Wildlife can be defined as non-domesticated animals in their natural state. My wildlife category includes both vertebrate (with backbones) and invertebrate (without backbones, insects for example) animals. My wildlife category also includes fish. The wide variety of habitats found in the Pacific Northwest results in distinctive wildlife communities though this is probably less pronounced in larger species of animals than it is in smaller species of animals and in plant species. Some of the larger animals found in the Pacific Northwest are found across North America (black bears, raccoons and coyotes for example) while others are restricted to western North America (mountain goats) or the Pacific Coast (black-tailed deer). Smaller animals that have small ranges and specialize in certain habitats are often found only in the Pacific Northwest (Cascades frog).
Most of the large mammals found in the North Cascades are also common throughout the rest of the Pacific Northwest, two possible exceptions being grizzly bears and timber wolves (and I have photographs of neither one of these species). There are also some populations of smaller animals that are rather rare, the Columbia spotted frog (Rana lutrevensis) being one example (I do have a photo of one of these). If you’ve read this far, you might have guessed that wildlife photography is not my long suit. I do, however, have some photos of animals large and small which I think are decent, though in some of them you have to look pretty hard to find the animals. Many of my photos are of animals in the backdrop of their native habitat and are taken without much magnification, so you have to literally pick them out of the landscape.
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