What US/Canadian mammals climb trees?

December 18, 2024 4:26 AM

Recently I learned that porcupines and wolverines climb trees. What other US/Canadian mammals climb trees? So far, I have squirrels; opossums; bobcats; Canadian Lynx; racoons; mountain lions; bears; porcupines; wolverines; and various polecats/minks/stoats/weasels. Also some foxes in the deserts in the south of the US. What mammals am I missing?
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries to Pets & Animals (25 answers total)

housecats
humans
posted by demi-octopus at 4:30 AM on December 18, 2024 [4 favorites]

I see you have a few cats up there, but I don't see the Florida panther, a.k.a. the North American cougar. They climb trees and hide and make very scary deadly growling sounds at night that you wonder about while you're out with your little dog, then you go back inside and your grandma remembers for the first time in your week long visit to tell you there's been a panther spotted around the neighborhood so you probably shouldn't let your little dog get too far from the main road. THANKS FOR THE WARNING.
posted by phunniemee at 4:32 AM on December 18, 2024 [2 favorites]

chipmunks!
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 4:54 AM on December 18, 2024 [6 favorites]

Arizona occasionally has jaguars although I don't think there is a breeding population in the continental 48.

Where I live (central MN) there are two kinds of foxes: red foxes which hunt on the ground, and gray foxes which hunt in (and climb) trees.

Deer mice and white-footed mice often live in trees; I assume there's a host of other mouse-sized rodents up there too.

And of course if you want to pad out the list you can enumerate the squirrels; there are at least three species in my backyard: fox, red, gray.

Also: countless species of bats. My understanding is that bats can only take wing if they first drop from a height, so they need to climb in order to fly.
posted by eraserbones at 4:55 AM on December 18, 2024 [5 favorites]

Beaver kits are known to climb trees. Adult beavers will occasionally climb too, though they are less adept.
posted by theory at 5:15 AM on December 18, 2024 [7 favorites]

Fishers, pine martens, ringtails, coatis, and (surprisingly) woodchucks. (You're not going to see woodchucks leaping around acrobatically way up in the treetops like squirrels, but they do climb trees sometimes.)
posted by Redstart at 5:16 AM on December 18, 2024 [6 favorites]

Also mountain beavers (a species many people are probably unaware of, not actually beavers) sometimes climb trees.
posted by Redstart at 5:20 AM on December 18, 2024 [4 favorites]

Soooo not to terrify anyone but one time I was walking in DC at night and 4 feet ahead of me a rat fell out of a tree. Turns out, they climb trees too.
posted by donut_princess at 5:32 AM on December 18, 2024 [9 favorites]

Some of the shrews native to North America can climb trees — I've seen a Northern short-tailed shrew climbing a tree. In California I've seen a coyote pursue prey up into a tree, but it was really terrible at it. Related, there is video of a coyote climbing a tree in pursuit of a bobcat in San Diego.
posted by RichardP at 5:43 AM on December 18, 2024 [4 favorites]

Flying squirrels -- distinct from the generic non-flying 'squirrel' moniker -- are around.
posted by AzraelBrown at 6:26 AM on December 18, 2024 [2 favorites]

Skunks climb!
posted by saladin at 6:52 AM on December 18, 2024 [4 favorites]

Bats! (Edit: beaten)
posted by nickggully at 6:55 AM on December 18, 2024

What mammals am I missing?

monkeys [abc]
posted by HearHere at 6:56 AM on December 18, 2024 [1 favorite]

Mod note: One comment removed. Ask MetaFilter has strict guidelines about how to answer the OP's, which involve staying focused on what's being asked. Folks are welcome to repost any removed answers with information that directly respond to the question of "What US/Canadian mammals climb trees?"
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 7:27 AM on December 18, 2024 [1 favorite]

Many mice species like deer mice and wood mice are excellent tree climbers. Also an armadillo will even climb a tree for grubs, but they aren't great at it and fall out!
posted by The 10th Regiment of Foot at 7:30 AM on December 18, 2024 [1 favorite]

Otters can climb trees!
posted by ponie at 7:44 AM on December 18, 2024 [1 favorite]

Mountain goats will sometimes climb trees, especially if they've stripped all the tasty bits lower down already. More common in African goats, though, than North American.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:07 AM on December 18, 2024 [1 favorite]

Apparently rabbits can, which may also mean pikas and hares can. I can't say that rabbit tree climbing is common, though. And pikas tend to live above the treeline, so there's probably not a lot of opportunity for that. Hares are . . . uncanny creatures, so I wouldn't put it past them.
posted by carrioncomfort at 8:34 AM on December 18, 2024 [1 favorite]

At this point I'm starting to wonder if this list would be shorter if it were a list of N. American mammals that don't climb trees.
posted by deludingmyself at 9:25 AM on December 18, 2024 [3 favorites]

Ringtails!
posted by VelveteenBabbitt at 10:40 AM on December 18, 2024 [1 favorite]

A breeding population of ocelots is still hanging on in Texas. Arizona occasionally hosts a wandering migrant or two up from Mexico. They spend a lot of time in trees. Here's a video of a kitten learning the ropes in captivity.
posted by Lycaon_pictus at 12:50 PM on December 18, 2024 [1 favorite]

Marmots and probably other ground squirrel family members. Opinions seem to be mixed on North American badgers specifically climbing trees (other badgers have been observed to), but it wouldn't be surprising if they did sometimes as they seem like they have the right claws for it.
posted by ssg at 4:46 PM on December 18, 2024

wild turkeys can't really "climb" but they also don't "fly" - they hop up into the trees and sleep there.
posted by euphoria066 at 11:50 AM on December 19, 2024 [1 favorite]

I am not in a desert in the south of the US, and the grey foxes here definitely climb trees.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 5:14 PM on December 19, 2024

For the record, I climb trees infrequently.

Red Tree Vole. Wikipedia tells me that there's also a Sonoma Tree Vole.
posted by polecat at 3:50 PM on December 20, 2024