The fur varies from pale yellowish buff to dark blackish brown.

The striped skunk Mephitis mephitis is about the size of a cat, but has a stout body, a rather small head, short legs, and a bushy tail. (See Figure 1.). Males can grow up to 6.2 m -the average size being 4.7 m- and weigh about 1,600 kg. The length of the body from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail is usually about 50 cm. The species was practically exterminated by the 1970s, but a large number of observations since and the capture of a specimen in 1992 have made the species' status in eastern Canada a subject of controversy amongst biologists.

The beaver Castor canadensis is the largest rodent in North America and the largest rodent in the world except for the capybara of South America. They can slide into prairie dog burrows with their long, slinky bodies and use their sharp teeth, strong jaws and non-retractable claws to kill and devour the occupants. The Mute is all white with a black knob on a reddish-orange and black bill. Because it is light-coloured in winter and dark in summer, it blends well with the seasonal surroundings. The muskrat Ondatra zibethicus is a fairly large rodent commonly found in the wetlands and waterways of North America. Females are generally larger than males. The lagomorphs comprise two families, Leporidae (hares and rabbits), and Ochotonidae (pikas). Adult females are about half the size of males and reach adult size by their fifth or sixth year, when most weigh from 150 to 250 kg. It is thought that martens entered North America from Asia about 60 000 years ago. They are not fiercely territorial, and territories sometimes overlap. The function of the tusk remains a mystery, but several hypotheses have been proposed.

A raven may live up to 21 years in the wild, making it one of the species with the longest lifespan in all passerine birds. In the Pelly Mountain area of the Yukon, black and white Dall sheep merge gradually with each other. It is constantly on the move in search of food and new habitat. The Right Whale has a bit of an unusual name. Its long, curved claws are semi-retractile, which means they can be partly drawn back in, and they are used for climbing and digging. Indeed, there are indications that the tusks are used by male narwhals for fighting each other or perhaps other species, like the beluga or killer whale. Like the buteos (e.g., the Red-tailed Hawk Buteo jamaicensis) and harriers (the Northern Harrier Circus cyaneus is the only Canadian harrier), the accipitrine hawks have rounded wings; however, these are shorter than in the other two groups. The short legs are bowed, and the animal stands bear-like with its entire foot planted firmly on the ground. The swift fox (Vulpes velox), a member of the canid, or dog, family, is related to wolves, coyotes, dogs, and other foxes. The other two are the polar bear Ursus maritimus and the black bear Ursus americanus. In Canadian species, the tail is enclosed in the membranes. The cougar Puma concolor is one of only three wild felid species, or members of the cat family, found in Canada. Early settlers of the Canadian plains knew the swift fox as the “kit” fox, and the two names have been used interchangeably since that time. But its life-cycle is exactly the reverse of salmon’s: the eel is a catadromous species. Their long forked tail and pointed wings also make them easily recognizable. The narwhal’s most striking feature is undoubtedly its tusk. There are about 320 species of turtles throughout the world, inhabiting a great variety of terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems on every continent except Antarctica and its waters. Unfortunately people in different parts of Canada have given these two types of deer the same nickname, "jumper." Their canine teeth are large, and the grinding surfaces of their cheek teeth are jagged, which is an adaptation to a carnivorous diet.

This shell, composed of a carapace in the back and a plastron on the belly, is made of bony plates. The few weights of wild muskoxen available indicate that adult bulls weigh 270 to 315 kg and cows about 90 kg less. Confusion is less likely between the white-tailed deer and the darker stockier mule deer. This woodpecker is black and white with a broad white stripe down the back from the shoulders to the rump. A notable exception is the spotted bat Euderma maculatum, which occurs in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia and uses lower-frequency echolocation calls readily audible to most people. Moose grow antlers each summer and shed them each autumn. The Cowichan Lake lamprey (Entosphenus macrostomus) is a freshwater parasitic lamprey species. The coyote’s fur is long and soft and well suited to protect it from the cold. The most notable physical feature of the eastern grey squirrel is its large bushy tail. Signs and sounds Snowshoe hares are generally silent, but they can show annoyance by snorting.

They’re normally reddish-brown in colour. The tail is slender, flattened vertically and up to about 25 cm long.

These antennae are able to smell the water to locate prey and touch elements in the lobster’s environment so it can find its way. Extirpated in several areas. The Atlantic walrus is a pinniped – literally meaning feather footed – and supports its massive weight on feather-like flippers, in order to navigate its surroundings. The beaver also uses its paws to groom its coat. The country's large size enables it to harbor a variety of animal species. Loping is common among mustelids, and it takes some practice to be able to distinguish the tracks of the various species. Tracks are about 3.7 cm long and form two ovals that overlap by about one third. It ranges from yellowish to dark reddish brown, with an intermediate brown colour being the most common shade. It has a short tail, long legs, large feet, and prominent ear tufts. This mammal is a species of bison also known as the American buffalo that inhabited the grasslands in North America and almost became extinct in the 19th century due to commercial hunting and slaughter and the emergence of bovine diseases introduced by interactions with domestic cattle. And the Downy’s bill is shorter than its head, whereas the Hairy’s bill is as long as or longer than its head length. It has large eyes with round pupils, an adaptation to the cougar’s nocturnal, or night time, behaviour. The eastern elk, a subspecies of the elk or wapiti, was also formerly found in Quebec and Ontario, but was made extinct for much the same reasons as the sea mink. They are small to medium-sized marsupials, about the size of a large house cat, with a long snout and prehensile tail. Indeed, the Latin word for squirrel, sciurus, is derived from two Greek words, skia, meaning shadow, and oura, meaning tail.

That’s almost the same size as the Blue Whale’s tail, even though Right Whales are just over half their size. It also has a narrower bill and lacks the raven’s hackles.

In summer, a collared lemming has a black nose, grey cheeks, tawny ear spots, a chestnut collar, and a more or less prominent black dorsal stripe. Extinct, extirpated or reintroduced species, This species is often treated as a subspecies of. Shrews and solenodons closely resemble mice, hedgehogs carry spines, while moles are stout-bodied burrowers. As human development expands, wild animals are moving into urban and suburban areas in search of food and shelter, and although we might not see them, we often hear the evidence of their presence. The tail has many important functions. Other identifying characteristics include body colour and the number and type of teeth. The hand-like front feet are used in building lodges, holding food, and digging burrows and channels. The graceful white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus is well known to most North Americans.

All Canadian freshwater turtles can retreat in their shells and hide their entire body except the Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina). Reintroduced in the 1970s; the species had been extirpated in Canada around the start of the 20th century. The mammal prefers eating meat, but also feed on fruits and plants. The beaver’s body is adapted in many ways to the animal’s watery habitat. Elk scat, or droppings, like those of other deer, are in the form of pellets in winter, but in summer, when the animals are on new green forage, resemble those of cattle. The drawings show some of the features that biologists look for if they wish to identify a bison by subspecies. The grizzly (Ursus arctos) is the second largest North American land carnivore, or meat-eater, and, like the larger polar bear, has a prominent hump over the shoulders formed by the muscles of its massive forelegs.