What Animal Is It?

Do you think you might have an animal living in or around your home or yard, but you’re not sure quite what animal it is? You’ve come to the right place! Check out these common signs, as well as our Animal Finder chart of drawings, tracks, scat, and behaviors below to help determine the identity of your wild neighbors. If you don’t find your answer here, see our interactive house website.

Common Signs

• If something has been digging under your deck or porch, small patches of your grass are ripped up, and you sometimes notice a distinct odor, it’s most likely a skunk. Skunks burrow under structures and often feed on grubs and insects under the lawn or in the garden.
• If there are noises in your attic, it’s probably either squirrels or raccoons nesting. Raccoons will come out at night; squirrels most often during the day. Young raccoons often sound like puppies and can be very vocal. Check the size of the opening they are entering to help to determine which animal it may be. Raccoons are quite a bit larger than squirrels!
• If you’ve got long underground burrows in your grass and your garden, and flowers are being eaten, chances are you’ve got a woodchuck, also known as a groundhog or whistle-pig. Smaller burrows and disappearing flower bulbs may indicate chipmunks or moles.
• If your ornamental shrubbery is torn and the twigs have a ragged edge, chances are you’ve got deer browsing on them. Plants browsed by rabbits and smaller animals often have neatly clipped edges. Browsing by deer is usually an obvious 3 – 5 feet from the ground. Small, pellet-like scat can often be found close by, too.

Animal Finder

Black Bear

Possible Conflicts:
Raid bird feeders, compost piles, grills, trash, any food source

view tracks and scat

Canada Geese

Possible Conflicts:
Flocks deposit abundant feces on open fields and in ponds

view tracks and scat

Chipmunks

Possible Conflicts:
Burrow around rocks and woodpiles; may damage spring-flowering bulbs

view tracks and scat

Fisher

Possible Conflicts:
Prey on porcupines and squirrels; may take domestic cats; rarely seen; live in the woods

view tracks and scat

Fox

Possible Conflicts:
Sometimes den under decks or buildings when bearing young; rarely seen otherwise

view tracks and scat

Mouse

Possible Conflicts:
Often nest in insulation and invade kitchen drawers and cabinets; can chew through paper, plastic bags, wood, wiring

view tracks and scat

Moose

Possible Conflicts:
May be in traffic conflicts on highways and back roads

view tracks and scat

Muskrat

Possible Conflicts:
Tunnels and burrows in and around dikes and dams

view tracks and scat

Opossum

Possible Conflicts:
Although they rarely have conflicts with humans, they will occasionally raid garbage

view tracks and scat

Pigeon

Possible Conflicts:
Accumulation of feces can damage structures

view tracks

Porcupine

Possible Conflicts:
Sometimes cause tree damage (they like to eat the inner bark); can release sharp quills into dogs and cats; seldom has conflicts with humans; may gnaw at tools and other items, such as car tires, hoses, and aluminum oars, that have salt on them since they are attracted to various minerals

view tracks and scat

Rabbit

Possible Conflicts:
May raid flower or vegetable gardens

view tracks and scat

Raccoon

Possible Conflicts:
May be found denning in attics, chimneys, or crawl spaces; may raid trash

view tracks and scat

Rat

Possible Conflicts:
Can chew through many materials including electrical wiring; can gnaw holes in baseboards and door frames; can enter structures through holes the size of a quarter

view tracks and scat

Skunks

Possible Conflicts:
Often dig holes in lawn looking for grubs; den under decks, porches, and sheds

view tracks and scat

Squirrels

Often take shelter in attics and can chew on wiring

view tracks and scat

Wild Turkey

Can be aggressive towards humans and animals, especially during mating season

view tracks and scat