There are many plants in a taiga such as: balsam fir, black spruce, douglas fir, eastern red cedar, jack pine, paper birch, siberian spruce, white fir, white poplar, and white spruce. Some animals you would find are black bears, bald eagles, bobcats, gray wolves, grizzly bear, long eared owl, red fox, river otter, snowshoe rabbit, and wolverine.
The Long-Eared Owl is a medium sized owl which is approximately 35 centimeters long and weighs 8-10 ounces. It is called long eared because of the feather on its head that looks like ears. They have yellow eyes, black bills, and a very dark colored throat. They have a round face that is flat. Their wingspan is 37-40 inches long. They turn their head from side to side and can even turn them so far that they can see behind themselves. This turning helps them to hear better when they are looking for food. They feed mostly on small rodents. The Long-Eared Owl lives in the Boreal forests, or Taiga, from Southern Canada to the middle part of the United States. It sometimes migrates to Mexico in the winter but some do not. It is also found in many parts of Europe and Asia. The Long Eared Owl will move into a nest which was abandoned by other large birds. It will lay several eggs. the maximum is up to seven. Once they are hatched, the owl will raise them for up to sixty days before they are left on their own. They are awake at night and are asleep in during the day. The Long-Eared Owl's special hearing allows it to "see" its prey in the dark which makes night hunting more possible. The Long-Eared Owl is mainly a predator and they are not at the moment on the endangered species list. They are on the State of Connecticut's endangered list because of loss of habitat. This happens when houses and roads are built where Long-Eared Owls hunted. They are also listed as a species of special concern by the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks for the same reason. They rarely come near people except in bad weather when they may come to a garden to hunt mice and small birds. This makes it hard for them to adapt to living together with people.
The snow shoe rabbit lives in forest areas, it is larger than other rabbits and it weighs around 3-4 lbs as an adult and can be 15-20 inches. It has large rear feet and toes that can spread out to act like snowshoes. Their feet also have fur on the bottom, which protects them from the cold. In the summer its fur is rusty, grayish brown but is turns pure white in the winter, except for its eyelids and the tips of their ears. This helps it to hide from predators. They have 3-4 litters a year with 1-8 in each litter.The Snowshoe Rabbit can run up to 27 mph and jump 10 feet in one hop. It is an expert at escaping predators like the wolf, bobcat, or lynx. When a predator chases it, the rabbit will quickly change direction. They are also good swimmers and will jump in the water to make an escape. The Snowshoe Rabbit is a herbivore that likes to eat grass, clover and other greens in the summer. Bark, twigs and buds in the winter. Since they are herbivores they are mainly prey. The Snowshoe Hare is not considered endangered but their populations have been studied since the 1800's.
Paper birch trees have a thin bark that peels in horizontal layers and separates into sheets like paper. Birch trees can grow in pairs/clusters. There are many different types of birch trees and they all grow fairly tall. They can grow anywhere from sixty to eighty feet high. Some smaller types of birches grows anywhere from fifty to seventy-five feet, and the smallest yet very rarely grow higher than forty feet. Paper birch was used by Indians to make birchbark canoes; therefore, it received the name, Canoe birch. Birch is a group of about forty trees and shrubs of North America, Europe, and Northern Asia. Paper birch grows in the taiga, or boreal forests, of Canada as far north as the tundra, and in the decidous forests of the northern United States as far south as the Appalachian Mountains.
This is a picture of the Adirondack Mountains. The Adirondack Mountains are located in Northeast New York between the St. Lawrence River valley in the north and the Mohawk River valley in the south.