Other Animals

Other Animals
(Birds and Fish have their own page)

Bats: These small mammals are valuable as they eat bugs, including mosquitos. If they become a nuisance near a home, plug up the holes around the house where they have been residing, purchase or build a bat box, and gradually move the box away from the home to a nearby tree or other area. See www.batcon.org

Butterflies: Note their migration through this area. A good book is "The Butterflies of Cascadia" by Robert Michael Pyle from the Seattle Audubon Society. The Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport has a butterfly garden. Take notes about the plants used to attract butterflies, and plant them in your yard. See www.naba.org

Beaver: Signs of beaver activity - chewed trees - have been noted around the lake, Thompson Creek, and the Wildwoods wetland open space by the hospital. If they become a nuisance, call the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Nutria: Nutria are beaver-like mammals, an introduced species that escaped from farms and now compete with native mammals for habitat. see www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov and www.dfw.state.or.us

Blacktail Mule Deer: Smaller (100-300 pounds) than their elk cousins, mule deer can be seen round the lake. Brown or gray, they have a white rump patch with black on the tail and large ears, that rotate to tune in to the slightest sound. Watch for deer on the roads around the lake.

Roosevelt Elk: The largest member of the deer family found in Oregon, elk weigh up to 1,000 pounds and travel in herds. Note the ELK CROSSING sign on Hwy 18 just north of the lake near the Lakeside Golf Course. In October of 2003, a herd of elk caused considerable damage to a vehicle near Johns Road in the Neotsu area, north of Devils Lake. Read the News Times story about Siletz area easements for elk and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

Other mammals: Raccoon, opossum, muskrat, and moles are residents. With the Siuslaw National Forest just east of Devils Lake be aware that larger mammals could wander into the Devils Lake watershed. Cougar have been spotted at Roads End, which is not far from Devils Lake. Brown bears can be attracted by garbage, and frequent the Rock Creek area.

Amphibians: Salamanders and frogs use the lake, but their numbers are declining. The bull frog has been introduced into the lake.

Bullfrog: An invasive species. http://news.nationalgeographic.com

Western Pond Turtle: Western pond turtles (Clemmys marmorata) have nearly disappeared from Washington, largely due to predation by nonnative bullfrogs. Pierce LakeWorking collaboratively with Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Oregon Zoo "head-starts" newly hatched turtles gathered from wild sites. The turtles are nurtured at both zoos for about 10 months until they grow large enough to avoid being eaten by the non-native bullfrogs and large mouth bass. www.oregonzoo.org

Macroinvertebrates (Bugs): In zoology, an invertebrate is an organism without a backbone or spinal column. Macroinvertebrates (or bugs) have degrees of sensitivity to pollutants in the environment. Macroinvertebrates have been used as indicators of water quality for decades. The "Guide to Northwest Aquatic Invertebrates," published by Oregon Trout, has photos of 45 of the most common macroinvertebrates used to determine water quality. Brief discussions of the behavior, habitat, key identification characteristics, and pollution sensitivity are provided for each of the taxa. The MidCoast Watersheds Council had volunteers sampling macroinvertebrates in streams around the lake. PADL members who would like to help can contact the Watershed Council. See the Masterbug Theater on the kid's page at www.epa.gov/owow/nps/kids.

Wildlife Conflicts
Wildlife may become nuisances. Call the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife office (in Newport area, 541-867-4741) For information about preventing animals from becoming nuisances, go to The Chintimini Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Corvallis website at www.chintiminiwildlife.org/LivingWithWild/WildConflict.htm

Photo: Beaver (Tom Smylie, USFWS)

PO. Box 36
Lincoln City, OR 97367
PADLsteward@wcn.net