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These large salamanders are marbled brown and tan in color when in their rare terrestrial (land-living) adult form. They are brown with yellowish-tan patches on These large salamanders have an aquatic adult stage that is brown with yellowish-tan patches and short gills. The rare terrestrial adult is marbled brown and tan. Larvae of Cope’s giant salamander are smaller with a more narrow head and shorter legs than the coastal giant salamander. Both terrestrial and aquatic adults can grow up to eight inches in total length. Most adult salamanders live in cold, fast-flowing, clear and permanent streams in coniferous forests. Adult…

Features: Bullheads found in Oregon are distinguished from channel catfish by their square or rounded tails and lack of spotting. They seldom exceed two pounds and 18-inches long. Brown bullheads are a mottled yellowish-brown with a yellow belly and dark chin “whiskers” or barbels that are white near the base. They have a square tail. Habitat: Bullheads are found on the bottom in the shallows of mud-bottomed ponds, lakes, reservoirs and backwaters of rivers. The brown species is common throughout the state. Technique: Bullheads can be caught any month of the year, but fishing is best from the first warm…

Adult treefrogs have a dark mask that extends from the tip of the nose across the eyes to the shoulders. Coloration varies between individuals, ranging from green or reddish to brown or gray. Most have dark blotches along their sides with light colored bumpy undersides. They have special skin glands that produce a waxy coating to keep their skin moist. Male treefrogs have a dark gray, inflatable throat pouch during the breeding season. As the smallest frog species in Oregon, adult Northern Pacific treefrogs only grow to two inches in length. During the non-breeding season, this treefrog is found in…

Sporting the form of a curlew, this medium-sized marsh wader is almost always found in flocks, flying in formation and quacking like ducks. Their long, down-curved bill complements their long neck and legs. Although their feathers appear black, a closer look will reveal an iridescence of bronze, purple, maroon, and green. They are named for their "white face" which appears in alternate plumage as a narrow border of white feathers along the edge of their reddish-purple facial skin, delineating a mask around the red eye. The White-faced ibis has extended its breeding grounds in Oregon to wetlands in Harney, Lake…

The common porcupine is a large, short-legged rodent with up to 30,000 bare-tipped quills (modified hairs) covering the upper parts of the body and the dorsal and lateral surfaces of the tail. The quills are scattered among much longer, course guard hairs; the underfur is woolly. The quills are arranged in rows across the body, the longest quills are on the rump, the shortest on the face. Quills used in defense are replaced commencing about 10-42 days after loss. The overall color of the porcupine is dark brown or blackish. The front feet have four toes, the rear feet five…

Like the name suggests, harbor porpoises remain close to shore and in river estuaries and bays usually less than 650 feet deep. This makes them the most likely porpoise seen from shore. They seem more shy than their larger, more gregarious cousins, like the Dall’s porpoise or bottlenose dolphin. You won’t see them riding the bow waves of boats. They are also not as social, usually seen alone or in small groups of two or three, rarely more than five individuals. Found throughout the temperate coastal waters of the Northern Hemisphere, harbor porpoises are the smallest of the Northern Pacific…

The black-tailed jackrabbit is slightly smaller than the white-tailed jackrabbit but considerably larger than the snowshoe hare. In conformation, it is much like the white-tailed jackrabbit. West of the Cascade Range, the dorsal hairs of this rabbit have gray blending to dark-brown or blackish base followed by a narrow band of buff and a black tip. Hairs on the throat, sides, and rump have gray bases blending to buff with short black tips. On the venter, hairs are white with light pinkish-buff tips. The tail is black on the dorsum and dark buff on the venter. The ears are dark…

Features: Bullheads present in Oregon (brown, yellow and black) are distinguished from channel catfish by their square or rounded tails and lack of spotting. They seldom exceed two pounds and 18-inches long. Black bullheads have a square tail with a light vertical bar at its base and chin barbels that are all dark. Habitat: Bullheads are found on the bottom in the shallows of mud-bottomed ponds, lakes, reservoirs and backwaters of rivers. The black bullhead is primarily in reservoirs and streams tributary to the Snake River. Bullheads feed on almost any type of plant or animal material; insect larvae and…

Features: Smallmouth bass are golden green to bronze with dark vertical bars and blotches on the side. The upper jaw does not extend beyond the eye. In some locations, it has a red eye. Somewhat smaller than the largemouth, smallmouth bass in Oregon may reach 23-inches and exceed 7 pounds. Habitat: Smallmouth bass are adapted to flowing waters and do well in warm streams with deep holes and rocky ledges. They also prefer lakes and reservoirs with rocky shorelines and limited vegetation. Adult smallmouth feed mostly on fish and crayfish. Technique: Much of what was written about largemouth bass also…

Features: Warmouth have more of a bass-shaped body and a larger mouth than the other sunfishes, other than the green sunfish. Warmouth are yellowish brown in color with three or four brownish bars radiating back from the eye over the gill cover. They can be distinguished from the green sunfish by the absence of turquoise mottling on the gill cover and the lack of a dark spot at the rear base of the dorsal fin. Habitat: In Oregon, warmouth are present in a few coastal lakes and widely distributed in the Columbia basin, but are not commonly caught by anglers…

The bighorn sheep is a medium-sized, largely brownish bovid with a white rump patch, muzzle, venter, and rear portion of the legs. The tail is blackish brown on the exposed surface. The hooves are equipped with a rubberlike pad that facilitates negotiating rocky terrain. The ears are relatively small and somewhat pointed. Both sexes are equipped with horns; those of males are massive and spiral outward, whereas those of females are relatively thin, recurved, and mostly directed upward and posteriorly. Horn growth reflects nutritional status. Bighorn sheep are capable of moving with speed and agility through the precipitous terrain in…

In Oregon, the nutria is considered an invasive species. The nutria is a large rat-like semiaquatic rodent. The species has a hunched body; a round, nearly hairless tail; a valvular mouth and nose; and pentadactyl feet with naked soles. The toes of the hind feet, except for the hallux, are included in a web. As an adaption to the aquatic environment, the eyes, nostrils, and small ears are set high on the sides. The pelage consists of long, course guard hairs and soft, dense underfur. Overall, the color usually ranges from dark brown to yellow-brown. The muzzle is frosted with…

Features: Largemouth bass are greenish on the back and sides with a white belly and usually a dark horizontal stripe along the side. They are distinguished from their close cousin, the smallmouth, by a large mouth with the upper jaw extending behind the eye. Largemouth bass in Oregon can exceed 25 inches in length and a weight of 12 pounds. Habitats: Their preferred habitats are shallow ponds and lakes, or the backwater sloughs of rivers where aquatic plants or submerged logs and brush provide abundant cover. Largemouth bass begin life feeding on zooplankton (tiny crustaceans), but soon switch to insects…

The American beaver, the largest rodent in North America, commonly weighs in excess of 55 pounds. The beaver is highly modified for aquatic life with a compact body, paddle shaped tail, webbed hind feet, valves that close their ears and nose while diving, and a rich oil gland that waterproofs their fur. Under water, membranes cover the eyes. Claws on the first and second toes are split and function in grooming; the ears and eyes are small; the tail is broad, scaly and nearly without hairs. The thick underfur is overlain with coarse guard hairs; overall, the pelage (coat) is…