Field Guide

When you see the black mask and striped tail of this medium-sized mammal, you know you’ve spotted a raccoon. These nocturnal omnivores are clever and adaptive.

The common muskrat is one of the most abundant commercial furbearers in Missouri. This semiaquatic rodent has benefited from the construction of thousands of farm ponds throughout the state.

The nutria is a large aquatic rodent native to South America. They were brought to the United States for the fur market. In Missouri, nutria are sometimes trapped in the southeastern part of the state.

One of the best-known wild mammals in Missouri, the woodchuck, or groundhog, is a rodent in the squirrel family. They hibernate in burrows from late October to sometime in February.

An excellent digger, the American badger is a powerful predator of rodents in grasslands and other open areas. Note its brawny build, impressive digging claws, and the black and white facial pattern.

The bobcat is a short-tailed wild cat with a distinctive streaked and spotted pattern, a wide face, and pointy ears often with black tufts.

Larger and yellower than the eastern cottontail, the swamp rabbit is confined to swamps of Missouri’s Bootheel. As a wetland dweller, it’s a good swimmer and diver, but lack of swamp habitat is making this rabbit’s numbers decline.

The eastern cottontail is a rabbit with a perfect name. Its tail, when raised, has a conspicuously white undersurface, resembling a fluff of cotton.

The American mink is a semiaquatic predator and a member of the weasel family. It is famous for its durable, soft, valuable fur.

Long-tailed weasels are small but voracious predators. They are rare in our state but are most common in the south-central and southwestern portions. In summer, they are brown with yellow beneath. In winter their fur is paler or white. The tail has a black tip.