North Shore Mammals

The North Shore dreams of caribou [is haunted by caribou]. Delicately walking up the Caribou River. Swimming across Caribou Lake to a rocky point. Munching away at the caribou moss that still drapes from the spruce tree branches. If you could pick one mammal that best represents the North Shore, it’s the one that’s no longer there.

A Selection of North Shore Mammals

Woodland caribou

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USFWS

Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) were common in northeastern Minnesota and along the North Shore in the 19th century. They were hunted for food by the loggers and trappers, and their habitat was greatly disrupted by homesteading and logging. The whitetail deer has replaced it, bearing also a brainworm fatal to caribou but tolerable by deer. The last known woodland caribou on the North Shore was seen around Grand Marais in the winter of 1980-81. Caribou would need an area of at least 2500 square miles with few to no deer, to prevent transfer of the brainworm. Caribou need islands protected from wolves to raise their young, and enough lichen and twiggy material to get through the winters. Caribou still thrive on the shore of Lake Superior, but only along the Ontario shore.

Checklist of North Shore mammals

From the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Insectivores

Masked shrew (Sorex cinereus)
Arctic Shrew (Sorex arcticus)
Water Shrew (Sorex palustris)
Smoky Shrew (Sorex fumens)
Short-tailed Shrew (Blarina brevicauda)
Star-nosed Mole (Condylura cristata)

Bats

Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus)
Northern Myotis (Myotis septentrionalis)
Silver-haired Bat (Lasionycteris noctivagans)
Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus Fuscus)
Red Bat (Lasiurus borealis)
Hoary Bat (Lasiurus cinereus)

Lagomorphs

Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus)
Snowshoe Hare (Lepus americanus)

Rodents

Woodchuck (Groundhog) (Marmota monax)
Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus)
Least Chipmunk (Eutamias minimus)
Franklin's Ground Squirrel* (Spermophilis franklinii)
Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)
Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)
Northern Flying Squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus)
Beaver (Castor canadensis)
Deer Mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus)
Southern Red-backed Vole (Clethrionomys gapperi)
Meadow Vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus)
Muskrat (Ondatra zibethica)
Meadow Jumping Mouse (Zapus hudsonius)
Woodland Jumping Mouse (Napaeozapus insignis)
Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum)

Carnivores

Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes)
Coyote (Canis latrans)
Gray Wolf (Canis lupus)
Raccoon (Procyon lotor)
Black Bear, American (Ursus americanus)
Pine Marten (Martes americana)
Fisher (Martes pennanti)
Ermine (Short-tailed Weasel) (Mustela erminea)
Long-tailed Weasel (Mustela frenata)
Mink (Mustela vison)
Striped Skunk (Mephitis mephitis)
River Otter (Lutra canadensis)
Mountain Lion (Cougar, Puma) (Felis concolor)
Lynx (Lynx canadensis)
Bobcat (Lynx rufus)

Ungulates

White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
Moose (Alces alces)