Wetlands are to Louisiana what beaches are to Hawaii. So it should be no surprise that many species of birds, fish, mammals, reptiles, and insects consider Louisiana home, given that it has 40% of the country’s wetlands and countless bayous, lakes, and rivers.
The Pelican State has slow-moving bayous and marshes so much that it has the nickname” the Bayou State.” Wildlife of many kinds abounds in these crucial habitats. Alligators, blue herons, pelicans, turtles, hawks, eagles, and many other species reside in the almost three million-acre bayous near New Orleans and throughout the state. In addition, the marshlands are a dream come true for frog hunters. Louisiana’s southern parts, which run from the Texas state line to the Mississippi state line, are partially marshes.
Due to its swampy habitat and humid subtropical climate, many wild animals find Louisiana the ideal home. The state experiences longer stretches of hot, humid summers with frequent rainfalls and shorter spans of mild winters during the year.

Many species of birds, fish, mammals, reptiles, and insects consider Louisiana home, given that it has 40% of the country’s wetlands and countless bayous, lakes, and rivers.
©iStock.com/gladder
Geographical Regions
With its three main geographical regions, the state’s geology and location also contribute to its wide biological variety. The East Gulf Coastal Plain is the lowland east of the Mississippi River. It’s swampy near the river and hilly to the north.
The Mississippi Alluvial Plain extends west of the Mississippi River from Arkansas in the north to the Gulf of Mexico. Wetlands surround the southern coast.
The West Gulf Coastal Plain stretches from Arkansas to the state’s southernmost point and is located further west. Driskill Mountain, Louisiana’s highest point, are in this area’s northernmost corner. As you move south, the terrain dips to become prairie, marshland, and finally, the barrier beaches—sandy islands that flank the shoreline.
The fauna species in Louisiana are numerous and broadly ranged, from native to introduced species. We’ve compiled the fastest among the wide varieties of animals.
#1 White-tailed Deer
The popular white-tailed deer species distribution is across North America and is the most prevalent large mammal in Louisiana.
In the summer, adult white tails have reddish-brown coats, which turn a dull grayish-brown color in the winter. Bucks are male deer who grow antlers yearly; these antlers help them stand out in the summer and fall.
The antlers regrow in April or May after shedding from January through March. The male species only produce the multi-tine antlers and use them for territorial clashes during the rut or mating season.
Female deer typically produce offspring after seven months of gestation. Their fawns develop a reddish-brown coat with white patches as camouflage in their surrounding habitat.
Mountain lions, coyotes, and bobcats all prey on white-tail deer in the wild, especially the young. White tails have been seen running at sustained rates of 30 miles per hour for 3–4 miles, making them faster runners than their predators. They also have a 30-foot forward leaping range.
Louisiana has viable populations of white-tailed deer from northern Caddo Parish south to Plaquemines Parish at the mouth of the Mississippi River. They are even present in some coastal areas. However, they also feel perfectly at home in suburban settings, and it’s typical to see them residing in tiny forest parks close to residential areas. They are best visible at dawn and dusk when they are out foraging.
White-tailed deer are a common, resilient species and the most popular game animal among hunters. They are often found in pine forests, coastal marshes, bottomland hardwood forests, swamp forests, and mixed pine-and-hardwood forests.

The popular
white-tailed deer
species is widely distributed across North America and is the most prevalent large mammal in Louisiana.
©iStock.com/Louise Wightman
#2 Louisiana Black Bear
The Mississippi River Valley and the Atchafalaya River Basin are the two main habitats for the Louisiana black bear, one of the 16 subspecies of the American black bear. The mid-sized American black bear species is also known as the black bear and is native to North America. It’s also the smallest and most common bear species on the continent.
Black bears, despite their name, can also be cinnamon, blue-gray, brown, blue-black, and rarely white.
The Louisianian subspecies is in many places of Louisiana that are not typically bear habitats, demonstrating its ability to traverse great distances. They are capable of sprinting up to 35 mph.
These black bears are currently known to exist in four Louisiana parishes. They include Richard K. Yancey Wildlife Management Area in Concordia and Avoyelles Parishes, St. Mary Parish and Iberia Parish, Pointe Coupee Parish, and Tensas, Madison, and West Carroll Parishes.
There have been reports of sightings in East Texas, and subpopulations have moved into Mississippi. East Baton Rouge, Bossier City, Allen Parish, Natchitoches Parish, and the Kisatchie National Forest have also reported black bear sightings.

The Louisianian subspecies have been spotted in many places of Louisiana that are not typically bear habitats, demonstrating its ability to traverse great distances.
©iStock.com/Wirestock
Conservation Efforts
The Louisiana black bear is the state’s official mammal and one of its most successful conservation efforts. In 1992, the Endangered Species Act designated the mammal as threatened. The Louisiana black bear’s population and geographic range were severely depleted over a long period due to overhunting in the 19th and early 20th centuries, extensive deforestation, and land clearing for cultivation.
The species has recovered and was taken off the list in 2016 due to the coordinated efforts of numerous stakeholders to track black bear population growth, restore habitat, and safeguard the subspecies for the long run.
Black bears have an extremely flexible diet. Their primary food sources include insects, berries, roots, grasses, fish, and other mammals. They can readily pick up a liking for human food and waste, hence the recommendation to never feed a bear. Feeding it will make it less frightened of people. Thus, bears used to eating human food in cabins, campgrounds, or rural residences can turn dangerous and often get killed.
#3 Coyote
Coyotes display adaptability for a living. The versatile canine species are also called brush wolves or prairie wolves and can move up to 40 mph. Coyotes are fearsome in the wild, where they have excellent vision and a good sense of smell. They band together in the fall and winter to hunt more successfully.
Coyotes reside in grasslands, swamps, woods, and deserts. They also tolerate human activities; thus, coyotes are common in rural, suburban, and urban areas.
Their food is as wide-ranging as their habitat. Coyotes prey on and consume rodents, frogs, ground squirrels, rabbits, fish, and even deer. They also enjoy eating carrion, insects, fruits, snakes, and grass. Their diverse, opportunistic diet is one of the enabling factors for their survival in Louisiana.
Light gray and red, or fulvous, are the most common hair colors, with white and black streaks scattered throughout the body. However, geographical differences can be seen in the coyote’s fur’s color and texture. For example, high-altitude coyotes typically have more black and gray coloring than their desert-dwelling relatives, who are more fulvous or whitish-gray.
Their sharp, pointed ears and drooping tails often distinguish them from domesticated canines.
Coyotes aren’t native to Louisiana. They started appearing in the early 1950s when farmers cleared large forest areas for mechanical farming and timber harvesting. Today, they are commonly found in northern and central Louisiana. Some inhabit the coastal marshes of the southwest, while others live as far east as Florida parishes.

Coyotes aren’t native to Louisiana. They started appearing in the early 1950s when farmers cleared large forest areas for mechanical farming and timber harvesting.
©Frank Fichtmueller/Shutterstock.com
#4 Bobcat
With black or dark brown patches on buff or brown-colored fur, the bobcat has an endearing appearance. However, they are actually ferocious predators and one of the North American lynx species. Eurasian, Iberian, and Canada lynx are the other three. They have short ear tufts and hair ruffs on the side of their heads that resemble sideburns. The tail’s tip and the ears’ backs are both colored black.
Bobcats, commonly known as red or bay lynx, are solitary, possessive, and often scent-mark their territories. These wild felines are significantly faster and roughly twice as big as domestic cats. They are adept at swimming and have a top speed of 25 to 30 miles per hour.
Wetlands, bottomland hardwoods, and densely forested areas are preferred habitats. They typically stay away from heavily cleared agricultural fields.
From southern Canada to southern Mexico, bobcats are common throughout North America. The southeast of the United States has a substantially higher population density than the western states. The IUCN Red List has categorized it as the Least Concern since 2002 because of its widespread distribution and robust population.
In Louisiana, bobcats are probably the only feline predator with a reproductive population besides feral cats.

In Louisiana, bobcats are probably the only feline predator with a reproductive population besides feral cats.
©iStock.com/Anita Elder Design
#5 Red Fox
Red foxes can be seen all around Louisiana, in rural, suburban, and park settings except the extreme southeast parishes. They are also found across Continental U.S., from Alaska to Florida, and the Southern U.S. Places like southern Texas, the Great Plains, the extreme southeast Atlantic coast, Great Basin, coastal western Canada, and Arizona are the exceptions.
Outside these exceptions, red foxes are a broadly distributed species with populations as far as Australia.
Long snouts and red fur on the face, back, sides, and tail are characteristics of red foxes. They also have huge, pointed ears with black tips and black feet. Their belly is grayish-white, as are their chin and throat. The red fox’s fluffy white-tipped tail is one of its most distinctive features, especially from its look-alike distant cousin, the gray fox.
Red foxes hunt alone and consume rabbits, birds, rodents, and other small prey animals. However, their diet can vary as much as their environment. Fruits, frogs, worms, and vegetables are all edible to red foxes. They are known for being crafty and intelligent, partly because of their capacity to locate food even in the winter.
Their diet is also opportunistic; red foxes eat pet food and trash if they live near humans. They can live successfully in both rural and residential areas because of adaptation changes in the ecosystem. Other large predators were forced away by human development.
Red foxes also thrive in woodlands, marshes, and brushy fields. They have excellent hearing, smell, and sight senses, which help them hide from predators. They also have high endurance; red foxes reach a top speed of 30 mph.

Red foxes
can be seen all around Louisiana, in rural, suburban, and park settings except the extreme southeast parishes.
©Jackie Connelly-Fornuff/Shutterstock.com
#6 Eastern Cottontail
Reddish brown to gray in color, cottontails have a wide range, but they all have the recognizable “cotton ball” tail that gives them their name. This eastern cottontail is the most widespread of the cottontail rabbit species and is in the United States, South America, and Canada.
These little mammals consume various plants, which can easily create problems for gardeners. For example, they feed on dogwood, oak, maple, birch, and sumac trees during the winter.
Eastern cottontails are prey to many predators in Louisiana. As such, they survive in environments with adequate cover. The best places have a combination of grasses, thickets of shrubs, blackberry bushes, and brush heaps. Nesting is usually in densely grassy fields with good drainage.
These rabbits can flee from predators thanks to their quick, hopping movement style. They slink, freeze, or flush when threatened. Flushing is a zigzag move to safety with speeds up to 18 miles per hour.

This eastern cottontail is the most widespread of the cottontail rabbit species and is found in the United States, South America, and Canada.
©Rabbitti/Shutterstock.com
#7 Gray Fox
The medium-sized canid gray fox has short legs and an elongated body. The species is common in both Central and North America. The gray foxes in Louisiana live in various habitats, including wetlands and sparsely wooded areas, because they are primarily nocturnal. While abundant, it can be difficult to see this fox in the wild. This is because they are sneaky and have a top speed of 28 mph.
They hunt at dawn or dusk. They are territorial and have a reputation for sleeping on sunny tree limbs. The gray fox is the only canid in America that climbs trees. Thus, they are also called tree or cat foxes.
Although their black-tipped tails make it easy to tell them apart, they are occasionally mistaken for red foxes. This is because red foxes have white tips on their tails. Also, gray foxes have oval-shaped pupils, while red foxes have slit-like eyes.
The head, nose, and muzzle of gray foxes have black spots, and their coarse, salt-and-pepper gray hair is gray. Like red foxes, gray foxes are opportunistic omnivores that consume almost any kind of fruit, meat, insect, or vegetable. Small mammals, notably cotton-tail rabbits, are their preferred food.

The gray foxes in Louisiana live in various habitats, including wetlands and sparsely wooded areas, because they are primarily nocturnal.
©Evelyn D. Harrison/Shutterstock.com
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