Mammals of the Bay Area

You can see quite a few mammals in the San Francisco Bay Area, if you know what you are looking for. Many are found in protected areas like State Parks but some, like raccoons and skunks, are even found in suburban environments. Several marine mammals can be seen in the nearby coastal waters and the Harbor Seal can actually be seen in San Francisco Bay.

A special whale-watching page will help you if you want to catch sight of these magnificent marine mammals.  ...more .

• Land Mammals
• Bats
• Marine Mammals
• Notes on some Mammals
• Books
• Articles/Links

1. Virginia Opossum - Didelphis virginiana
2. Ornate Shrew - Sorex ornatus
3. Vagrant Shrew - Sorex vagrans
4. Fog Shrew - Sorex sonomae
5. Trowbridge's Shrew - Sorex trowbridgii
6. American Shrew-mole - Neurotrichus gibbsii
7. Broad-footed Mole - Scapanus latimanus
8. Desert Cottontail - Sylvilagus audubonii
9. Brush Rabbit - Sylvilagus bachmani
10. Black-tailed Jackrabbit - Lepus californicus  ...track 
11. Mountain Beaver - Aplodontia rufa  ...more 
12. California Ground Squirrel - Spermophilus beecheyi
13. Sonoma Chipmunk - Neotamias sonomae
14. Merriam's Chipmunk - Neotamias merriami
15. Yellow-cheeked Chipmunk - Neotamias ochrogenys (Sonoma County only)
16. Western Gray Squirrel - Sciurus griseus
17. Fox Squirrel - Sciurus niger (introduced, not native)
18. Douglas Squirrel - Tamiasciurus douglasii (Sonoma County only)
19. Botta's Pocket Gopher - Thomomys bottae
20. California Pocket Mouse - Chaetodipus californicus
21. Deer Mouse - Peromyscus maniculatus
22. California Mouse - Peromyscus californicus
23. Brush Mouse - Peromyscus boylii
24. Pinyon Mouse - Peromyscus truei
25. Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse - Reithrodontomys raviventris
26. Western Harvest Mouse - Reithrodontomys megalotis
27. Dusky-footed Woodrat - Neotoma fuscipes  ...more 
28. Desert Woodrat - Neotoma lepida
29. California Vole - Microtus californicus
30. Common Muskrat - Ondatra zibethicus
31. Norway Rat - Rattus norvegicus
32. Black Rat - Rattus rattus
33. House Mouse - Mus musculus
34. Pacific Jumping Mouse - Zapus trinotatus
35. Heermann's Kangaroo Rat - Dipodomys heermanni  ...photo 
36. American Beaver - Castor canadensis  ...more 
37. North American Porcupine - Erithizon dorsatum (Sonoma and Marin County)  ...more 
38. Coyote - Canis latrans
39. Gray Fox - Urocyon cinereoargenteus  ...more 
40. Kit Fox - Vulpes macrotis
41. Red Fox - Vulpes vulpes (introduced)
42. Ringtail - Bassariscus astutus (please report sightings)
43. Northern Raccoon - Procyon lotor
44. Short-tailed Weasel - Mustela erminea
45. Long-tailed Weasel - Mustela frenata  ...track 
46. American Mink - Neovison vison
47. American Badger - Taxidea taxus  ...more 
48. Western Spotted Skunk - Spilogale gracilis (only Sonoma and Marin County)
49. Striped Skunk - Mephitis mephitis
50. North American River Otter - Lontra canadensis
51. American Black Bear - Ursus americanus (only Sonoma County)
52. Puma (Cougar, Mountain Lion) - Puma concolor  ...more 
53. Bobcat - Lynx rufus
54. Wild Pig - Sus scrofa (Non-native, introduced in the US)  ...more 
55. Tule Elk - Cervus elaphus
56. Mule Deer - Odocoileus hemionus
57. Fallow Deer - Dama dama (introduced, Point Reyes only)

1. Little Brown Myotis - Myotis lucifugus
2. Yuma Myotis - Myotis yumanensis
3. Long-eared Myotis - Myotis evotis
4. Fringed Myotis - Myotis thysanodes
5. Long-legged Myotis - Myotis volans
6. California Myotis - Myotis californicus
7. Western Small-footed Myotis - Myotis ciliolabrum
8. Silver-haired Bat - Lasionycteris noctivagans
9. Big Brown Bat - Eptesicus fuscus
10. Western Mastiff Bat - Eumops perotis
11. Western Red Bat - Lasiurus blossevillii
12. Hoary Bat - Lasiurus cinereus
13. Townsend's Big-eared Bat - Corynorhinus townsendii
14. Pallid Bat - Antrozous pallidus
15. Brazilian (Mexican) Free-tailed Bat - Tadarida brasiliensis
16. Western Pipistrelle (Canyon Bat) - Parastrellus hesperus

• Bats in the San Francisco area, especially Fort Funston. Dr. Gary Fellers of the U.S. Geological Survey explains vocalizations and other behaviors of local bats.  ...link 

• Video and photos of animals captured by camera traps throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains by Yiwei Wang.  ...link 
• Mammals of the Palo Alto Foothills, by Robert Badaracco, City of Palo Alto Dept. of Community Services.  ...link 
• The River Otter Ecology Project is focused on River Otters in the Bay area  ...link  and provides a useful sightings map  ...map 
• Return of North American River Otters, Lontra canadensis, to Coastal Habitats of the San Francisco Bay Area, California, by Paola Bouley, Megan Isadore, Terence Carroll, Northwestern Naturalist, Spring 2015.  ...link 
• River Otters vs. Sea Otters: What's the Difference, Aquarium of the Bay  ...link 
• Detailed notes, with photos, on all 3 species of Bay area Rabbits and Hares. The id notes for differentiating between Brush Rabbit and Desert Cottontail are very useful.  ...link 
• A good overview of the Eastern Fox Squirrel that got introducted into California and is now displacing the native Western Gray Squirrel  ...link 
• The Incredible, Edible Ground Squirrel by Kathleen Wong, Bay Nature, January 2008. The California Ground Squirrel is an important part of the web of life in the Bay area and affects the lives of many other species.  ...link 
• Bats of San Francisco - a blog post by Jennifer Krauel, with a link to her Master's thesis about an acoustic survey of San Francisco Bats.  ...link