Animals in Taiga

Animals:

Animals need to be well adapted to survive in the taiga. With an extreme winter and a sizzling hot summer, animals must be specialized for all types of weather. In early March, some animals, like the red squirrel and wolverine, begin to give birth to their young. Although snow is still prevalent, the spring promises warmer weather and, therefore, more activity from animals. Other animals that have their young in the early spring are river otters, minks, martens, and ermines. Some animals, such as red foxes and gray squirrels, choose to have their young a little later to avoid the snow. Migrating animals include ducks, geese, and other water fowl, goshawks, red-tailed hawks, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, red-breasted nut-hatches, golden and ruby-crowned kinglets, robins, hermit thrushes, cedar waxwings, woodpeckers, and tits. Although the taiga's summer is plentiful, some animals, like wolves and caribou, travel north to the tundra for the summer. They migrate back to the taiga in the fall and winter to avoid the tundra's fierce winds and frigid temperatures.