From the Nature Nook Bookshelf: Kaufman Field Guide to Mammals of North America

White-tailed Deer at HNWR by Larry Paar

Book Review by Jean Flick

The Kaufman Field Guide to Mammals, by Nora Bowers, Rick Bowers, and Kenn Kaufman is one in a series of excellent field guides that includes guides for identifying birds, butterflies, and insects, as well as advanced birding (all available in the Nature Nook at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge). All the guides in the Kaufman series are compact but filled with excellent images and useful and interesting information. The 340 pages of the mammal guide include images and descriptions of all 450 mammal species found in North America and the surrounding waters.

Beaver at HNWR by Monica Muil

This user-friendly field guide comes with a caution by the authors that mammal identification is completely different than identifying birds, which often have distinctive color patterns and specific field marks that help with recognition. Mammals, however, often lack obvious markings (the skunk, of course, being one notable exception). Therefore, the authors remind us that mammal ID requires that the observer focus on size and shape as well as habitat, range, and behavior in addition to noting signs of animal presence such as tracks, droppings, trails, dens, and digging.

Cotton-tailed Rabbit at HNWR by Debbie Hale

Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge is home to over 30 mammal species. Every hiker on the refuge has seen the obvious signs of feral hogs digging throughout the refuge. Kids enjoy finding tracks in the mud on Harris Creek Trail, using the HNWR Nature Journal track guide to identify animals that have recently shared the trail. Check out the track ID page in the Journal, shown below…the tracks represent a variety of species, including several of the mammals found on the refuge.

To ensure that The Kaufman Field Guide to Mammals is easy to use, the guide is divided into fifteen sections with each section color coded. This allows the reader to quickly search the guide for a specific mammal group or species. Each section begins with general information about the mammal groups within that section. As always with Kaufman Guides, individual species descriptions are clear and concise. The images are digitally edited photos for clarity and ease in identification. Many species descriptions include drawings of the tracks, for those times when your identification is based on evidence that something interesting passed by but no animal is in sight. 

Armadillo at HNWR by Mary Karam

Glimpses of a white-tailed deer, a slow-moving armadillo, a rangy coyote, or a chattering squirrel are always a treat at HNWR. Be sure you are equipped to recognize any of the mammals you may encounter on the refuge. Is it a beaver or an otter? A mouse or a mole?  A red fox or a gray fox? A cottontail or a jackrabbit? The Kaufman Field Guide to Mammals can help the careful observer identify the mammals, and the evidence of mammals, you are sure to see as you spend time on the refuge. 

The Watchman - Squirrel at HNWR by Jeff Gladden

The Nature Nook is run by Friends of Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge. All proceeds are used for projects and activities at HNWR. 

Coyote at HNWR by Carl Hill