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Wildlife - Mammals |
Birds
Mammals
Reptiles
& Amphibians
Invertebrates
Fish
Threatened
& Endangered Species
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| Red Fox |
| Credit: Herb Houghton |
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| White-tailed Deer |
| Credit: Herb Houghton |
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Approximately 40 mammal species occur on the Refuge. The Refuge is particularly important regionally for providing habitat for bobcat (Lynx rufus; state-listed endangered) and black bear (Ursus americanus). These large mammals require the large, unfragmented patches of habitat that the Refuge preserves. Game and furbearer species include include: opossum (Didelphis virginiana), raccoon (Procyon lotor), striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis), river otter (Lutra canadensis), mink (Mustela vison), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), coyote (Canis latrans), eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus), beaver (Castor canadensis), eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus), and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus).
White-tailed deer, muskrats, and woodchucks (Marmota monax) have substantial impacts on Refuge habitats and management activities. White-tailed deer populations on the Refuge and surrounding areas are high and have negatively affected the structure and composition of plant communities. Consequently, the habitat for many wildlife species has been degraded. Muskrats and woodchucks cause extensive damage to Refuge dikes through their burrowing activities. This damage inhibits the Refuge's capability to manage water levels in impoundments for wetland wildlife. Feral cats are common on the Refuge and contribute to the mortality of small birds and mammals.
Of the nine species of bats that occur in New Jersey, seven have been documented on the refuge, including the federally endangered Indiana Bat (Myotis sodalis). In 1998, Dr. Lance Risley from William Patterson University began studying bat populations and bat foraging ecology on the refuge and at other sites in northern New Jersey. Dr. Risley is conducting this research because, though the ecological value of bats as insectivores is well known, their general ecology is poorly understood. Dr. Risley's research will further define habitat preference of bats in northern New Jersey by locating and characterizing daily roosting sites within forest preserves. In August of 2008, the refuge began its own bat monitoring program. It was at this time that the Indiana Bat was documented for the first time. This research takes place between May and August and involves capturing bats using mist nets, monitoring high-frequency bat vocalizations, and attaching radio transmitters to pregnant or lactating female bats to determine the location of their roosting sites. Bats are released unharmed each night and the following day staff and interns locate the specific roost trees using radio telemetry to locate the bats that are carrying transmitters. We return to these roost sites the same evening to conduct emergence counts, that is, counting the number of individual bats emerging from each roost tree. This research has become even more critical in light of the white-nose syndrome that is decimating populations of certain bat species in the northeastern U.S. and beyond.
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| Black Bear |
| Credit: Herb Houghton |
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| Striped Skunk |
| Credit: Herb Houghton |
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Last updated:
December 8, 2011
