antlers. Axis Deer (pg. 351) has white spots over its body.

Habitat: many habitats, woodlands, scrublands, ranches

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

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 grass or leaves are evidence of beds; round hard brown pellets during winter, segmented cylindrical masses of scat in spring and summer

Activity: nocturnal, crepuscular; moves along same trails to visit feeding areas, most active in early morning and the end of day

Tracks: front hoof 2–3" (5–7.5 cm) long, hind hoof slightly smaller, both with a split heart shape with the 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: Many subspecies of White—tailed Deer in Texas, all appearing similar, all acting the same. More common than Mule Deer (pg. 359), which usually do not occupy the same habitats.

In summer, antlers are covered with a furry skin called velvet. Velvet contains a network of blood vessels that supplies nutrients to growing antlers. New antler growth begins after the male (buck) drops his antlers in January or February. Some females (does) grow antlers. Antler growth is tied to available nutrition. It is impossible to judge the age of a buck by the number of antler tines or antler size due to the direct correlation between antlers and nutrition. Examining teeth is a better way to estimate age.

Grows much longer guard hairs in winter, giving the animal a larger appearance than in summer. Individual hairs of the winter coat are thick and hollow and provide excellent insulation.

Usually restricts its movement to a relatively small home range and is dependent on the location of the food supply. Eats 5–9 pounds (2.3–4.1 kg) of food per day, preferring acorns in fall and fresh grass in spring. Research shows that Whitetails eat up to 500 different plants. 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 mph (60 km/h), jump up to 8.5 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

The Mammals

Glossary

Helpful Resources

Appendix: Taxonomy of Texas Mammals

Checklist/Index

Photo Credits

About the Author