Open Grasslands: Mammals

Birds

Amphibians/Reptiles

Arthropods

Plants

Bryophytes/Lichen

Coyote

A member of the dog family easily recognized by the long bushy tail and elegant loping gait, coyotes are often seen in the grasslands. While they feed mainly on rabbits and mice, they will also feed on birds, deer, livestock, grasshoppers and fruit. Young are born and raised in an underground den that is often dug into soft ground on a hillside.

Badger

The largest member of the weasel family, these stout, shaggy animals have distinct black and white facial markings. They are highly specialized for digging with short muscular legs, a triangular head, special membranes to protect the eyes from dirt, and broad front feet with long, curved claws. Their diet consists mainly of other burrowing animals such as ground squirrels, pocket gophers and marmots, but mice, snakes, birds and bird eggs are also eaten. Badgers forage mostly at night and are found in grasslands and open forest habitats in the dry Southern Interior.

Western Small-footed Myotis

The smallest bat in British Columbia and the most common bat feeding over sagebrush in the Cariboo-Chilcotin. Black wing and tail membranes, ears, face and snout contrast with very pale fur on the back. It feeds on flies, beetles and moths and roosts in cavities in cliffs, boulders, vertical banks and under rocks.

Want to find out about species at risk in open grasslands?
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Here are some other representative species in open grasslands:

California Bighorn Sheep
Dusky Shrew
Elk
Fringed Myotis
Great Basin Pocket Mouse
Meadow Voles
Mule Deer
Red Fox
Spotted Bat
Townsend’s Big-eared Bat
Western Harvest Mouse
White-tailed Deer
Yellow-bellied Marmot
Red:
Badger
Pallid Bat
Extirpated:
White-tailed Jackrabbit

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