Welcome to Animals in Arkansas. Arkansas is known by many as “the Natural State.” It borders the Ozark Mountains on one side and the Ouachita Mountains on the other.
There are breathtaking mountain sights to see, with deep valleys, crystal-clear gushing mountain streams, dense forests, and fertile lowlands. You will find the Mississippi Delta and the Gulf of Mexico in the lower parts of the state. There are also wetlands, including cypress swamps and slope wetlands.
Many times, the climate for this remarkable growth and greenery is subtropical. Nevertheless, Arkansas still has four clear-cut seasons. The summers are humid, the spring is dry, there is a significant fall period, and snow in winter. The mountains and forests are home to outstanding wildlife; we will give you ten must-sees.
Click below to jump to a section on animals in Arkansas:
White-tail Deer
The white-tailed deer is the Arkansa’s official state mammal. They have reddish-brown coats in summer. Then, as winter arrives, the color turns a dull greyish-brown color. In summer and fall, the male deer have magnificent antlers, which grow every year and fall off in the wintertime.
They are called white tails because of the white underside of their tails. They weigh around 300 pounds as adults. They are animals with incredible beauty and power, running up to 40 miles an hour, jumping 9 feet high, and even swimming 13 miles per hour.
The white-tailed deer have scent glands between the two parts of the hoof on all four feet. This they use for communication and the rutting season. They have excellent eyesight and hearing but depend on their sense of smell to detect danger.
They feed on various vegetation, such as twigs, buds, poplar, aspen, sassafras, birch, and other shrubs. Prickly pear cactus, drama, yucca, and others are eaten in the desert areas.
In winter, they might eat conifers when the food is scarce. They will feed mainly before dawn and then start again from the later afternoon until evening comes. They are nervous, shy creatures.
Being good swimmers, they will enter large lakes and streams to escape their predators. They are considered quite solitary but have been seen to graze together in some herds. They can survive in various habitats, from dense wood to hammock swamps, farmlands, and desolate areas alongside other animals in Arkansas.
Elk
In Arkansas, along the Buffalo National River, you will find a genuinely remarkable natural treasure, the Arkansas elk herds. Elk once thrived in Arkansas, but more people, hunting, and land development drove the elk almost to extinction. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AGFC) returned elk to Arkansas.
Today, around 500 elk live in the Buffalo National River area. Fall is the perfect time to view them. Males can sport antlers that weigh up to 40 pounds. They certainly bring back the native beauty of a species once lost in Arkansas. The elk is the second-largest species of deer in the world (only the moose is more enormous). In wintertime, both the males and females get a mane of dark hair around their necks.
Elk love living in forests and woodlands, often in mountainous areas. Some species enjoy the grasslands and moorland areas. Usually, in spring, they like to migrate to higher places to get to the new growth to eat. Apart from leaves and grass, they eat tree bark as well. They can eat up to around 9.1 kg of plant matter each day.
Bald Eagle
The bald eagle is recognized by its brown body, yellow hooked beak, and magnificent white head. Who wouldn’t identify this majestic bird – after all, it has been the national emblem of the USA since 1782! Nevertheless, its numbers declined long ago, and conservation efforts rejuvenated the population to continue to be the national bird of the US.
It has a wingspan of 7 feet and weighs 15 pounds. It likes to live near a constant water source, and its diet will consist of fish, snakes, turtles, ducks, rabbits, dead animals, and muskrats. They use their unique sense of sight and powerful talons to attack prey, swooping down at them.
They can easily reach speeds of up to 100 mph when they dive. Once they have captured their prey, they use that powerful hooked beak to pull out the animal’s flesh before eating it.
They can fly to about 10,000 ft. in the air, soaring for hours using the currents. They, indeed, are a pleasure to watch! They like to make their homes in giant trees near water and build impressive nests for their chicks. The nests are called eyries. They’ve got a few natural enemies, but fortunately, they are not on the endangered list anymore.
Ivory-billed Woodpecker
The ivory-billed woodpecker is the largest of the woodpeckers to be found north of Mexico. This one is the third-largest in the world of woodpeckers. Unfortunately, this unusual, unique bird is critically endangered because of the destruction of its forest habitat. It was thought to have become extinct in the middle of the 20th century. It resurfaced in, and intern Arkansas years back but has not been relocated.
They are considered swamp dwellers but are also found living on the tops of trees. Their plumage is predominantly shiny black-purple with white lines extending from the cheeks to their neck. They have a prominent crest with a strong, straight bill and a long hard-tipped barbed tongue. They love hardwood swamps as well as pine forests.
At night they spend their time in individual roost holes, leaving the roost holes at dawn to feed and engage in their activities. During midday, they remain inactive and then take up feeding activities in the late afternoon, returning to roost later. They use their massive bill to hammer and peel off the bark of trees. They are very social and often gather in groups to feed together on a single tree.
They might occasionally relocate to places with large amounts of dead wood because that might mean large numbers of beetle larvae, which they love to feed on. These birds are omnivores, preferring to eat beetle larvae, and they will also eat the fruit of pecans, acorns, southern magnolia, nuts, and poison ivy seeds. It is sometimes called the “Holy Grail bird” because it is scarce and elusive.
Black Bear
At least the black bears in Arkansas are not at dangerously low levels and have been making a good comeback in Arkansas. At one time, Arkansas was close to losing the one animal that had anchored its ecosystem for years, one of the state’s most valuable resources.
They like forested areas with thick ground cover that can supply them with fruits, vegetation, and nuts. During wintertime, they hibernate in dens. Being omnivores, most of their diet is plant–based. They feed on fruit, nuts, herbs, grasses, honey, berries, seeds, shoots, and vegetation.
They also eat fish, insects, small mammals, etc. Its coat is usually black, but don’t be surprised to see a dark brown one, cinnamon-colored, or even yellow-brown color. It can reach about 7 feet long from its nose to its tail, standing around 3 feet at the shoulders. It has small eyes, rounded ears, quite a long snout, and a short tail. The males can weigh around 300 pounds.
They love to catch the salmon in streams in the northern regains. They become active just before sunrise and take a couple of hours’ nap during the day, and they will go to sleep a couple of hours after sunset. Many bears become active at night to avoid people or even other bears.
The black bear is an efficient hibernator, sleeping for months without eating, urinating, defecating, or drinking. They are solitary animals and live alone, and they can run about 30 miles an hour and are good swimmers.
Nine-banded Armadillo
The nine-banded armadillo can live for about eight years. He weighs about 6.5 kg. He is medium-sized and has an armored shell covering his entire body. This consists of horny scales called “scutes.” It has a small head that ends at a point, its snout is long, and it has large, pointed ears. He has large thick claws on his front feet that help him to dig.
You will find little fur on this animal, making it extremely sensitive to the temperatures. He can swim and run well. If they cross a stream, it is easy for them to continue walking underwater to reach the other side. He likes to live in pine forests or rainforests.
He is happy as long as the woodland he lives in is shady. He does not like being in cold, dry environments and prefers sandy and loamy soil, as it is easier for him to dig it up. He is a solitary creature and operates mainly at night. During cloudy and cold weather, they are out and about in the daytime.
These animals don’t hibernate. They don’t have excellent eyesight, but their sense of smell is perfect. If they are scared or startled, they can jump as much as 4 feet! This animal is an insectivore and will forage, using its snout to dig in loose soil.
They have a long sticky tongue that helps them grab grubs, worms, ants, and termites by wrapping them up in their language. They enjoy tubers to eat, as well as amphibians and reptiles. Armadillos have many predator enemies, including coyotes, pumas, solves, black beards, alligators, bobcats, and jaguars. He is excellent at keeping certain agricultural pests at bay by eating them.
Mockingbird
The mockingbird was adopted as the Arkansas State Bird in 1929. It’s no wonder mockingbird calls it, as it can imitate the songs of heaps of other birds. It is about ten inches long, including its long tail. It has a light grey coat with white underneath, and the wings and tail are a darker grey with white patches. Both males and females look the same. It is a super songbird, and it will often sing all night long!
The mockingbird is also known as a very fierce protector of its environment and its nest. It will swoop down on any predator that ventures too close to its protected area. The mockingbird likes open grassy areas where they search for food or thick thorny shrubs to hide in.
The male likes high perches where he can sing and take care of his territory. In gardens, if there are winter berries around, he loves to spend time in this garden. His diet includes insects, ants, beetles, spiders, grasshoppers, seeds, and berries.
Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel
This cute little animal is found in many states of the USA, and Arkansas is one of them. The thirteen-lined ground squirrel loves open areas with short grass as its habitat. It prefers sandy or loamy soil because it can burrow there and likes to stay away from wooded areas. You will likely see it around golf courses, cemeteries, pastures, and the roadside.
It grows to about 300 mm long. It has alternate longitudinal dark brown and tan stripes extending from the nape of its neck to the base of its tail. The thirteen lines that give it its name consist of either seven broad dark brown stripes alternating with six thin tan bands or seven yellow stripes alternating with six dark brown stripes. It has short ears, and its tail is thin but bushy. It usually sits erect with its head pointed up. These little creatures live to be about seven years.
They are active at midday and on sunny days. They dig burrows to hibernate in – also for nesting. In winter, they put on weight by eating to prepare for the winter months of hibernation. They lose a lot of body weight through hibernation. Carnivores, snakes, and raptors prey on the thirteen-line ground squirrel.
They use scented alarm calls and secretions to communicate with other squirrels. When they meet other squirrels, they touch their noses and lips together. The name Spermophilus means “seed lover,” and it’s true; he loves the seeds of plants and will also enjoy eating crop species like wheat and corn, and it also enjoys grass, and clover. Their predators are snakes and hawks.
Western diamond-backed Rattlesnake
Western diamond-backed rattlesnakes can be found in the Ouachita Mountains and southwestern Ozark highlands of Arkansas. They are very active from April to October, particularly at night during summer. The snake has a heavy-looking body with a triangular-shaped head and two dark diagonal lines on each side of its face.
They run from its eyes to its jaws. Look at the diamond-shaped patterns that run along its back; that’s where it gets its name. It’s not too picky about where its habitat is, as it adapts to deserts, plains, forests, rocky hillsides, and even along the coast.
They feed on birds, lizards, gophers, rabbits, rats, and other animals. They have many predators, not because the predators want to eat them but consider them a threat. They will try to trample the snake when they come upon it. Eagles, hawks, coyotes, bobcats, and foxes will try to eat it as a food source.
These snakes spend the hot daytime hours coiled up in low-growing shrubs or under rocks and use burrows of other animals. In the winter, they retreat into caves or similar places where they hibernate. They can live about 15 years, reaching lengths of 7 feet.
Alligator
Alligators have been around in Arkansas for many years. Once, their numbers were depleted by unregulated hunting and habitat destruction.
They can’t handle the freezing weather. They won’t attack humans as long as you don’t provoke them or try and feed them. During the winter months, alligators don’t eat; they spend their days basking in the sun but don’t get warm enough to digest food. They bask in the sun for hours to trap the heat.
Arkansas Post’s wetland marshes, bayous, and low terrain offer the alligator excellent habitat. Alligators can also be found in the swamps of Millwood State Park. These animals are carnivores, eating invertebrates, fish, frogs, and mammals. They have sharp teeth and powerful jaws that can even crack a turtle’s shell! They also have two large teeth that stick out when their mouth is closed.
They can grow to about 12 feet and weigh as much as 1000 pounds. They have long and powerful tail that helps propel them through the water and uses their webbed feet. They can live to be about 50 years old. They usually hibernate in winter and start rousing around April.
Summary of Animals of Arkansas
From the mountainous outbacks to the expanses of lowland, Arkansas hosts apex predators, exceptional bird life, alligators, and more wonders.
If you want to read more about all the types of wildlife you can encounter, check out Animals in Pennsylvania and Animals in Oklahoma next!
As a little kid, I fell in love with nature, wildlife, and animals. Living in the USA, South Africa, and Germany have me the opportunity to discover the world's Wildlife. My favorite animals are Mountain Gorillas, Siberian Tigers, and Great White Sharks.
I'm a certified PADI Open Water Diver and hold a Master of Science in Economics.
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