NatureMapping Habitat - Deciduous-conifer forest

Definition of "Deciduous/Conifer forest" - General Code 800: Areas containing greater than 50% of trees, composed of both deciduous and conifer trees, as the primary vegetation. Note: Urban areas with a lot of large trees are not forests; use the developed code.

Forest: Deciduous/Conifer forest (872)


Descriptive Habitat Code: Deciduous/conifer forest (8) intermediate in age (7), with a closed canopy (2).

American Black bear
Ursus americanus
Code: URAM
Photo: Natures Pics

Distribution and Habitat:
It is found in mountainous, forested, and wetland habitats

Diet:
It is an omnivore and feeds upon a variety of foods which include vegetation, carrion, fish, fruit, grubs, and hoofed mammals.

Interesting fact:
The largest black bear ever recorded weighed approximately 600 pounds, although the average size is around 200 pounds. The black bear may have brown or tan fur. It climbs trees easily.

American Black Bear Fact Sheet >

Coyote
Canis latrans
Code: CALAT
Photo: RA

Distribution and Habitat:
It is found in mountainous areas, grasslands, deciduous and mixed coniferous forests and even urban areas.

Diet:
It feeds on whatever it can find, mostly mammals and carrion, although it also eats birds, fruit, and insects.

Interesting fact:
Efforts to exterminate coyotes have taken place during the 20th century. Their numbers are still increasing.

Coyote Fact Sheet »

Ensatina
Ensatina eschsholtzi
Code:ENES
Photo: WDFW

Distribution and Habitat:
It is found under bark, logs and rocks in coniferous and deciduous forests; both in open and wooded settings.

Diet:
Ensatina feeds primarily on insects.

Interesting fact:
During cold periods, this salamander may be found in burrows of meadow mice or gophers.

Ensatina Fact Sheet »

Gray Wolf
Canis lupus
Code: CALU
Photo: Natures Pics

Distribution and Habitat:
Gray wolves are one of the most wide ranging land animals. They occupy a wide variety of habitats, from arctic tundra to forest, prairie, and arid landscapes.

Diet:
Gray wolves are carnivorous -- they primarily eat meat. Wolves often hunt in packs for large prey such as deer, moose, sheep, goats, caribou, elk, bison, and muskox. Wolves also will prey on rodents, beavers, fish, and birds.

Interesting fact:
Howling is used as a form of communication among wolf packs.

Gray Wolf Fact Sheet »

Gopher snake
Pitouphis melanoleucas catenifer
Code: PIME
Photo: Chris Brown

Distribution and Habitat:
It is found in mountainous and rocky areas up to an altitude of at least 8000 feet.

Diet:
It feeds primarily on rodents and other small mammals. Only warm- blooded, living prey are eaten.

Interesting fact:
The gopher snake is not poisonous although its threatening posture sometimes gives the impression that it is.

Gopher snake Fact Sheet »

Mule Deer
Odocoileus hemionus
Code: ODHE
Photo: Natures Pics

Distribution and Habitat:
Mule Deer are found throughout Washington, including the islands, in hardwood and coniferous forests, dense shrubs or other young successional stages with small trees or shrubs.

Diet:
Mule Deer are herbivores; they browse or graze depending on the season. They feed on a variety of vegetation including green plants, nuts and corn, and trees and twigs. They like to browse on Douglas fir and Ponderosa pine.

Interesting fact:
Mule Deer have large ears that can move independently in different directions

Mule Deer Fact Sheet »

Porcupine
Erethizon dorsatum
Code: ERDO
Photo: Natures Pics

Distribution and Habitat:
Porcupines live in forests throughout most of the western United States and parts of the Northeast. They are also found throughout forests in Canada.

Diet:
Porcupines like munching on a variety of trees including fir, hemlock, and pine, as well as maple, beech, birch, oak, elm, cherry and willow.

Interesting fact:
The porcupine has thousands of quills on its back to provide protection from predators.

Porcupine Fact Sheet »

Red Fox
Vulpes vulpes
Code: VUVU
Photo: Natures Pics

Distribution and Habitat:
In Washington, the Red Fox is indigenous in forests of the central and east Cascades and has been introduced in other parts of the state.

Diet:
Their favorite foods are rodents, rabbits and small birds.

Interesting fact:
Red Foxes stalk their prey just like cats.

Steller's jay
Cyanocitta stellari
Code: CYST
Photo: RA

Distribution and Habitat:
It is found throughout conifer forests and developed areas with large trees.

Diet:
It is an omnivore, feeding upon seeds, nuts, fruits and a variety of insects, such as grasshoppers and beetles. During nesting time it may also eat the eggs of other birds, as well as small mammals.

Interesting fact:
Steller's jays cache (store) food in the ground and cover it with a leaf or plant material to mark the location. Two Steller's jays are able to cache 100,000 nuts in a period of three months.

Steller's Jay Fact Sheet >

White-tailed Deer
Odocoileus virginianus
Code: ODVI
Photo: Natures Pics

Distribution and Habitat:
White-tailed deer are found in North America from southern Canada through Central America. Deer prefer open woodland, but are often found on the fringes of urban areas and in farming country.

Diet:
White-tailed deer are herbivores. These deer feed on a variety of vegetation including buds and twigs of maple, sassafras, poplar, aspen and birch.

Interesting fact:
"White-tailed" refers to the white underside of the deer's tail, which it displays and wags when it senses danger.

White-tails, particularly the young, are preyed upon by bobcats, mountain lions, coyotes, and wolves.

White-tailed Deer Fact Sheet »