Perhaps the most effective strategy for observing wildlife is to sit quietly for an hour or so in some secluded spot and wait for local species to declare themselves in the course of their daily lives. It may take repeated visits over many years to a variety of habitats to spot even half the species listed below, but the result is apt to be highly satisfying as a revelation of the hidden residents of the watersheds of Mount Desert Island.

BATS

• little brown myotis--caves, attics, barns, tunnels, hollow trees
• northern long-eared bat
• silver-haired bat--forested areas near lakes or streams
• big brown bat--buildings, bridges, caves, tunnels, hollow trees
• hoary bat--wooded areas where it roosts in trees 10 to 15 feet above ground (uncommon)
• Keen's myotis-- (uncommon)
• red bat--wooded areas where it roosts in trees 5 to 40 feet above ground (uncommon)

BEARS

• black bear (uncommon)

CANIDS

• coyote--edges of second growth forests, open brushy fields, forest openings
• red fox--prefers a mixture of forest and open areas

FELINES

• bobcat--mixed deciduous-coniferous and hardwood forests broken by fields and roads; (rare)

HARES

• snowshoe hare--woodlands with dense brushy understory; coniferous swamps

HOOFED BROWSERS

• white-tailed deer--forest edges, swamp borders, woods interspersed with fields
• moose--second-growth boreal forests with semi-open areas and swamps or lakes (uncommon)

RACCOONS

• raccoon--wooded areas interrupted by fields and water courses

RODENTS

• Eastern chipmunk--deciduous woodlands with abundant cover
• woodchuck--edges of woodlands, open cultivated land, pastures, meadows
• gray squirrel--deciduous and mixed forests
• red squirrel--coniferous, mixed, and occasionally deciduous forests
• Northern flying squirrel--mixed mature coniferous and deciduous forests
• beaver--slowly flowing brooks, usually bordered by woodland
• deer mouse--coniferous or mixed forests, field borders, stone walls, out-buildings
• boreal red-backed vole--cool moist deciduous, mixed, or coniferous forests
• meadow vole--fields, pastures, orchards, marshes and meadows, swamps, bogs
• muskrat--marshes, shallow portions of lakes, ponds, swamps, streams, ditches
• house mouse--buildings, fields, corncribs
• meadow jumping mouse--moist, open grassy and brushy marshes and meadows
• white-footed mouse--forests and fields; not habitat specific
• woodland jumping mouse--brush and herbaceous vegetation in forests, near water
• porcupine--mixed or coniferous forests, especially northern hardwood-hemlock
• house mouse (uncommon)
• Norway rat--wherever food is abundant; waterfronts, farms, towns, dumps (uncommon)
• Southern flying squirrel (uncommon)

SHREWS AND MOLES

• masked shrew--woodlands with grasses, rocks, logs, or stumps; bogs
• water shrew--wet areas along ponds and streams in coniferous forests
• Northern short-tailed shrew--both timbered and fairly open habitats
• star-nosed mole--low wet ground near bodies of water
• short-tailed shrew
• hairy-tailed mole--open woods and meadows with light, sandy loam (uncommon)
• smokey mole (uncommon)

WEASELS

• ermine--wooded or open country with thickets, rock piles, and other heavy cover
• long-tailed weasel--open woods and woodland edges, grasslands, river bottomlands
• mink--streambanks, lakeshores, marshes
• striped skunk--semi-open country, woods and meadows, agricultural lands, suburbs
• river otter--borders of streams, lakes or other wetlands in forested areas

Sources for additional information:
Resource Management Division, Acadia National Park
Historical Resource Inventory for Acadia National Park, 1992