This collection of backyard mammals photos are presented as an aid to identifying animals you see in your backyard, garden, or neighborhood.

Once, I was going swimming and outside of the pool house, a beautiful young Red-tailed Hawk was perched on the railing. I was in awe. Two women exiting the pool house, said, “Oooh, Look at the vulture!” Vulture? Really?

Since this I never take for granted that everyone knows the names of animals that share their community with them.

If you know the name of every animal on this post, good for you! If you don’t you will soon.

What is a Mammal?

The word mammal comes from the mammary glands which the female of a species makes milk to feed her offspring during their infancy.  There are other characteristics that define mammals. Here are the characteristics.

1. The female mammals nurse their young with milk made in their mammary glands.
2. Mammals have hair or fur.
3. Mammals are warm-blooded.
4. Mammals give birth to live young.

How do mammals survive our cold winters?

Backyard Mammals Included in this Photo Gallery

I have include only those mammals you are most likely to see in your backyard. Wolves live in remote areas. I doubt you will see a whale in your backyard. If you do see a whale, you have big problems and need to call 9-1-1 right away.

If you see a mammal that sort-of looks like the one near your home at least you have narrowed it down.

• field mouse
• chipmunks
• bats
• squirrels
• groundhog or gopher
• skunks
• Eastern cottontail rabbit
• opossum
• fox
• coyote
• deer
• black bear

The Backyard Mammal Gallery

The photos are roughly organized by average size. The smallest mammals are presented first. The larger animals are toward the end of the photo gallery. Scrolling over the photograph will show the name of the animal.

Deer Mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus). Photo by NPS.gov/Public domain.

Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) digging in the soil near its burrow. Photo by Donna L. Long.

Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus) Photo by USFWS/public domain.

Eastern Gray Squirrel in maple tree. Photo by Donna L. Long.

A skunk. Public domain.

Cottontail Rabbit (Syvilagus floridanus) in Fort Washington State Park. Photo by Donna L. Long.

A Groundhog or Woodchuck (Marmot monax) standing on its hindlegs Photo by Donna L. Long.

North American Opossum (Didelphis virginiana) with winter coat. Photo by Cody Pope (Wikimedia).

Raccoon balanced in a tree. FWS.gov

Raccoon lounging in a tree. Public Domain

Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes). Us. Wildlife Service, Public domain.

By marya (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0)

White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginicus) 51 – 82 inches long. Photo by Donna L. Long.