About Georgia Wildlife

Wildlife of Georgia Including Common Pests

Georgia has a wide and diverse mix of habitat types across the state, with the mountainous region of the Blue Ridge and Appalachian Mountains in the north, and the wetlands and coastal areas along the south. Alongside them, you'll also find sloping plateaus and low rolling hills, sandy beaches, barrier islands, inland wetlands, and more. All of these provide homes to a varied mix of wildlife types. 

Georgia Pest Species

The Virginia opossum is one of the most common pest species in Georgia, as it is in all of the states it inhabits. Known for playing dead and wreaking havoc in residential back gardens, the critter can cause some serious amounts of damage in a relatively short period of time. The nine-banded armadillo is also responsible for a number of wildlife removal and control calls in the state, as well as a varied mix of other rodents, birds, bats, and carnivores. Many of these creatures have lost their natural habitats due to human factors and have no choice but to get close to urban territories. 

Wild boar (also known as feral or wild hogs/pigs) are pest animals in some areas — and this animal isn't even native to Georgia, or the U.S. You can also add two skunk species to the list of common Georgia pest species (striped and eastern spotted skunk), which can leave behind a rather nasty stench that takes a lot of time and hard work to get rid of. 

Georgia Amphibians

The green tree frog is the state amphibian of Georgia, but it's definitely not the only species you might encounter if you spend time in the state. In fact, experts believe that close to 70 different species and subspecies of amphibian inhabit Georgia, from frogs and toads to salamanders and newts, on land and in water. 

In terms of Salamanders, Georgia is said to be the home of more than 50 of them, including the larger species — hellbender, giant salamander, and siren — along the coastal plains. 

One small area of north Georgia provides the perfect habitat for the pigeon mountain salamander, which is found nowhere else. 

There are more than 30 different species of toad and frog living across Georgia, too, some of which have been unnaturally introduced (such as the Caribbean-native greenhouse frog). The pig frog and bullfrog are two of the largest species, alongside the river frog. The latter is renowned for being difficult to spot. 

At the other end of the size scale, the smallest frog in the state can be found in the southern part — the little grass frog. 

Georgia Bats

You will find 16 different species of bat in the state of Georgia, but not all of them are easily spotted. Some, like the hoary bat, are secretive and shy, and they're all nocturnal critters that are most active at sunrise and sunset, or close to those times. 

A few species are struggling in Georgia, including the tri-colored bat (also known as eastern pipistrelle), which is listed as a species of special concern. The same classification has been given to the northern yellow bat, southeastern bat, eastern small-footed bat, and little brown bat. The gray bat is endangered, the northern long-eared bat is threatened, and the Rafinesque’s big-eared bat is rare. 

Despite being a species of special concern, the little brown bat is actually one of the most commonly sighted bats in the state. 

Georgia Birds

More than 425 birds have been added to the official list of birds that live, either permanently or temporarily, in the state of Georgia. Sadly, one of those birds is now classed as extinct (the passenger pigeon), four have been unnaturally introduced to the state (Eurasian collared-dove, rock pigeon, European starling, and house sparrow), and more than a few of them are rare. These include the masked duck, western grebe, broad-tailed hummingbird (and other hummingbird species), whooping crane, white-winged tern, and many more. Almost one hundred birds, in total, have now been given the classification rare in Georgia. 

The official state bird of Georgia is the brown thrasher. 

Georgia Carnivores

In the most northernmost regions of the state of Georgia, you might spot an American black bear, also known as the black bear, but numbers of this large carnivore have been in decline for a while with the destruction of habitat. From time to time, they do wander into more rural residential areas and cause problems with home and business owners. 

In the western areas of the state, you may encounter the coyote, but this carnivore tends to lessen in numbers the further north you travel. The gray and red wolf would once have accompanied this beast, but both have now been extirpated from the state, with the cougar suffering the same fate. The gray fox can still be found across most of the state, as can the bobcat, and the red fox is found in localized areas, particularly around the mountains, and occasionally towards coastal regions. 

Georgia Eulipotyphlans

You will find no fewer than seven species of shrew in Georgia — the northern short-tailed shrew, southern short-tailed shrew, least shrew, Cinereus shrew, American pygmy shrew, smoky shrew, and south-eastern shrew. The state is also home to three species of mole: the star-nosed mole, hairy-tailed mole, and eastern mole. 

Georgia Rabbits

Five rabbit species have been associated with the state of Georgia, including the swamp rabbit, eastern cottontail rabbit, Appalachian rabbit, marsh rabbit, and New England cottontail. Sadly, it is now believed that the New England cottontail has been completely extirpated from the state, and the Appalachian rabbit is listed as near-threatened.

Georgia Rodents 

Georgia is home to a vast assortment of rodents including the American beaver, southeastern pocket gopher, coypu (also known as nutria), woodchuck (also known as groundhog), and eastern chipmunk alongside four species of squirrel: the southern flying squirrel, eastern gray squirrel, eastern fox squirrel, and American red squirrel. 

You can also add three vole species to the list of Georgia rodents: the meadow vole, southern red-backed vole, and woodland vole; plus an array of rats: the round-tailed muskrat (also known as water rat), eastern woodrat, Allegheny woodrat, muskrat, marsh rice rat, hispid cotton rat (also known as just cotton rat), brown rat (also known as Norway rat), and black rat (also known as ship or roof rat). 

Finally, these are the mouse species that you can expect to find in appropriate habitats in Georgia: the golden mouse, cotton mouse, white-footed mouse (also known as woodmouse), Oldfield mouse (also known as beach mouse), deer mouse, meadow jumping mouse, eastern harvest mouse, woodland jumping mouse, and non-native house mouse. All of these can become pests if their populations are allowed to get out of control, or if they move too close to urban areas (which many of them are forced to do). 

Georgia Reptiles

The state of Georgia is home to an impressive array of almost 30 different turtles, including the critically endangered bog's turtle (also known as Muhlenberg’s turtle), the vulnerable Barbour’s map turtle, the near-threatened Alabama map turtle, the vulnerable eastern box turtle, the vulnerable/threatened gopher tortoise, and more. 

The Florida softshell tortoise is one of the most commonly spotted species in the southern parts of the state, and the wetlands and waterways are home to the abundant eastern chicken turtle and common map turtle. You are also likely to encounter a red-eared slider, which is a species not native to Georgia, but has been introduced to the state as a result of the growing exotic pet industry. 

A large, carnivorous, reptilian beast lives in the coastal and southern waterways of Georgia, including ponds, freshwater lakes, and rivers — the American alligator. You may also encounter a handful of lizard species, most of which are from the skink family, but a couple of the lizards found in the state do not naturally belong there. The Old World Mediterranean gecko and brown anole are non-native, introduced species that are fast becoming well-established. 

More than 40 different species of snake is now believed to inhabit Georgia, and the following six species are venomous:

• Timber rattlesnake
• Diamondback rattlesnake
• Pygmy rattlesnake
• Cottonmouth
• Copperhead
• Eastern coral snake

Two of the most common Georgia snakes are the eastern garter snake and eastern ribbon snake, but black racers, hog-nosed snakes, rat snacks, and rough/smooth earth snakes are all fairly common in their respective habitat types.