Can you share visual representations of animals in the wild?

January 10, 2024 11:36 AM

I do a good amount of hiking, and while doing so I often think of all the animals that are in the forests and wild spaces I'm tromping through. Do you know of any visual representations that show how many creatures live in and around those places?

So I know I could look up the stats - X amount of bears estimated to live in this forest, etc. - but I want a visual sense of how many creatures are just out there. Animals obviously avoid humans, and avoid hiking trails, but if I had a bird's eye view and could see into caves and holes and tree stumps, how many animals would be snoozing/hiding as we walk on by? It would be nice to know how evenly or unevenly they are distributed, too.

I live and hike mostly in the NE / Appalachians, but if you know of maps like this for other places, I'd be happy to see those, too. I'm most interested in less common, more apex animals like bears, moose, coyotes, etc (not mice or sparrows or deer.)

PS - I'm not looking for trail cams (although those are cool!)

posted by RajahKing to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (3 answers total)

Best answer: Take a look at the delightful Central Park Squirrel Census. They're not quite the apex predators you're seeking, as much as they might like to be. But I think you'll enjoy the data visualization.

"There are an estimated 2,373 EASTERN GRAY squirrels in Central Park. How do we know this? Because we counted them, in October of 2018, with the help of 323 volunteer Squirrel Sighters." It includes "a five-foot-long 'celestial' chart showing squirrel locations, population densities, fur coloration patterns, and other data."

The physical maps, sadly, are sold out, but perhaps the creators might be convinced to share a digital version.
posted by hovey at 7:20 AM on January 11

Response by poster: thank you @hovey that is exactly the type of data visualization I'm looking for.
posted by RajahKing at 8:25 AM on January 11

Check out the Map of Life. Here's a species list for New Hampshire.

Here's a map of deer density in the Eastern US.

An archive link to a NY Times piece on biodiversity.

The USGS has some maps.

Enjoy!
posted by acridrabbit at 2:42 PM on January 11 [1 favorite]