We live in Northwest Montana, in the Kalispell area. We are surrounded by forest and see wildlife on a regular basis. We've set up a few trail cameras around our property. As a result, we have photos of animals that exist around the entire country, as well as a few that only live in certain areas.
Below and above are a few photos of animals that have wandered around our area over the last few months, as well as a short description of each. Please note many of the photos are grainy in quality - they were taken at night while the animals were moving.
Mountain Lions/Cougars (featured photo): Mountain lions are one of the more concerning animals in the area, as they can move silently, and are known to watch other wildlife as well as humans for long periods of time. The males can reach up to 8 feet in length and 180 or so pounds, so they are quite large. They can also leap up to 20 feet vertically and cover over 40 feet horizontally in a single leap. It's very difficult to spot one with your eyes, as they don't want to be found, so we were lucky to get the trail cam photo above. Typically the mountain lions travel alone, so it was interesting to see two of them in this photo.
Black Bears: These two black bears showed up last night. While grizzly bears are also found in the general area, typically on the western side of Flathead Lake, we usually only see black bears. Because there are two of them, these are probably a mother and baby. We have seen a mom and cubs a few times this year. While you don't want to get between a momma and her cubs, and you don't want to surprise a bear, they usually run at the first sign of humans.
Moose: It's unusual to see a moose in the Flathead Valley, as they are usually further north in Canada and Alaska. That being said, this year we've seen a young moose not only on our property, but wandering down the main road. And my neighbor across the street has seen a mom and her young one on her property. Moose usually travel alone, although mom usually stays with the young ones until they are a year old. She was probably somewhere in the area at the time this photo was taken. Moose are large animals and can reach 6 feet in height and about 1,000 pounds. They are herbivores and can be quite aggressive if bothered. So don't bother them!
Coyote: Coyotes are quite common in this area. It can be a bit disconcerting to hear them howl for the first time especially in the middle of the night when you're sleeping. If you've never heard it, click here. Imagine that racket in the middle of the night! They are omnivores and basically will eat whatever they find. I do have trail cam photos of them carrying off two halves of a deer but I decided not to share since it could be a bit squeamish inducing!
Elk: A few years ago, we had a neighbor who stored hay for his horses, and the hay bales were accessible by other animals. For an entire season, a herd of about 30 or so elk would travel down our hill, past our house and go to the neighbors to eat. Then they'd go back up into the forest after they were done. It was amazing to walk out our door and look in any number of directions and see them. Unfortunately, there are no longer hay bales, and it's rare for us to see elk in the area. We think they've probably wandered over the mountains to the other side where they now live. But this summer they popped up in one of our fields with a water source. They are smaller than moose and larger than deer. Elk are also herbivores.
Deer: Deer can be found all over the area and are quite common to see. In fact, we have a family that hangs around our house all the time. We call them "mom and the kids." Each year, mom has fawns and they all travel around together until the fawns are old enough to leave. When we walk out the door, or drive down the driveway, they usually just watch us and rarely run.
When we see deer running away, we know they aren't the family! Similar to elk and moose, they are herbivores and eat many of the grasses and shrubs in the area. Also of interest, bucks can brag about having the fastest-growing animal tissue in the world. Their antlers can grow up to 3/4 of an inch per day. Deer can also leap 8 feet high from a standing position and clear 30 feet in a single bound. It's amazing to watch how graceful they are when running. Because they are so prevalent here, when we see an animal from the corner of our eye, and say, "ooh, what's that?" we usually follow up with, "oh, just a deer!"
Turkeys: Turkeys are just as numerous as deer here. And they are the funniest creatures to watch. First, they usually hang out with their own sex, so the toms (males) hang out the rest of the boys, and the hens (females) hang with the other girls. During mating season, they will hang out together, with the males fighting each other for the right to the females, and the females ignoring the tom's plumage. After babies are born, the hen will wander around with her youngsters (as is seen here in the photo). And watching those big fat bodies fly into a tree for their evening sleep is amazing.
Other animals: Our trailcams also captured other critters, like skunks, raccoons, fox, squirrels and rabbit. But since those are found in almost all parts of the country, I opted not to include those photos.
Summary: We love sharing our property with all of our local wildlife (or maybe they're sharing it with us). And for those who are worried about our safety, when we're going into the forest, we are prepared with bear spray and other weaponry. So we're careful and loving the experience! Hope you enjoyed the photos.
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