WILDLIFE

Armadillo: Dasypus novemcinctus

The best-known is the nine-banded armadillo that ranges northwards from South America into Kansas and Missouri in the United States. It has been studied in detail because it is of economic importance, eating eggs, undermining buildings, and starting erosion on the one hand, but on the other it kills undesirable insects and snakes.
Armadillo

Coyote:

A medium-sized, slender, doglike carnivore, similar in appearance to the red wolf* but usually smaller, more slender, with smaller feet, narrower muzzle, and relatively longer tail; colors usually paler, less rufous, rarely blackish; differs from gray wolves in much smaller size, smaller feet and skull; upperparts grizzled buffy and grayish overlaid with black; muzzle, ears and outersides of legs yellowish buff; tail with black tip, and with upperpart colored like back. Dental formula: I 3/3, C 1/1, Pm 4/4, M usually 2/2, occasionally 3/3, 3/2, or 2/3 X 2 = 40, 42, or 44. External measurements average: total length, 1,219 mm; tail, 394 mm; hind foot, 179 mm. Weight, 14-20 kg
Coyote

Eastern Cottontail

A moderately large, rusty-brown cottontail with relatively short ears and large hind feet (ears 50-60% as long as hind feet). Upperparts deep ochraceous buff, heavily lined with blackish, giving a rusty or reddish-brown effect; sides paler and grayer; top of tail like back; rump dingy grayish, not conspicuously different from back; front and sides of legs deep, rich, rusty reddish; underside of neck buff or ochraceous buff, rest of underparts, including tail, white. Differs from S. audubonii, with which its range overlaps, in having small, smoothly rounded bullae (rather than large and rough) and relatively and actually shorter ears. External measurements average: total length, 418 mm; tail, 56 mm; hind foot, 92 mm; ear, 52 mm. Weight, 1-2 kg.
Eastern Cottontail

Red Fox: Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus)

Tail a thick "bush," circular in cross section, and white-tipped; face rusty fulvous, grizzled with white; upperparts bright golden yellow, darkest along middle of back; chin, throat and mid-line of belly white; forefeet and legs to elbow black; black of hind feet extends as a narrow band along outer side of leg to thigh; backs of ears black. Several color phases — cross, black, silver, Sampson, and the normal red. Young duller in color than adults. Dental formula: I 3/3, C 1/1, Pm 4/4, M 2/3 X 2 = 42. External measurements average: total length, 972 mm; tail, 371 mm; hind foot, 163 mm; females average slightly smaller than males. Weight, 3-5 kg.
Red Fox

Red-Tailed Hawk: Buteo jamaicensis

The typical adult red-tailed hawk appears white underneath, with a series of short brown streaks forming a "belly-band" that shows up easily against the pale plumage. The upper parts are brown, often with pale mottling on the scapulars that forms a light V across the back of the perching bird. The rusty red top of the tail flashes in the sunlight as a soaring bird banks and rolls; however, the underside is paler, with only hints of red showing through. In flight overhead, a dark bar on the leading edge of the wing is also visible, contrasting with the pale wing linings. Immature red-tails display heavier brown streaking on the underparts and have gray-brown tails with several blackish bands.
Red-Tailed Hawk

Black-tailed Jackrabbit Lepus californicus

A large, long-eared rabbit of the open grasslands and desert scrub of the West; sides but little, if at all, differentiated from the back; ear nearly as long as the hind foot, with black patch at tip; top of tail with black stripe that extends onto rump; underparts clear, ochraceous buff, paler medially; upperparts dark buff, heavily sprinkled with blackish. External measurements average: total length, 604 mm; tail, 95 mm; hind foot, 131 mm; ear, 125 mm. Weight, 1.5-4 kg.
Black-tailed Jackrabbit

Opossums: Didelphis marsupialis

Weighing in at 9 pounds, the opossum has a white face, a fuzzy grey body, naked ears, and a scaly, prehensile tail. Prehensile means that the tail is adapted for seizing, grasping, and wrapping itself around objects. The common picture of opposums hanging by their tails is, for the most part, a myth. A young oposum may hang briefly by its tail. But an adult opossum's body is far too heavy to be held suspended by its tail. The opossum actually uses its tail to stabilize its body while climbing.
Opossums

Eastern Screech-Owl: Megascops asio

The screech owl is a small nocturnal owl with piercing yellow eyes and prominent ear tufts. Nestlings are covered with fluffy white down. It comes in two color morphs, a more common gray phase and a rich reddish phase. Reddish owls are more common in the southern states, while the gray phase prevails in the north. A bird's color has nothing to do with its age or sex, nor does it change over its lifetime. Indeed, both color phases can occur within the same brood. In Texas, the very similar looking western screech-owl replaces the eastern in the Trans-Pecos. At the Pecos River, the ranges of the two species overlap. The best way to tell the two species apart is by listening to their vocalizations, which are markedly different.
Eastern Screech-Owl

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake: Crotalus atrox

The Western Diamondback Rattlesnake is the most commonly encountered rattlesnake in Texas. The Western Diamondback is the longest rattlesnake in the state, and one of the two heaviest (the other is the Timber Rattlesnake). The record length is over 213 cm (84 in); adults found in the wild typically measure between 0.91-1.21 m (3-4 ft). Its common name does not come unearned; a series of diamond-shaped blotches runs down the length of its back, and each blotch is surrounded by a light border. A background coloration of tan or brown surrounds the blotches, and the dorsal coloration varies tremendously over its distributional range. This rattlesnake can easily be distinguished by its black and white tail, which also earns the western diamondback the name "coontail" (also, see below). Its off-white belly is usually unmarked, its anal scale is undivided, and its dorsal scales are extremely keeled, often in rows of 25 to 27 near midbody.
Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

Striped Skunk: Mephitis mephitis

A medium-sized, stout-bodied skunk with two white stripes on sides of back that join each other in the neck region and extend onto the head anteriorly and onto each side of the tail posteriorly (note varying patterns in photo at right); tip of tail black; two large scent glands, one on each side of the anus, produce the characteristic skunk musk; ears short, rounded; eyes small; five toes on each foot, front ones armed with long claws; hind feet with heel almost in contact with ground; tail long and bushy; pelage long, coarse and oily. Dental formula as in the spotted skunk. Sexes colored alike, but males usually larger than females. External measurements average: (males), total length, 680 mm; tail, 250 mm; hind foot, 90 mm; (females), 610-225-65 mm. Weight, 1.4-6.6 kg, depending on age and amount of fat.
Striped Skunk

Rio Grande Turkey: Meleagris gallopavo intermedia

For all their adaptability, Rio Grandes need trees but not too many trees, open country but not too open, dry but not too dry. Country that receives between 20 and 35 inches of rainfall a year suits them best, and they don't do well where snow frequently covers the ground. In Texas they can be found roughly west of Interstate 45 and east of a line from Fort Stockton to Amarillo, although I've seen a flock roaming downtown Balmorhea and have photographed Rio Grandes crossing Calamity Creek on the Elephant Mountain Wildlife Management Area south of Alpine.
Rio Grande Turkey

White-tailed Deer: Odocoileus virginianus